THIS week features a photograph from around 1909 in which GWR station employees are posing in front of a poster advertising “Barry for Health”.

The Barry Chamber of Trade met in May 1904 to decide among other things, how to advertise the town as a holiday destination.

They knew that every year the GWR Swindon Railway works closed and their employees given free rail tickets to any place they desired to visit.

Their cunning plan was to use colourful posters at the railway stations to attract GWR staff to holiday in Barry, using their free rail tickets.

In its heyday Swindon Works had 14,000 employees.

Local business owners and members of the Chamber of Trade Mr W. H. Hooper (Barry Funeral Directors) and Mr W.R. Hopkins (Barry Chemist Shop) had invested time and effort in finding a poster printer and obtaining costs of £32 for 2,500 posters.

Barry Chamber of Trade thought this was a good idea and wanted to take it forward.

They made a public appeal for funding and subscriptions to advertise Barry as a Seaside and Heath Resort.

The Barry & District News would like to thank Cllr Shirley Hodges for the photograph and information.

If you have an old photograph you would like to see included email sha@bar ryanddistrictnews.co.uk