Barry’s War Museum forced to look for a new home!

Museum must find a new home by May 2023.

Glamorgan Star news 22/07/2022

2 minutes read

Barry’s War Museum forced to look for a new home!

After the recent sale of the Barry Railway depot, the future for one group of volunteers is hanging in the balance.

The Barry War Museum has been operational at Barry Railway Station on Barry Island since November 2012. However, after the Vale Council sold the station to Transport for Wales, the volunteer-run museum have been told that they must find a new home by May 2023.

The Barry War Museum was set up by the Barry at War Group. The volunteers in the group are “a group of enthusiastic knowledgeable amateurs” said the chairman, Glenn Booker. Glenn was one of three men who established the group in a local pub. The initial idea was to write a book named Barry at War. However their ideas spiralled into the ‘Wartime Weekend’ that took place at the railway station and on the Waterfront in June 2012.

At that weekend, they showcased war vehicles, a replica Spitfire and put together war exhibitions, educating the people of Barry. The success of the weekend sparked the creation of the museum as, John Buxton, manager of the Barry Tourist Railway, allowed the volunteers to use the station.

The Barry War Museum is the only museum in Barry. The immersive experience is experienced by visitors from around the world and are from different generations. The museum has regular visits from local schools as well as schools from Swansea and Aberdare. They also often give guided tours to groups of pensioners, some of whom have lived through the war.

The museum includes information about the US Army base near the Barry dock during the second World War, what it felt like to be in WWI barrack, the rations the people of Barry would have to live with as well as much more.

The aim of the museum is still to educate and commemorate wartime in Barry during WW1 and WW2. The guided tours around the museum are conducted by the volunteers themselves. Although the museum has faced a rollercoaster experience throughout the pandemic, it has arisen intact and has managed to return to where it was before Covid. However, concern has risen amongst the volunteers again as their future is uncertain.

Transport for Wales have planned to spend millions to renovate the railway station, allowing them to operate a more durable railway system in Barry.

The chairman of the Barry at War Group, Glenn Booker, told the Glamorgan Star: “Look at what we’ve done. Look at what we are doing.

“We want to keep going. We are concerned about an uncertain future, concerned that we will no longer be able to educate people of all ages, from all around the world about World War I and World War II”.