BARRY Island pleasure park operator Henry Danter has spoken of his love of the fair – as the recently-installed ghost train begins to haunt people.

The spooky attraction has been drafted onto the park courtesy of showman Gilbert Chadwick, whose grandfather Gilbert started off with freak shows at the turn of century.

The ride has been deliberately made to look old, but is of modern origin.

Pleasure Park owner Henry Danter said: “This type of operation is what people want – people pay to be frightened. Maybe the average person can’t understand why, but it is a fact of life that people are prepared to pay to be frightened and when you go on this ghost train you’ll be frightened.

“It’s got the authentic feel that it is old. It’s made for travelling. The ghost trains originally were made out of wood and they took a long time to build up. Those days are gone. It’s the amount of effort and work to build up as this is all hydraulics.

“It’s a different world we live in today from the days of the original ghost trains, but I would say this is better than any ghost train that I’ve seen before. It’s got the effects, it’s got the sounds.

“These sorts of things are good. This is all part and parcel of the original fairground that was in Barry Island. This is how it started and I think in its heyday it had a ghost train; it had these rides; it had these stalls and over the years it just got less and less.”

He added: “When I was a boy Barry Island was the top place in Wales. Our ambition – we’d like to put it back there. We’re working on it, we’re not there yet but we are going to do our best to make it there.”

The ghost train will depart for Bridgewater and other fairs at the end of the traditional summer season, but the park will continue to operate rides all year round – weather permitting.

The dodgems and twister are earmarked as permanent features and a 110ft to 115ft Ferris Wheel, which will make Weston-super-Mare part of a view, is currently in its manufacturing stage in Poland.

Henry said: “We’re not quite sure where we're going to put it. Barry Island suffers from winds so we’ve got to shelter it.

“We are negotiating a deal for a log flume. There are a lot of things in pipeline.

“We haven’t got a printing press. We’ve got to earn it to spend it.

“We are very pleased with the response from the Welsh people. We get a lot of enquiries about coming to Barry; the coaches are coming back.

“We’re getting a bit of confidence back now. We can improve to make it a very special day out for visitors to Barry Island.

“It was a bit of a struggle to get it ready for the season, but we managed to get it on for them.

“There are about 20 rides. We’re doing better than we said, but we like it that way.”

Henry, whose favourite ride is the Waltzer, said: “From a very young age I realised I was in a very fun business. It wasn’t work. It was just fun to be there. I’m still in it now. I’m nearly 72. Probably I’ve become a slave to it, but every morning I wake up and I want to go to work. I feel that the customers that come here can feel the love we put into it and I think everybody’s a winner.”