Halls of Learning & Barry Island!

Newport University - New Town Centre Campus



I have spent most of the weekend and all of today finishing off my end of year assignment for university. It has been one of the more difficult terms in the sense of study; the subject is Language Study and Creativity.  I have written about the Welsh Valley accent (being valley born & bread) I wanted to write about a subject and area that interests me.


My story is called The Chapel Outing which is about the annual trip to Barry Island, organised by the Chapel in the 1950s. Hopefully this will satisfy the criteria. The idea that a small valley town could be interesting enough for a story seemed challenging. When researching the development of this distinctive accent I realised the research itself had provided me with the basis I was looking for.


I have the utmost respect for valley people and writing about the accent is not a form of ridicule, but endearment. I travelled to the town of my childhood to assist with research and requested local people read it. The response was favourable and I was able to incorporate their comments. This gave me the encouragement to refine, edit and make the decision to present it.



Barry Island in the 1950s, with the original Miss Jones sitting in the middle!

I wonder how many people will read this posting and will remember the days when a trip to Barry Island was exactly like the photo above; a place of pure magic for children? Come to think of it, almost all of the photos on the Blog introduction (on the right hand side) of me as a child were taken at Barry Island.  I am sure there are thousands of these photos in peoples attics all over the Welsh Valleys. Tucked up with memories of stalls selling gaily-coloured buckets, metal spades with wooden handles and beach balls all hanging up; candyfloss booths with a smell of burning sugar, and the Figure Eight was swooping and people whooping, Barry Island was certainly a magic place to be.