THE traditional seaside summer season is officially over - although Barry Island opens for business all year round - with showmen and show-women taking their rides to fairs to towns and cities UK-wide.

So it's time to recall memories made this last year and in years gone by.

Here are seven things you’ll know if you spent your childhood, or adulthood. in Barry Island:

1. Barry Island Pleasure Park has hosted some iconic rides since it came on the South Wales scene in the 1920s.

We remember the 1980s Log Flume which, due to its position as the gateway to the Island, heralded your arrival to Whitmore Bay and a day of seaside fun.

The Fun House boasted what was surely a death slide - a vertical drop?

Brave children would throw their shoes to its foot.

Once done, there was no going back.

That was commitment for you.

The less brave would peer over the side wishing for bravado, but at least knowing the rest of the fun was all yours.

There was the Wacky Goldmine, Paratrooper, Pirate Ship, Scenic Railway, Galaxy, Jungle Boat, and, of course, Ghost Train - no self-respecting resort would be seen without one.

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2. The beach - Whitmore Bay

Barry Island is often seen as one mass expanse of sand, but those in the know will also head for the lesser commercial Jackson's Bay and Pebbly beach, in The Knap.

Miner’s fortnight and steelwork shutdowns meant the beaches were jammed packed at certain times in the summer, hence numbers on the wall so children could find their parents again.

Somehow we always found our way without needing GPS, but the constant worry was always there that a trip to the shops would see us return to discover the tide had washed away our buckets and spades, and possibly our entire families, away.

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3. Nowadays, beach cuisine involves paninis and lattes, but it still retains that essence of a British seaside resort.

Fish&chips, warm doughnuts, rock and candyfloss still preside and gulls and wasps are still on alert.

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4. Barry Butlins was the last Butlins holiday camp to open in the UK. The inspiration for the company had come after Billy Butlin had spend a less than enjoyable stay in a Barry Island guesthouse.

At Barry Butlins a day pass could get you in the swimming pools, roller skating rink, and other attractions.

It also had a cable car and an entertainments manager who loathed the depiction seen in the BBC comedy Hi-de-Hi.

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5. Spending all day on the beach until burnt to a crisp.

Factor 50 wasn't a factor way back then and nobody bothered about getting burnt - until pain began to set in later that evening.

Finding a spot on the beach was crucial.

Where was best?

Parents not wanting to lose all their cash would head east, but those wanting chip shop access would go west.

Coastal dangers were abound - gulls have evolved to savour chips and pies.

And those wasps practically enjoyed going in for the kill resulting in your can of fizzy pop getting thrown in the air and left, un-drunk, lying in the sand.

This incident is entirely fictional and any resemblance to persons living or dead...

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6. Didn't we have a lovely day?

Barry Island is too special to just be the domain of locals.

Pill Labour Club, in Newport, was one social club that organised an annual bus daytrip - and they didn't even care if one of your folks voted another way.

In the 70s, 10p pocket money went a long way.

Schools and churches from Wales, the West, and the Midlands also knew where it was at.

Bus drivers got a free nosh and sleep when dropping passengers by the fair.

Of course, there was a routine - beach time, pre EU clean water regulations, was signalled to end when a foam-like substance began to appear.

Quick to the fair before taking the path - fending off the midges - to the Harbour Road car park.

"We'll leave early, avoid the traffic," was always the refrain.

Everyone had the same idea - cue traffic queue chaos.

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7. "This time next year we'll be millionaires"

What would a trip to Barry Island be like without a chance to return home rolling in cash?

A game of bingo kept older people happy, but young entrepreneurs fancied their chances on the penny slots and penny falls.

Every operator knows, they always win, but we were never deterred.

It's 20p plus these days to have a bash at the 'Penny Falls'.

Look for the one that seemingly had the one with the most copper coins in the balance and experience that joy when eight pence fell out, and the all-consuming devastation, when we fed all that and more back in - and lost.

No, we never gave the machine a hefty shove - that would be un-gamely.

Fun times!

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What are your memories of time spent at Barry Island?