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Barry Island, like all Butlins sites at the time had a chairlift system. It opened a year after the camp started, in
1967. It ran for 430 yards from next to the medical centre at the front of the camp to the sports field in the middle of the
camp. Unlike all the other Butlins systems, the chairlifts were manufactured by a Swiss company, Van Roll (the other Butlins
chairlifts were British made). The last season of the chairlifts at Barry Island was 1989. Majestic decided the chailifts
were no longer economical to keep in use, so they were demolished along with all of the chairlift equipment, including the stations. Now, not one Butlins chairlift survives.
Please note, the first two images are Copyright © Butlins Archive
Edit 21/10/04 - We have been informed that the chairlift was not scrapped, but sold to Blackpool Pleasure
Beach for spares. This is possible as the two systems are very similar in age and design. The Blackpool model, and any bits
of Barry's, are still at the Pleasure Beach, but not in use. This is known as 'Standing but not Operating'. Below is a photo
of the Pleasure Beach's system, showing the similarities.
| The Blackpool System |
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