False Alarms In Barry Island
False Alarms In Barry Island
On Saturday May 18th the media reported that hundreds of beachgoers on Barry Island were advised by a tannoy announcement to ‘get out of the sea’ due to concerns over water quality. Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water confirmed that an announcement was made but it was a false alarm. No doubt the newspaper and TV reports will have put some people off a visit to our local beach.
There is a precedent for this sort of thing. In the Summer of 1964 rival gangs of Mods and Rockers descended on seaside towns causing the media to create a national panic over what was happening to society. Many curtailed their visits to the seaside as a result. But was it just another false alarm?
Mods and Rockers were not really about violence. The Rocker subculture was all about motorcycles, with members decked out in black leather jackets and motorcycle boots or winkle pickers. This style took cues from Marlon Brando’s iconic look in the 1953 film “The Wild One.” Rockers typically sported a pompadour hairstyle and grooved to 1950s rock and roll and R&B tunes, favouring artists like Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, and Bo Diddley, as well as British rock and roll stars such as Billy Fury and Johnny Kidd.
On the other hand, the Mod subculture focused on fashion and music, with many opting to ride scooters. Mods were known for their sharp attire, often wearing suits and other neat outfits. They listened to a variety of music genres, including modern jazz, soul, Motown, ska, and British blues-rooted bands like the Yardbirds, the Small Faces, and the Who. Amen Corner’s Andy Fairweather Low, guitarist, songwriter and producer remembered the time. ‘I used to ‘mitch’ off school to go to Barretts music shop in Cardiff. There were lots of mods around, certainly in the cafes around the city. I loved the style, the mohair suits, button-down shirts, the smell of Brut aftershave.’ In the Valleys, the Italian cafes proved popular meeting places for mods to park up their ever impressive scooters and discuss the latest in mod fashion and music. You can read more in ‘Welsh Mod: Our Story’ by Claire Mahoney, which documents the roots and Mod revival in Wales.
The Summer of 1964 saw the clash of cultures turn to violence in the coastal towns of the south east of England. Things really kicked off on Whitsun weekend, with newspaper headlines reporting the ‘Battle of Brighton’, and ‘Wild Ones ‘Beat Up’ Margate’ accompanied with detailed reports of violent clashes. In fact, only c1000 people congregated at Brighton Beach that day and the police made just 76 arrests. The country burst into what sociologist Stanley Cohen called a moral panic. Newspapers started warning about Mods and Rockers, calling them “vermin” and ‘mutated locusts wreaking untold havoc on the land.’
Welsh youth made their own Bank Holiday pilgrimages to Barry Island and Porthcawl. The South Wales Echo joined in the media frenzy, reporting what went on in England, but finding little to sensationalise about in Wales. Here it was all about fashion and transport. Mods and Rockers made their way to the seaside to show off their outfits, scooters and motor cycles. The local police kept a watchful eye; but there were few reports of violence. One weekend, The Echo, no doubt hoping for some attention grabbing headlines, was reduced to reporting on the heavy rain, which dampened the enthusiasm of Mods and Rockers at Welsh seaside resorts. This was hardly the stuff reported by a Birmingham Post editorial in May 1964, which warned that Mods and Rockers were ‘internal enemies’ who would bring about disintegration of a nation’s character