Woodham Brothers - Today

Today

In the early 1970s, Dai Woodham started building what are now called the Romily Units at the Woodham Road site on No.2 Dock, Barry Docks, for the purpose of giving local business-people access to cheap industrial units. By 1987 he had managed to build-up the site to contain 23 industrial units to rent, ranging in size from to 2,488 to 4,145 sq ft (231.1 to 385.1 m2), with access to the docks, the railway and the M4 motorway. The main Woodham Brothers business is today based around these industrial units.

Woodham Brothers continued dealing as scrap metal merchants, and continued scrapping locomotives on behalf of British Railways. Casualties included some of the earlier types of diesels ahead of the remaining steam locomotive stock. British Rail Class 21 No. D6122 was the last of its class to survive, arriving in August 1968 and cut up by Woodhams in 1980 because no one wanted to buy it.

After Dai Woodham announced that he was going to retire, a concerted effort was made to clear the remaining hulks. One result of this was that ten locomotives, known as the Barry Ten, were taken on by the Vale of Glamorgan Council and stored in 'scrapyard' condition. All under the care of the Barry Tourist Railway, eight locomotives are still in Barry only a few hundred yards away from where they were removed, while two are under restoration at different locations around the country. GWR 4575 Class No. 5553 was the last steam engine to leave Woodham Brothers, in January 1990 for the West Somerset Railway.

A total of 213 locomotives were 'rescued' from Woodham's yard. Over 100 have been restored to working order, although many of these have since been withdrawn for overhaul and are out of use or awaiting further work.