lit a candle 4h agoDidn't know Terry, just saw this shared on a Barry page. Lost my own uncle very suddenly a few months back and reading about someone who just quietly kept a club running for years, forty seven at the power station too, it got me more than I expected. Sending strength to Lorraine.
Their story
Terry Collins was a long serving Barry Athletic Bowls Club stalwart and a familiar figure in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, for decades. Friends, family and former colleagues remembered him as a true gentleman: quiet, hard working and always ready to help. He died in September 2026 at the age of…
Terry Collins was a long serving Barry Athletic Bowls Club stalwart and a familiar figure in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, for decades. Friends, family and former colleagues remembered him as a true gentleman: quiet, hard working and always ready to help. He died in September 2026 at the age of 79. The exact day was not made public. Tributes appeared in local Welsh media in early October, including Barry and District News, Bro Radio and the Glamorgan Star.
Born in Dinas Powys, Collins played rugby for Old Penarthians and studied at university in Leicester. He began his working life at Didcot power station before transferring to Aberthaw, where he spent 47 years and rose to manage a team of engineers. Former Aberthaw colleagues described him as one of the best, a good friend and a lovely man to work with. He had not wanted to retire, but neighbour and bowls club member John Holmes steered him toward the green. The club became the centre of his later life.
At Barry Athletic Bowls Club he served as chairman for a year, joint treasurer with Scott Howell, and midweek team captain. In his final season he was non playing captain of the Munro Cup side because of his health. The team clinched the South Vale Bowling Association trophy with a perfect record, and he was able to share the celebrations when the cup arrived at the clubhouse in late August. Chairman Gary Williams said Collins undertook many thankless tasks for the bowls section and for Club Limited without fuss or expectation of praise. His wife Lorraine said the bowls club was his life for the last ten years: cutting hedges, tidying up, putting the bins out, always a big part of it.
Collins and Lorraine were married for 32 years, a second marriage for both after knowing each other for 37. They enjoyed travelling and family gatherings. Her children called him Pop, and her sons included him on rugby weekends away in Scotland and Italy. After his death the club WhatsApp filled with messages calling him one of life's lovely people, a gentle soul with a cheeky grin, and a hard worker well loved by all. Lorraine thanked them, writing that he was one of life's gentlemen, always willing to roll his sleeves up, and that the club filled a huge place in his heart.
Biography adapted from Barry and District News, Bro Radio, Glamorgan Star, and InYourArea tributes (Ken Watkins).
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1by People Forever
so sorry for your loss, and his. It's always the quiet ones who hold everything together