1946 - Bostock 0-4-0 ST - WKB 2021 - c.1881 - A photograph of this saddle tank, industrial locomotive is dated 15th August 1946 and it was taken at the Distillers Company, Sully, near Barry, Glamorgan. The engine was built by Walker Brothers of Wigan under works number  WKB 2021 during 1881 and was still in service after 65 years! The photograph is held within the Penarth Dock Collection. [001]

1967 - An Aerial view of the Dow Chemical Company facilities located in Barry - The credit for the aerial view photograph is assigned to Terrence Soames (Cardiff) Limited but is held at the Science History Institute of Philadelphia. [1404]

The Distillers was situated in the area to the right of the image and fronted onto the road between Sully and Cadoxton. There used to be a hump back bridge there before the road was widened. The road crossing left to right in front of the works is the Bendricks Road which heads left towards Sully Hospital, a Cadoxton school-mate named Phillip, Dinosaur Footprints and Barry Docks!

Around the same date as the photograph above I was driving my Ford Popular along the road towards Sully and came around the bend and over the hump-back bridge only to meet a motorbike and rider stopped in my path in the middle of the road. He was waiting to turn right into the Distillers works main entrance. A car passed in the opposite direction and then I shunted him across the road in the gap between the two cars only a split second before the second car passed. He had his legs outspread and both arms in the air during his travels across the road and then I learnt some new words to add to my engineering vocabulary as he expressed his grievances against me!!

The following short history has been compiled using AI and may thus have inaccuracies included. [AIX]

A Short History of the Distillers Company at Barry, Glamorgan

The Distillers Company Limited (DCL) was a major British industrial company founded in Scotland in 1877. Originally established as an association of six grain whisky distillers, it grew into a large international business, expanding beyond whisky production into industrial alcohol and chemicals.

The company established a factory at Barry, Glamorgan, taking advantage of the area's industrial development and transport links. Barry had grown rapidly following the opening of its docks in 1889, becoming an important centre for industry and trade in South Wales.

Following the Second World War, the Barry site became an important centre for the manufacture of plastics and synthetic materials. Development began in 1946–47 on a site covering approximately 93 acres. In 1948, British Resin Products opened its factory there, producing synthetic resins and moulding materials. A joint venture with the American company B. F. Goodrich also led to the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), widely used in plastics manufacture. These developments helped establish Barry as a significant centre for the expanding chemical industry.

The Distillers Company’s ownership of the Barry chemical and plastics businesses came to an end in 1967, when the company transferred its interests to BP. The site subsequently developed under different owners and became part of the wider industrial landscape of Barry and the Vale of Glamorgan. DCL itself was acquired by Guinness in 1986, and its corporate legacy eventually became part of Diageo.

The importance of the Distillers Company at Barry lies in its contribution to the town’s post-war industrial growth, particularly the development of plastics, resins and chemical manufacturing, which provided employment and helped diversify the local economy beyond its traditional port and transport industries.