| By MARCUS STEAD, Reporter
The owner of Barry Island Pleasure Park has spoken of his optimism for the future despite setbacks brought about by the pandemic.
Henry Danter 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.
The sprightly 77-year-old has the gift of the gab and speaks fondly of his long relationship with the town: “I used to come to Barry as a kid and I fell in love with it straight away. By the time I bought the pleasure park all those years later, it had gone down the pan – my daughter Kimberley thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew.
“But I’ve put my heart and soul into it – this is a real passion for me. It’s been hard work, and we’ve encountered various setbacks along the way but it’s been well worth it, and now the place looks great,” he said.
Last year, Covid restrictions saw the pleasure park close for eight months, and Mr Danter lost £5,000 per week in maintenance costs alone.
Yet despite the reintroduction of restrictions last month, Mr Danter says he has some sympathy for Wales’s First Minister: “Public health has to be the number one priority and Mark Drakeford has a very difficult job to do.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t deliberately seek to harm businesses and people’s livelihoods. The long lockdowns of the last two years have been very difficult for us and have eaten into our reserves, but Covid isn’t something to be taken lightly,” he said.
Mr Danter was born in Birmingham in March 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.
Even as a young boy, Mr Danter showed entrepreneurial zeal and a strong work ethic that he maintains to this day.
At the age of 10, he would work 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 lives in a 20-bedroom mansion in the village known by his family as The Castle, with great views of the Wye Vale.
At the age of just 21, he was landlord of the Barrel Inn and became the youngest licensee in Herefordshire, and it wasn’t long before he acquired a business that installed fruit machines in pubs.
Ever on the lookout for ways to upgrade and improve the Barrel Inn, he added a dart board, installed the first pool table in the area, and introduced live music.
In 1982, Mr Danter added the Top Spot Ballroom in Ross-on-Wye to his ever-expanding business portfolio, and today he has ‘around 20’ different businesses, including a funfair in Symonds Yat and Stourport Fair Treasure Island in Worcestershire.
Running the Barry amusement park is very much a family affair for Mr Danter. During the peak summer months, he lives for several days per week with his partner Danka in a luxury caravan on the site, which also contains his office.
Mr Danter’s son Harry and grandson Henry Junior, 28, are in charge of day-to-day operations in Barry, while his daughter Kimberley runs the park in Symonds Yat.
When he first bought the funfair in 2015, one of Mr Danter’s first tasks was to lay new tarmac across the park as the ground wasn’t safe to put new rides on.Steps have also been taken to improve the appearance of the park and to make the most of the space available.
Early last year, work to remove two derelict tin-roofed enclosures used to store old rides and sideshows was brought forward after a tin sheet blew off onto the adjacent road during high winds, leading to concerns about the structure’s safety. Today, the pleasure park features 17 fairground rides and attractions, ranging from simple children’s amusements to much more extreme rides that are not for the faint hearted, along with an arcade and food stalls, and there are plans for further new attractions in the years ahead.
When the amusement park reopened following the easing of lockdown restrictions in July, extra measures were put in place to ensure the safety of visitors and staff, including hand sanitising stations around the vicinity.
Mr Danter is keen to keep the amusement park open in line with current regulations: “At the moment, our arcades are open, and unless government guidance changes, that’ll remain the case.
“I’d encourage all visitors to take sensible precautions when visiting – please respect the rules on face coverings in indoor areas and observe social distancing,” he said.
When asked about the wider impact of the pandemic, Mr Danter urged the Welsh Government to consider the needs of local businesses: “Small and medium-sized businesses are the lifeblood of the economy and of the community.
“I don’t want to criticise Mr Drakeford or any of his colleagues, because they’re acting on expert advice in terms of Covid restrictions and they’re putting public health first, but I’d urge them to do as much as they can to support the private sector, especially entrepreneurs and local businesses, because a lot of people are struggling at the moment,” he said.
While the pandemic has brought its challenges, Mr Danter is optimistic about the future and paid tribute to the hard work, dedication and perseverance of his staff. He said: “Never before was so much owed by so many to so few – the team of people we’ve got working with us in Barry do a tremendous job.
“Barry is the place to be – it’s the number one place in Wales, and we’re going to make it better still.
“Life isn’t easy for any of us at the moment but make no mistake – the good times are coming back!”
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