Awwww, Barry’s bright New Year just wasn’t the same for me without the official swim seeing in 2023 with a splash.
Not that I was going to run in to the waves like Pamela Anderson mind, tried that once, and a bit like, the working out in the gym, it was alright but I won’t be doing it again in hurry.
Thinking about the dip though did set me off speculating about the future of Fair – and romantically reminiscing about the Island of old.
How fab is the area now. We have the ever-popular Gavin and Stacey effect, the posh plans for the toilet block, pukka pit stop places like Whitmore and Jackson, the infamous cafes and chippies to add to the seaside scene.
And just recently Henry Danter’s winter wonderland vibe of our very own ice skating rink.
I think his future plans include much-needed holiday flats to bring back what we sadly lost when Butlins was bizarrely sold to builders.
If I remember rightly, it was, and maybe still is, the only headland site in the UK ever to be developed as a residential estate.
This, in my view, was a short-sighted mistake. For me, the lack of overnight accommodation in a top tourist town is an epic fail that needs to be tackled pronto.
I’m not suggesting we turn the clock back to Hi De Hi holiday camps and those train loads of visitors coming for a fortnight, just something suited for our town today.
Mind you, who doesn’t remember the halcyon days of ‘working over the Island’ in the School Hols.
The racy red Pleasure Park Bib and Brace and the sunshine yellow polo shirt. The illicit swimming in the Log Flume, the testing of the Pirate Ship before shift.
And the sheer terror of that very vertical Funhouse Slide. I still went crashing down head-first with aplomb though – always the show off.
I’ll never forget the excitement of Challenge Anneka filming in the Fair with her infamous Chopper landing loudly on the Prom.
And how many people can say they saw the diminutive Pop Princess Kylie at the Radio 1 Roadshow before sloping off to spend hours working the kids’ Caterpillar ride.
Happy days with many memories made, and what was most definitely the start of my love affair with the Island.
How lucky we are to have this seaside speciality on our doorstep – New Year dip or not.
Mrs SVJ
(c) mrssvj.co.uk
Sue Vincent-Jones, blogging as Mrs SVJ, is a Barry born journalist, editor, and activist. She writes about Barry – and her life in the wider world, through the eyes of a, quirky and queer, local girl done good.
Written exclusively for the Vale’s newest newspaper, and digital platform, The Glamorgan Star, her latest ‘Passing Comment’ column, an addition to the infamous Sue’s Views collection, can be found here.
Mrs SVJ, Barry’s Boldest Blogger, can be contacted here.