New funfair ride is a ‘landmark in Barry’s night sky’.
Henry Danter of Barry Island Pleasure Park spoke to Glamorgan Star’s reporter MARCUS STEAD about the stunning new ride made exclusively for Barry Island:
AN ENORMOUS NEW white-knuckle ride reaching 214 feet and costing more than £3 million has opened at Barry Island Pleasure Park.
The ride, called AEROSPACE, can be seen from several miles away, and as the evenings start to draw in during August, lighting that cost £300,000 will make it a stunning landmark in the night sky.
The fairground’s owner, Henry Danter, says the ride reaches 127 miles per hour, and can produce a G-force of four.
For more than two years, staff at the KMG Ride factory in the Netherlands have been developing and building AEROSPACE, and last week, members of the Danter family began the process of bringing it across to Barry.
Mr Danter, 78, bought the park in 2015 and has spent more than £8 million on improvements in a bid to recapture the spirit of its heyday in the 1960s and 70s, and his enthusiasm is clear to see as he talks about his new ride: “I believe this is the tallest ride of its type in the world, and now it’s right here in Barry Island.
“Barry needed a landmark like this to help put it on the map – it’s huge, it’s distinctive, and there’s nothing like it anywhere else in the country.
“Your visit to Barry Island is going to be a memorable one, that much is guaranteed. You may forget when you came here, but you’ll never forget the thrill you got from the AEROSPACE ride.
“The ride may only take minutes, but the thrill you get from it you’ll take to the grave with you,” he said.
Mr Danter went on to explain the logistical challenges that came with transporting and assembling such a large ride: “My son went over to the Netherlands with several other members of staff, and they needed to pull the ride down and transport it over here, which was quite a task.
“The whole process took five days, and we began to assemble it at Barry Island on Monday of last week. By late on Thursday, it was being tested and the health and safety people are happy with it.
“The staff were so excited – we’d all waited a long time for this day,” he said.
Staff member McKenzie Creed was among the first to ride on AEROSPACE: “It’s amazing, it’s one of the best rides I’ve been on. You can see the whole of Barry from the top.
“The views are spectacular and there’s a great thrill, but it’s not for everyone, especially if you’re scared of heights,” he said.
AEROSPACE is proving a hit with Mr Danter’s eight-year-old son George, who has already been on the ride four times.
George says he has been on every big ride in the country while touring fairgrounds and theme parks with his father and rates the new ride as his favourite. He said: “It’s like nothing I’ve ever been on before. It’s as fast as lightning, and it really cools you down on a hot day.
“It’s the best ride in the world – I can’t wait to bring my friends down.”
George’s friends Alicia and Christian Scott are also big fans of the new addition to the pleasure park: “It makes you feel great, I love it, I’ll be bringing my friends down over the summer holidays,” Christian said.
‘If you’re tough enough and brave enough to go on it’
Mr Danter, who has been on the AEROSPACE ride himself, albeit at a slower speed, says that while it is not for the faint-hearted, he can guarantee those brave enough to go on it an experience they will never forget: “If you’re tough enough and brave enough to go on it, you’ll never be short of a party piece ever again,” he said.
Mr Danter was born in Birmingham in 1944, and comes from a long line of travelling showmen dating back to the 1800s, when W Danter and Sons toured the country entertaining working people with penny rides on steam roundabouts, galloping horses and swinging boats.
From a young age, he showed entrepreneurial zeal. At the age of 10, he worked with a fleet of wooden boats on the river in the village of Symonds Yat in Herefordshire, where for half a crown he would entertain punters with stories of the history of the area, and help them on and off their boats.
During his 20s, he bought all the boats and ended up owning the business. Today he has ‘around 20’ different businesses (he is vague on the detail), which includes a funfair in Symonds Yat and Stourport Fair Treasure Island in Worcestershire.
When the opportunity to buy Barry Island came along, he says that making money was not his primary motivation: “This is a very special place. When I was a little boy, Barry Island meant everything to me.
“Every time we came, I’d say to my mother ‘when can we come again?’ and we used to come three times a year because my parents knew I loved it so much,” he said.
At the time Mr Danter bought the pleasure park, it required a lot of work to restore it to former glories, and his daughter Kimberley thought he had bitten off more than he could chew.
Restoring the pleasure park has been a long-term project costing millions of pounds, and there have been major setbacks along the way, including the pandemic, which at one point was losing Mr Danter £5,000 per week.
A significant landmark
The arrival of AEROSPACE is a significant landmark in his ambitions for the pleasure park, which he says he wants to be the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Wales: “We’ve done all the structural work and the weeding. We’ve laid down fresh tarmac and improved the appearance of the place.
“People who have been around a long time are telling me that it has never looked so good, and I give enormous credit to my family and loyal team of workers, who have worked in all weathers to make this dream a reality.
“There have been times when there’s been rain and even snow, and I’ve told them we just have to get on with it.
“We’ve done the really hard bits and now it’s a case of ‘putting the makeup on’ and making it look pretty. There are certain steps we need to take to make it look aesthetically pleasing,” he said.
Spooky Gold Mine ride
Mr Danter has also bought the Spooky Gold Mine ride from Walton Pier in Essex, which is currently undergoing restoration before being installed at Barry Island: “This is my last big purchase for the time being in terms of rides.
“When I went to Walton Pier and saw the Spooky Gold Mine, I knew in my heart that it belonged in Barry.
“It’s a very old ride dating back to the 1960s, but I decided there and then that I wasn’t going home without the ride.
“They wanted a lot of money for it, and I had to put on my poker face while negotiating, but inside I was bursting with enthusiasm. I know that local people and visitors to Barry are going to love it,” he said.
Ysgol Y Deri special school visit
Shortly before the end of term, children from Ysgol Y Deri special school in Penarth paid a visit to Barry Island Pleasure Park with the help of Freemasons who lodge at Barry Masonic Hall, and Mr Danter paid tribute to everyone involved: “My biggest pleasure in life is seeing other people enjoy themselves.
“We put the trip on free of charge, and we thought it best to do it over two days because of the sheer number of children who wanted to come.
“One incident sticks in my mind. There was one little boy who was determined to go on the log flume, but his carer was struggling to get him on there so I went and helped her.
“It’s a thrill ride and you get wet, but even though she was a bit scared with the big drop, she wanted to go on there because the boy was keen.
“About an hour later, they reappeared and wanted to go on it again. I told her the boy and the school were very lucky to have a carer like her.
“She told me that she wasn’t his carer, she was his mother. I told her that he must be the luckiest son in Wales to have a mother like her, and she started crying.
“We were so busy that I didn’t get the chance to get her details. I want to find out who she is so I can send her some flowers.
“I had great pleasure and it made me very proud to give these children a day of fun that they’ll always remember,” he said.
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