Captain Beany | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | Barry Kirk 23 September 1954 |
Nationality | British |
Political party | New Millennium Bean Party |
Website | captainbeany |
Captain Beany (born Barry Kirk on 23 September 1954) [1] is a Welsh eccentric and charity fundraiser in Sandfields, Port Talbot, South Wales.
Kirk worked in the computer department of the British Petroleum chemical plant in Baglan, Neath Port Talbot. In May 1991, he changed his name by deed poll to Captain Beany. He began painting his face and bald head orange, donned a golden cape, pants, gloves and boots. To date, Captain Beany claims to have raised over £100,000 for charity through participation in various events, such as the London and New York Marathons. [2]
In 1986 Beany set a world record for the longest time sitting in a bath full of baked beans, which lasted over 100 hours. [3]
In 2006, Beany appeared on the BBC programme, Let Me Entertain You .
In September 2008, Beany climbed Snowdon carrying baked beans in aid of cancer research. [4] [5] Later, in October, during the 2000s financial crisis, he registered the trademark "Credit Crunch" for use on chocolate bars. When Selfridges sold a similarly named product, Captain Beany earned a percentage of the sales under a licensing agreement. [1] [6]
In December 2009, he teamed up with other Port Talbot musicians to record a charity Christmas song. [7] He completed the Sports Relief Mile 2010 whilst pushing a tin of baked beans on his hands and knees. [8]
He also planned to walk nearly 460 miles around the borders of Wales and England for the Cieran Jones Appeal whilst conveying a plate of baked beans on toast. His planned 'BEANS ON TOAST-A-THON' was to take place in mid August 2010. [9] [10]
In 2015 Beany raised £3,600 for charity by having 60 baked bean images tattooed on his head. Those sponsoring him had their initials inked inside one of the baked beans. [11]
In 2018 Beany appeared on a Christmas special of Blind Date as one of the choices. He wasn't chosen. [12]
In 2022, Captain Beany appeared on Inside the Superbrands. [13] In the same year he was mentioned in one of the final rounds of the Jackbox Party Pack 9 game Fibbage 4.
In May 2024, Beany auditioned for the seventeenth series of Britain’s Got Talent where he sang an original song about baked beans and how he loved to eat them for every single meal of the day. He received four red buzzers and did not progress to the next round.
In April 2009, Beany was awarded the title of "Great British Eccentric of the Year" by the Eccentric Club in London. [2] [4] He also officially transformed his council flat into the Baked Bean Museum of Excellence, with British writer Danny Wallace presiding over the opening ceremony. [14]
The Baked Bean Museum of Excellence in Port Talbot was featured in the 2010 book Behind The Scenes at the Museum of Baked Beans by author Hunter Davies. [15]
In January 2024 Beany closed his museum, due to renovations being done by the housing provider Tai Tarian. The collection was actioned off on eBay with Beany downsizing to a one bedroom flat. [16]
He has also been a candidate in local and general elections throughout Wales. He stood as "Captain Beany of the Bean Party" in the 1991 Neath by-election, coming last with 262 votes (0.7%). He then stood as the "Real Bean" candidate in Aberavon in 1992, again coming last with 707 votes (1.8%). In 1997, he stood in Aberavon again, this time as an Independent, and came last again with 341 votes (1.0%).
In 2000, he formed the New Millennium Bean Party, of which he was the sole member. [17] On this line in Aberavon in the 2001 election, he came sixth out of seven candidates with 727 votes (2.4%). In the 2005 general election, Beany gained 159 votes in Cardiff Central. [2]
He contested Aberavon again in the 2010 general election, [18] receiving 558 votes (1.8%), placing seventh out of eight candidates. [19] In the 2015 general election, support for Captain Beany more than doubled, to 1,137 votes (3.6%), placing sixth out of nine candidates. [20] He then contested the 2019 general election, support for Captain Beany fell to 731 votes (2.3%), placing sixth out of seven candidates. [21]
In 2021, he contested the Senedd election in Cardiff West, Captain Beany gained 95 votes (0%), placing ninth out of nine candidates, losing to the then first minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford. [22]
Aberavon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Stephen Kinnock of the Welsh Labour Party. It includes the town of Aberavon, although the largest town in the constituency is Port Talbot.
Port Talbot is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately eight miles from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south east of the town. It is one of the biggest steelworks in the world, but has been under threat of closure since the 1980s. The population was 31,550 in 2021, comprising about a fifth of the 141,931 population of Neath Port Talbot.
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough in the south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf to the east, Powys and Carmarthenshire to the north; and Swansea to the west.
David Hywel Francis was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberavon from 2001 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party, he chaired the Welsh Affairs Committee from 2005 to 2010 and the Joint Committee on Human Rights from 2010 to 2015.
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Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot FRS was a Welsh landowner, industrialist and Liberal politician. He developed his estate at Margam near Swansea as an extensive ironworks, served by railways and a port, which was renamed Port Talbot. He served as a Member of Parliament for Glamorgan constituencies from 1830 until his death in 1890, a sixty-year tenure which made him the second longest serving MP in the nineteenth century. He was Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan, from 1848 to 1890.
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Aberavon is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of seven constituencies in the South Wales West electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to seven constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The electoral ward of Port Talbot in Neath Port Talbot county borough covers the town centre of Port Talbot and the district of Pen-y-cae. The rest of the ward to the east consists of grassland and woodland. The electoral ward is coterminous with the Port Talbot community boundaries.
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Corus Rugby Football Club was a Welsh rugby union clubs based in Port Talbot. It is now known as Tata Steel RFC, the club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys.
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The 2017 election to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council was held on 4 May 2017 as part of wider local elections across Wales. The election was preceded by the 2012 election. Four candidates were elected unopposed.
The Baked Bean Museum of Excellence was a private museum located in Port Talbot, Wales, United Kingdom. The Baked Bean Museum Of Excellence was officially closed on 30 June 2023.