Yes, I did have that conversation with Chris Jones, of Jones Dairies and Sons, and we have some great stories but I am awaiting some extra tidbits. We will run a short history on one of the Barry and Districts oldest continuous running business, if not next week, but the week after.
Now to the old hotel. Joining the list of once popular hotels in Barry and District, the Aberthaw House Hotel changed from being a Hotel owned and run by Helen and John Redbourne, for around two decades, and then sold to become a residential house in 2024.
The Aberthaw House Hotel, at 28 Porthkerry Road, is one of the most fondly remembered former hotels in the Barry and District with an excellent reputation. The Facebook Barry and District Museumeers have a lot to say about it. But, before we examine some social history of this building on the corner of Porthkerry Road and Romilly Road. Let’s do a little on the fabric of the building and its origins.
I can’t miss my Ordnance Survey maps. We do know the date of when the former hotel was built, but what was there before? Well, in 1877 Romilly Road and the junction with Porthkerry Road heading in an Easterly direction follows an old field boundary. The location of 28 Porthkerry Road was an open field.
What’s fascinating about 28 Porthkerry Road is the inscribed date above the second floor just below the gable apex. 1891 is the date we find; a time when Barry and District was feeling its true wealth and place in history.
For we see this structure that builders were being paid not to construct in local limestone, but to use manufactured brick and the very finest and expensive Bath Stone. The ground and first floor bay windows are entirely of Bath Stone, with a flat balcony with balustrade for the second floor. Bath Stone lintels are above the second floor windows, breaking up the brickwork on the Porthkerry Road aspect are four string courses.
Much of Porthkerry Road here takes this opulent step into construction. When the location became a hotel is up for debate.
In regard to memories for the Aberthaw House Hotel, from our Barry and District Museumeers, let’s start with Beth Grinter remembering the Whispers restaurant at the ‘Hotel’. Beth would meet her mates there over Christmas time and for celebrations. Julie Morgan remembered the lovely meals, and always went there for a treat for a birthday.
Diane Andrews remembers the Aberthaw House Hotel as a lovely place to celebrate a special occasion. A relative of Diane stayed a night and said breakfast was the best they’d ever had. It was a place Eric Edwards would meet up with his mates for a pint. What’s more, Andrew Pellow fondly remembered staying with other guests the night before his wedding.
Susan Trepleton can have the last reminiscence this week. She remembered having tea and cake at the whispers not too long before it closed and recollected on the grandeur of the setting.
