Sweet to see a lovely little Open Day at Barry War Museum last weekend as our hidden gem of history welcomed the locals from Barry and beyond through their doors.
I’m a big fan of the site and have long argued that we should preserve our town’s history and heritage – not just with the War Museum but with an audacious and ambitious Centre that captures all of our story.
But catching up on the current state of the play, I am shocked to see that our fair fight to preserve the town’s back story can’t apparently be considered until all this austerity ends.
Just when will some of our unambitious elected politicians actually twig that constantly striving to save cold hard cash can also leave us completely culturally and socially skint.
In my view, residents need to rally around to push back at the lazy local authority.
Like I said recently, let’s talk up our town’s top spots but also brace that famous Barry backbone to tackle the troubles, and fight for what we want to see in our neighbourhood.
Remember, a few years ago when ‘Spoons boss Mr Martin kicked off that crazy carpet saga again, in the same week we saw a rallying cry for our very own Museum.
There‘s a turn up for the books – with a twist.
Seems many of us want to rightly reinforce our deep desire to showcase Barry’s back story – but bizarrely some of us, don’t mind if it’s done on a Boozer’s beer-soaked floor.
I fully support the shout-out that sets to preserve our town’s history and heritage – in a dignified, and hopefully now digital, style.
For me, we must remember our roots. And knowing the good, bad, and even ugly background, to beautiful Barry is completely crucial to understanding our place in the past.
And that’s not just the sweet sentiment but also the hard-fact history that shaped our town into the cracking community it is today.
Of course, I’m not the only one. Those historic Hodges, Nic and Shirley, have also long mooted the idea.
The husband-and-wife team, already run both the free Victorian Barry Dock, and the High Street Quarter Tours, so are primely placed to know the attraction of all the tasty tales our town has to tell.
Shall we start a cracking Campaign to make it happen at the Memo?
I’m game if you are.
Speak soon.
Mrs SVJ
(c) mrssvj.co.uk
Have Your Say: Local resident Julian Hall has put together a survey to gauge the interest in our Heritage Centre – please complete here.
Get Involved: Start speaking some serious truth to power please by completing the Vale Council’s ‘Let’s Talk About Life In The Vale’ Survey. Time to tell it as it is so we can burst that Civic Office bubble, and finally have the services and facilities we want, and need, in our terrific Town.
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.