![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Picture1.png?resize=250%2C300\")
<\/a> south east of England. Things really kicked off on Whitsun weekend, with newspaper headlines reporting the \u2018Battle of Brighton\u2019, and \u2018Wild Ones ‘Beat Up’ Margate\u2019 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 \u2018mutated locusts wreaking untold havoc on the land.\u2019<\/p>\nWelsh 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 \u2018internal enemies\u2019 who would bring about disintegration of a nation’s character<\/p>\n
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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[228],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3K2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14943,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14943","url_meta":{"origin":14386,"position":0},"title":"Halloween Stroll at Barry Island","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Halloween Stroll at Barry Island A Halloween stroll at Barry Island...did any of these strollers work their magic and bring the bright sunshine and blue skies that was welcomed by all? \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Carers Walk"","block_context":{"text":"Carers Walk","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=362"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15382,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15382","url_meta":{"origin":14386,"position":1},"title":"The Life And Times Of Mr J C Meggitt – Part 2","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR J C MEGGITT - Part 2 In Part I, we learned how the 28 year old John Claxton Meggitt came from Wolverhampton and established a thriving timber supply business in Barry. Initially this was to supply the timber needed for \u201cfalse works\u201d in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Picture7.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16646,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16646","url_meta":{"origin":14386,"position":2},"title":"The First Stroll at Barry Island","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th February 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The First Stroll at Barry Island The first stroll at Barry Island of 2026 was under grey skies. Wrapped up walkers enjoyed being blown around the headland and catching up on post-Christmas chat. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Carers Walk"","block_context":{"text":"Carers Walk","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=362"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Carers-Stroll.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14835,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14835","url_meta":{"origin":14386,"position":3},"title":"A Brief History Of Barry To 1939","author":"Alan Williams","date":"22nd November 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A BRIEF HISTORY OF BARRY TO 1939 We all go to Barry, at least now and again, but how often do we pause to consider how the town of almost 60,000 people today became developed in a relatively short space of time? This chronology has been (mostly) taken from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Picture9.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17076,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=17076","url_meta":{"origin":14386,"position":4},"title":"Love To See You There!","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st June 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Love To See You There! Sun + sea + blue skies + ice cream = a very happy strolling group at Barry Island. We meet on the last Thursday of every month at 10.30am by Barry Island Station. We would love to see you there!\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Carers Walk"","block_context":{"text":"Carers Walk","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=362"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Carers-Stroll.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15339,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15339","url_meta":{"origin":14386,"position":5},"title":"Book Review","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BOOK REVIEW \"Barry Railway: Coal\u2019s Last Burst\" This slim volume by erstwhile civil engineer, local historian and author Stephen K Jones has been produced to serve as an overarching summary to bring together several historical strands. These chart the 1880s development and growth of the Barry Railway and Docks to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Woodhams.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14386"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14386"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14405,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14386\/revisions\/14405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Picture2.png?resize=266%2C300\")
<\/a>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. \u2018I 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.\u2019 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 \u2018Welsh Mod: Our Story\u2019 by Claire Mahoney, which documents the roots and Mod revival in Wales. <\/strong><\/p>\n