Victorian Barry Experience

07/09/2026

On this day, 7th September 1899
The Western Mail reported scathing comments about the Romilly Market Hall
“The only window that opens in the hall is in a wall separating the hall from an upstairs passage of a set of shops, and not a pane of glass in the roof is set on hinges. The consequence is that ventilation is NIL and the place smells like a mortuary.”

Despite its lack of fresh air, Romilly Hall was one of Barry’s busiest venues in 1899, hosting public gatherings and political meetings. Today, the site is home to the Sir Samuel Romilly public house.

06/09/2026

06/09/2026

📚 BOOKS: TASTING, SWALLOWING, DIGESTING — BARRY, 1898

What were people in Barry reading 128 years ago?
In 1898, the Barry Literary and Social Society held an evening devoted entirely to books. The speaker was Mr John Davies of the Barry Company’s General Offices (Barry Railway), who presented a paper with the wonderfully Victorian title:

“Books: Tasting, Swallowing, Digesting.”

He based his argument on the words of the philosopher Francis Bacon, who wrote that:

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested.”

Mr Davies suggested that some books only needed to be dipped into. Others should be read from beginning to end. But the very best books, he argued, needed to be thought about, understood and absorbed.

His examples give us a fascinating picture of literary tastes in Barry in 1898. He mentioned Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson, Browning, Christina Rossetti, Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott and Ruskin, among many others.

He particularly praised four books which he said had been among his greatest influences:

📖 Les Misérables — Victor Hugo
📖 The Egoist — George Meredith
📖 The Country Doctor — Honoré de Balzac
📖 The Betrothed — Alessandro Manzoni

📚 Happy National Read a Book Day!

05/09/2026

05/09/2026

🍟 BEWARE THE BARRY ISLAND SEAGULL!
Ever had your lunch stolen on Barry Island by a seagull?
You’re certainly not alone!
Research commissioned by Compare the Market estimates that seagulls are responsible for around £171.9 million worth of food being stolen or targeted every year across the UK.
And their favourite target? Fish and chips! 🍟
The research, based on a survey of 2,000 UK adults, found that 72% of people who had encountered food-stealing gulls said their fish and chips had been targeted.
Never underestimate a Barry Island seagull!

05/09/2026

Love maps, ❤️

05/09/2026

🧔 A LENGTHY BEARD! THE STORY BEHIND THE BEARD
For World Beard Day, here's a wonderfully strange story from the Barry Dock News of 1907.
Valentine Tapley of Frankford, Missouri, was reported to have perhaps the longest beard on record an extraordinary 11 feet long!

Tapley was a farmer and apparently had little interest in becoming a celebrity. He refused substantial offers to appear in travelling shows, including an offer of $5,000 to exhibit his beard in England. He preferred the quiet life of his farm.
Looking after an 11-foot beard wasn't exactly straightforward!
He reportedly kept it rolled up beneath his clothes and wrapped in silk. Other accounts say he used special oil and a wooden comb to keep the beard soft and in good condition.

(Tapley died in 1910, aged 80 by then his beard was just over 12 feet long. He was apparently so concerned that someone might rob his grave to steal his famous beard that he made provision in his will for an extra-strong tomb to protect it! 🧔‍♂️)

04/09/2026

🥔 NATIONAL POTATO MONTH 🥔
We love a potato story and this one from 1890 has everything: a sheep, a suspected thief from Barry, the police, and a very unhappy marriage!

John Chislett, who told the Penarth magistrates that he came from Barry, was charged after being caught trying to lift a sheep belonging to David Morgan over a fence at West-house Farm, Penarth.

When police-constable C. H. Thomas caught him in the act, Chislett ran off. He was later captured by Police-constable Charles Brown, whom he kicked and fought with while being taken to the police station.

But it was a letter found in Chislett's pocket that really caught our attention.

It was from his wife in Somerset.
She apparently wanted her husband to “keep away”, explaining that she was “getting her living by potato-digging.” 🥔

So while John Chislett was getting himself into trouble in Penarth, his wife was earning her living digging potatoes and, judging by the wording of her letter, she wasn't exactly waiting for him to come home!

Sadly, the newspaper doesn't give us her name. But her few words provide a remarkable glimpse into the life of a working woman in 1890.

National Potato Month seems like the perfect excuse to remember her. 🥔