A BARRY history group has turned its attention to a more local community focus after months supporting the commemoration of the Great War start centenary.

Following the commemorations, and co-organising the popular Barry Wartime Weekend, Barry at War are once more busy supporting community events - the latest being the Centenary of Belle Vue Park, in Penarth.

Barry at War spokesman Ade Pitman said the team had been overwhelmed by well wishes and support following the Barry Wartime Weekend, and were all extremely proud of what was achieved.

He said: “2014 has been a busy year for the Barry at War group; so much so that we were unable to provide support locally to all of the year`s commemorations.

“We were unable to provide a local event to remember the Normandy D-Day, simply because many of our volunteers were actually in France for the duration, taking part in commutative events over there.”

Some of the team will now spend this winter working on a project to research the role of the Royal Air Force on the ground during the Normandy campaign, and this project will end with a field trip to Normandy for Cadets of Barry`s Air Training Corps Squadron, who regularly support its tiny museum.

Ade said: “We are also working on projects with the YMCA, and on the many armed conflicts that have affected the region since 1945.

“We have however, managed to provide support to the region’s Great War commemorations, and will continue to do so throughout the centenary period.

“We have started work on how we can support the commemoration of the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme, in July 2016, and we hope that we will be successful in locating a larger premises in which to create a suitable Great War Commemoration Centre by then.

He added: “As the only wartime museum in Glamorgan, we are receiving a growing amount of enquiries from schools which we are trying to gear up to support at our tiny museum.

We are also working on a suitable commemoration experience for the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) next March.

“We also provided support to the team at Belle Vue Park, in Penarth, with their Centenary celebrations, and we will also be providing a Great War display and living historians to the West House Centenary Event, also in Penarth.”

The Glamorgan Wartime Heritage Centre will host its next open day on Sunday, October 12, when it will displaying it s collection of more than 120 model Royal Air Force aircraft, as part of its annual Royal Air Force Day, which seeks to remember the region’s close links with this service, while providing an opportunity to promote Penarth Aviation Society, the Royal Air Force Association and the Air Training Corps.

Ade said: “It is business as usual for a busy little heritage group, and of course we are always keen to hear from potential volunteers.”

For details, log onto www.barryatwar.info or visit the museum at the Barry Island Railway Station.