THOUSANDS FLOCK TO BEACH ON HOTTEST DAY
CROWDS heading to Barry Island on one of the hottest days of the year brought three-mile tailbacks to the area yesterday, and sparked a call from rail bosses for trains to be used for “essential” travel only.
It marked a second day of congestion at one of Wales’ most popular daytrip destinations, with police estimating that as many as 25,000 people flocked to the resort on Thursday.
And it came as the Vale of Glamorgan council attempts to bring in new measures to combat large crowds and anti-social behaviour, following ugly scenes along the south Wales coastline during lockdown.
With trains to Barry Island reportedly “heaving” yesterday, as temperatures hit 290C in south Wales, Transport for Wales urged people to only use trains for essential travel.
Leyton Powell, safety and assurance director for the franchise, said: “The safety of customers and colleagues is our top priority and we’re asking everyone to only use public transport for essential travel and where there are no other travel alternatives.
“Our capacity has been massively reduced due to social-distancing measures and we must maintain safe space for those key workers using our services.”
The rail operator later called on visitors to Barry Island to “consider alternative means of transport if possible”.
A British Transport Police spoksman added: “Our officers continue to support rail staff this weekend in engaging with passengers, explaining the importance of preventing the spread of the virus and encouraging people to wear face coverings.
“We are confident that those who need to use the railway will act responsibly and will want to play their part in helping to protect each other and comply with the requirements.”
The traffic jams and busy scenes come after South Wales Police said between 20,000 and 25,000 people visited Barry Island on Thursday.
While there was not a repeat of the large “outbreaks of disorder” that occurred in the area last week, police said they dealt with a range of issues including drug offences, several missing children, people with alcohol and found property.
The Vale of Glamorgan council is looking to ban alcohol in many places across the borough, including Ogmore-by-Sea, where a huge brawl broke out during lockdown.
Speaking about how they plan to reduce large crowds across the area, especially coastal resorts like Barry Island, Penarth esplanade and Ogmore-by-Sea, Vale of Glamorgan deputy leader Liz Burnett told BBC Radio Wales they are working closely with the police.
The council is looking to ban drinking in those areas through an
order known as a public space protection order (PSPO).
She said: “I think that a lot of people have seen a range of incidents that are happening at coastal locations, right across Wales actually, nothing on the scale that we have seen in some of the places in London,
but it is still and they are a major inconvenience to people that are trying to use resort destinations in a responsible way.”
Cllr Burnett stressed she wants to see Barry Island and other coastal resorts used as “just a nice family day out”.
“So we have had these what are called PSPOs, public space protection orders, in a lot of areas in the Vale over the years.
“We don’t always use them because they are completely associated with antisocial behaviour, but we want measures available to us that both we and the police working together can enforce to make sure that we can clamp down on antisocial behaviour and mass gatherings.”
Elsewhere in Wales, the First Minister has said he is “concerned” about people travelling from the north west of England to Welsh beaches.
Large parts of the areas of England bordering north Wales have seen lockdown restrictions brought back in because of a spike in Covid-19 cases.
People from this area are not allowed to visit someone else’s home or garden, even if they live outside the affected areas, but they will be allowed to visit beaches and attractions in Wales.
There are concerns about this, given that the sunny weather is forecast to continue into the weekend.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “I don’t want to use the word ‘worried’. It’s something we continue to be concerned at. It’s why we’ve reopened our tourism industry carefully.”
He added: “Our messaging to people who visit from outside Wales is a strong message about the way they behave to keep us all safe. It’s got to be done properly.”
He said that he would not issue guidance telling people to not visit from the affected areas, however.
Mr Drakeford said: “I do understand why people would be concerned because our border is so permeable – people are travelling in both directions all the time. Our message to people who visit Wales goes on being – visit Wales safely.
“If you are coming to Wales please make sure you observe all the things people in Wales have worked so hard to observe throughout this crisis.
“So careful social distancing, all the things about hand hygiene, being careful if using shared facilities in particular.
“Providing you play your part alongside everybody else then we go on looking forward to welcoming people to Wales but it has to be in a careful, conscious way.”
The First Minister added that tourism is the lifeblood of the north Wales economy but the reopening must “be done properly”.
IT was meant to be the day of the grand opening for a new pub – the day when months of hard work, toil, and sweat would finally be repaid by the bustle of customers and the sweet relief of trade.
But it wasn’t.
Instead it was the day that Boris Johnson came onto our TV screens shortly after 5pm on Friday, March 20.
“We are telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close tonight,” said the Prime Minister.
It was the beginning of a storm that would engulf the nation for months – a date in time that now, already, seems an age ago.
It was a terrifying time, even more so in retrospect, because we knew nothing then.
For now there is light at the end of the tunnel, even if that light is dimmed somewhat by the spectre of winter.
But then nobody knew when we would start to emerge from the horror, or indeed if we would.
Businesses closed, some for good, while others didn’t know if their nightmare would last a month, a year, or forever.
Prior to that Mark Howells had it all planned out.
“This building became empty in 2018 and I jumped at the chance to get it,” said Mark, landlord of Haarlem, Carmarthen, which will finally get to open next Wednesday, more than four months after it should have.
“I always wanted this place. I met my partner here on a night out years ago, so it has a special connection for me.
“Long-term I want to buy the building and make it a family thing so that my kids can have it when they grow up.”
Mark has spent about £60,000 on the project, renovating the premises and purchasing all the equipment needed to turn it into a town centre bar and kitchen that will specialise in street food, craft beers, coffee, and cocktails.
Work was carried out at the start of the year, and then into March, when it was clear that a state of chaos was looming – a health and economic crisis that will be spoken about for generations to come.
“We set our hearts on opening on that Friday and we advertised that date – March 20. But we had a staff meeting and we decided ourselves, before Boris Johnson made his announcement, that there was no point in going ahead with the opening. It wasn’t safe.
“But I was here on that Friday evening, when we had hoped we’d have customers in, and I watched that press conference.
“It was surreal, and it was frightening, because I didn’t know how long that situation was going to last. Nobody did. A couple of weeks, a month, four months?
“You worry about your own financial situation, but my main concern was my staff.
“As the landlord I’m responsible for other families’ incomes as well and I had people who had left other jobs to come and work for me.”
One of those is Jack Thornton.
He left his job working for Costa Coffee in Swansea to become joint manager of Carmarthen’s newest bar.
That dream soon became something of a nightmare as his new reality – one without an income and one that did not qualify for the UK Government’s furlough scheme – hit home.
“I heard about the job in January and then I left Costa at the end of
February,” said Jack.
“I spent a few weeks getting to grips with everything and getting ready to open and then that was that. As I had left my old job and I had just started here I didn’t qualify for the furlough scheme – at one point I thought I was going to have to ask for my old job back.”
Another employee waiting for the new venture to finally take off is Richard Simpson, who has been a chef for around 20 years.
Originally from Carmarthen, he’s cooked in kitchens in London, the Cotswolds, Italy, France and Malta.
He too left another job in February to be a part of the team at Haarlem and he too was left in limbo when he discovered in March that there would be no customers to cook for.
“Mark got in touch with me and explained the concept of what he wanted to do, with the street food style of things, and I fell in love with it,” said Richard, who has kept himself busy by preparing meals at another pub in town to be shipped to the local hospital for NHS staff.
“We had already planned the menu and sampled a few different things so it’s just been on hold since then.
“Mark, even though we haven’t opened, has been really helpful throughout this period, putting money into our accounts to tide us over.
“He didn’t have to do that but it’s been a huge help and we just want to open now.
“This is what I want to do. I’ve travelled all over the place – now I want to settle here and start making a name for ourselves and our food.”
While Haarlem will finally be opening its doors in the coming days, and with the hospitality sector now given the green light for indoor re-opening from Monday, the reality is that the bar experience for everyone will be a lot different when compared to the last time we all enjoyed a drink inside a pub.
A risk assessment has been carried out, people’s names and contact details will be taken in case they need to be alerted to any confirmed coronavirus cases, and hand sanitiser will be available to customers inside.
“I really hope we see the introduction of a one-metre plus rule in Wales like we have done in England,” admitted Mark.
“It will make things difficult for a lot of bars if we have to adhere to the twometre rule because you’ll have to spread people out to the extent where you’ll have far fewer customers, so I hope that’s changed soon, but I just want to open now and get people into work.”
One factor in the success of any new venture is competition.
The location of Haarlem, sat in the middle of a pedestrianised square, makes it the perfect spot for passing trade, particularly in this brave new world where more and more people will want to enjoy a drink or a meal outside.
But the area is also home to several bars.
There are more than half a dozen pubs and bars within around 100 yards and as many as three new ones are hoping to open in the coming months.
“I say the more the laughed Mark.
“There’s a few bars close by who are really good at what they do and that just makes you up your game. I think there’s enough of a variety – a couple of the others are perhaps for slightly younger people, more like clubs.
“But we’ve tried to do it a bit differently here. We’ve done the whole place out, thanks to my partner, Ffion, who designed the whole decor inside, and I do feel there’s a lack of places in Carmarthen that offer different things – craft beers and cocktails, while also being really passionate about coffee and food.
“And while I want to create a bit of a continental feel to it we’re using companies like Tenby Brewing Co, Tiny Rebel, and Coaltown Coffee from Ammanford because it’s vital to have as much local and Welsh produce as possible.”
Getting one up one your competition might be a challenge to be embraced, but getting the better of coronavirus is something else entirely and it’s a battle that Mark admits is hard not to think about.
“It’s scary and it’s stressful,” he said, when asked about the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus in Wales.
“I’ve been lucky here. The landlady who owns the building has been really helpful with regards to the rent in the time that we’ve been sat here, closed, but the last thing we want is to be closed down for another four months.
“I hope that if there is a second spike then we see local lockdowns put in place in the areas most affected as opposed to the full lockdown that we’ve seen across the country.
“I just think everyone needs to follow advice and be sensible – then we can all get through this.”
Four and a half months, 20 weeks, 138 days – whatever you want to call it, it’s been a long wait for Haarlem to open, but open they finally will on Wednesday at 10am.
Hopefully the vibe that it wants to create will be able to flourish throughout the autumn and the winter to come and into 2021 without another devastating disruption. merrier,”