Parry Scrapyard

* **Owner(s):** Liam and Martyn Parry
* **Constructed**: 1854
* **Status**: Open

**Parry Scrapyard** is a medium sized scrapyard, owned by Liam and Martyn Parry, and is located in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

## History

The yard was originally built by the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway, as a goods yard for the nearby Kidwelly. However, there was little traffic to occupy the yard, and it was more or less forgotten when the Great Western Railway absorbed the company.

By the 1940's, local scrap merchants, the Parry brothers, were looking for a suitable location to relocate to. The yard seemed good to them, and in 1947, they purchased the land and the track from the GWR and converted into use as a scrapyard, using the lines to bring in trains of scrap.

In the late 1950's, British Rail approached the brothers and asked if they would purchase some rolling stock to scrap. The men agreed, and by 1960 had purchased several locomotives, coaches and wagons to scrap alongside their usual business ventures.

In January 1960, the brothers enquired into purchasing a small diesel mechanical shunter for use in the yards. Unfortunately, due to a mix up with paperwork, they recieved a large English Electric 1-Co-Co-1 called Dan, who, despite the mix up, and begrudgingly at first, became the yard shunter and personal errand boy for the scrap merchants.

By the middle of the year, the two men had noticed that an engine that they had purchased from BR (and a wanted criminal) had not shown up: No 5690 "Leander". They sent Dan out to look for her, and, despite some troubles getting her there, and a mix up with a Black Five, Dan eventually delivered, and brought them the renegade Jubilee.

The brothers began breaking up some of their engines, and by 1964, there were only a handful of engines left, some having been purchased for preservation and others having been broken up. The last engine to leave the yard was No 5690, which was brought by a group of Preservationists wishing to restore her for a small branchline in East Anglia. Shortly before her departure, Dan was crushed by the yard's crushing machine, leaving them to acquire another shunter.

After this, the brothers settled down to purchasing and scrapping more engines, wagons and coaches, and are still in business as of 1968.

## Layout and Facilities

The yard had several lines of overgrown sidings, for which railway rolling stock was stored. There was a single entrance line, where scrap projects would be brought in, and empty scrap wagons (and escaping engines) would exit. There are several cranes for lifting locomotive boilers and heavier scrap metal, as well as an administration office.

The yard is located near the seaside at Kidwelly, which unfortunately allows much of the metal there to rust quickly, hence why the merchants are on it when it comes to getting high quality scrap metal broken up and sold on.

## Appearances

The Dark Railway Series

Episodes:

* Series 1 - Dave's Dating Tips and The Betrayal
* Series 3 - Revenge of the Forgotten
* Series 5 - Time Waits for No One (*mentioned*)

Specials:

* The Missing Christmas Presents

## Trivia

* The scrapyard's name is a direct reference to "Barry Scrapyard ", also known as Dai Woodham's or Woodham Brother's.
* The scrapyard has only ever been referred to once by it's name, in "Time Waits for No One".
* The set used for Parry scrapyard was custom made by Dark DJ himself. It was also used in the Problem Productions series "*Changing Times"* as the set for Picton scrapyard, and was used to represent Dai Woodham's scrapyard in the Angry Welshman Productions series "*Over the Hills".*