Centre call (From Barry And District News)

Centre call

9:00am Thursday 4th February 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)

DR Jonathan Hicks is to be loudly applauded by the residents of Barry and the Vale in his efforts to secure a heritage centre for the area (Barry & District News, January 28).

It is much needed and long overdue. Way back in the 1970s I wrote a letter, printed in this paper, urging townsfolk to establish a museum to preserve the tangible evidence of Barry's past. I know many others, Howard J Thomas and Tom Clemett included, have striven for Barry's past to be secured for future generations. Now is the hour to achieve this.

I urge all those with an interest in this project to lobby the Vale Council to secure the safe-keeping of the area's artefacts and records before they are lost.

It is hoped that the centre will be more than a museum to store town treasures, but also a living vibrant hub to spur future cultural development in the town and Vale. Somewhere for us all to be inspired by and proud to visit.

Barry is more than an urban spread, a mere outlying suburb of Cardiff.

The educational benefits of a heritage centre to adults and particularly children is self-evident. We all need to know our roots.

Tourism and trade too have the potential to benefit from a heritage centre.

As one would expect in a seafaring town, Barry's children have spread far and wide in the world. We should provide somewhere special for them and their children to visit when they come home.

It would be a great loss if we fail to grasp this invaluable opportunity to secure Barry's past for its future generations.

There is much to do; I plead with you to join the fight.

Brian C Luxton Coldbrook Road East Barry

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)