Gibbonsdown, colloquially known as 'Gibby', is a housing estate

Housing estate

A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...

 situated in the north east area of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan

Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Gibbonsdown borders Merthyr Dyfan

Merthyr Dyfan

Merthyr Dyfan or Dyfan is a northeastern suburb district of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, in south Wales, formerly an independent medieval village and reputedly the oldest Christian site in Wales. It is also a traditional parish and a formal electoral ward of the Vale of Glamorgan. It borders...

 to the northwest and Cadaxton to the southeast.

Crime

The area has gained a bad image over the years because of deprivation, quality of the area and crime such as vandalism, violence, drugs and theft. In Barry and across the Vale of Glamorgan the young lads of this area are known as the "Gibby Boys", a derogatory term often used in reference to car theft and thuggery. In 2009, Gibbonsdown was in the newspapers for more serious offences such as the fatal stabbing of Paul Jones. John Chivers was arrested that night and a few weeks later sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in prison. After the murder, Gibbonsdown Residents' Board chairwoman Molly Conway made complaints about the police for a lack of manpower and patrols on an estate well known as having problems with crime and anti-social behaviour.

Landmarks

Gibbonsdown is home to the Holm View Community Leisure Centre

Leisure centre

A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...

, the Gibbonsdown Children Centre, and the Oakfield Primary School (known as the Gibbonsdown Primary School before its reconstruction). It also has the Ysgol Maes Dyfan, a primary school with 96 pupils as of 2005, teaching special needs children. It is also home to Pencoedtre park and the Master Mariner pub.

Transport

Notable roads include Treharne Road (known to locals as "The Treharne"), Caradoc Avenue, Robins Lane, and Skomer Road, which connects the area to Wenvoe

Wenvoe

Wenvoe is a Welsh village between Barry and Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Nearby is the Wenvoe Transmitter near Twyn-yr-Odyn and the HTV Wales Television Centre at Culverhouse Cross in the suburbs of Cardiff.-History:...

.