I went back to UK seaside town made famous by BBC's Gavin & Stacey - I was shocked

Everyone knows Barry Island. The funny little seaside town on the South Wales coast has been catapulted to the big time thanks to smash BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey.

Ruth Jones and James Corden may have put Barry on the map for millions of people, but Barry was sincerely one of my favourite places before anyone had ever heard of Nessa, Smithy and Dave Coaches.

That's why I decided it was high time to go back and see if sitcom stardom has changed Barry Island for the better - or not.

As a child of a Welsh family, Barry Island was my home away from home back in the 1990s. Frequent trips down to Cardiff to see my countless collection of cousins (my dad was one of eight brothers and sisters, born on a Welsh farm in the 1950s) always ended with a trip to plucky little Barry.

It makes me sound a thousand years old, but my pre-internet childhood was also pre-Ryanair and Easyjet. Kids these days are jetting off to Gran Canaria, Greece and Mallorca before they start school. My generation went to Barry, Weston-super-Mare, Blackpool, Skegness and Scarborough.

Back then, I wasn't aware of any downtrodden reputation. Some of my favourite childhood memories are sitting on the beach at Barry with one of those ice creams with the coloured sauce round the whippy, riding the log flume and playing the 2p machines.

Fast-forward 30+ years, and it was my turn to take my toddler son for his first trip to Barry Island-along with my northern England wife, who only knew it from Gavin and Stacey.

I was shocked. I don't know if it's the BBC sitcom effect, but the approach to Barry is very different to 1998. Someone's built an entirely new town here.

The top end of Barry, as you come in, is now a whole new build development of waterfront properties. It's like Fort Lauderdale, but with little flats instead of millionaire yachts, and more rain.

Harbourside @ The Quays is what the 'Barry Waterfront' development calls it, offering 'scenic waterside views' of the Bristol Channel just a stone's throw from the beach. New roads purpose-built cut through an estate which also boasts a brand new retail park opposite. None of this is the Barry I remember, and it's a far cry from the Victorian hillside terraces where Bryn asks Gwen for omelettes.

Curiously, driving just two more minutes to the seafront and it all changes again. Once past the new builds and onto the seafront itself, it's like driving through a portal from 2025 to 1998. Nothing - and I mean almost literally nothing - has changed on Barry Island seafront since I was a primary schoolboy.

The same slightly tired theme park, with rickety log flume, is still in front of the same pirate crazy golf course. The same flashing arcades with the same 2p machines sit behind the same array of chippies and greasy spoon cafes. Even the block of public loos is the same.

The promenade which houses 'Nessa's arcade' still has the same beige columns in front of the same stretch of beach.

The only thing that's different is that the little arcade where Nessa worked in the BBC show is now selling a range of Gavin and Stacey tat, from aprons to coasters and t-shirts with off-licenced quotes and images. Various chippies and cafes are 'Gavin and Stacey's favourite' or have pictures of the cast up on walls and signs.

The beach is still a long stretch of thick golden sand, perfect for sandcastles. The chippies are still reasonably priced with proper old school fish and chips. Rock, fudge and candy floss is still in ample supply. There's still plenty for kids and a lovely coastal walk up on the cliffs with views of England on a clear day.

My son had the 'best day ever'. He loved it so much he spent four hours straight on the sand, building sandcastles, digging holes and chasing seagulls. Even my wife conceded it was 'much better than I thought'.

Gavin and Stacey may have put Barry Island on the map, but its seaside is still taking people back to a simpler time, a slice of classic Britain I thought had been lost forever.