I have put this gallery online as I think it was an important part of the town's identity. A description of the Knap Swimming Pool comes best from Tom Clemett's website of Barry. He says "The Knap Swimming Pool, Barry's 'Jewel in the Crown'. This was the largest and one of the best known outdoor swimming pools in the country, with at one time a water polo team, a swimming club and a lifeguard club, with a combined membership of over 250.

This was built in the 1920s by unemployed workers on a docket system, with funds from the Unemployed Grants Committee. The Lake and Pool was built on the bed of the old Cadoxton River which flowed from the Watchtower Bay end of the pool, towards Bindles, joining the brook which used to run through Romilly Park and out to sea at the Pebble Beach.

The Knap Pool was built as a tidal pool, designed to be filled at high tide by means of a sluice gate, which opened when the pressure of the water outside the pool was greater than pressure of the water in the pool. This system was discontinued when a gas engine was installed, allowing water to be pumped into the pool at high tide. This pump was installed at the deep end near the diving boards. The pool was one of the largest open-air pools in Britain, was 120 yards long and 30 yards wide, and contained over 1,000,000 gallons of water. In the early 50's the pool was again altered, by the addition of a diving pit and higher diving boards, and the construction of a temporary boom across it at 50 yards to enable the British Swimming Championships to take place. Teams from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland took part in the International match.

The heyday of the pool and lake was the 50's, when over 3,000 people visited the pool daily on Bank Holiday weekends, and over 1,500 daily during the school holidays. Most of these were "locals" who considered the pool to be theirs. It was often said that "Barry Island was for Trippers, but that Porthkerry and The Knap were ours". An attempt was made by the council to close the pool, but a petition of over 15,000 signatures, together with the addresses of the persons signing it, was presented to the council."

I remember fantastic times at the Knap Pool but three years later an uncaring and unlistening council closed the pool for ever. It has now been so called 'landscaped' - such a loss to the town's identity!! However in recent months memories of the pool seem to be returning, because of the botch job done by the council in filling in the area, the whole field where the pool once was, now floods into its former shape!! Typical, but funny!