Barry grew up in Tyneside and has been a keen amateur naturalist since he was in primary school. He got an Honours Zoology Degree (upper 2nd) from the University of Durham in 1981 and after a year of travelling around, mainly in the U.K, he completed a Post Graduate Certificate of Education from the Oxford University Department of Education Studies in 1983.

He then worked as a secondary teacher of Science, Maths and Biology at a school in South East London for five years. This was a very important and formative time for him, in which he ran extra-curricular activities as well as carrying out his duties as a teacher, including youth hostelling weekends and a natural history club. He also became involved in the management of a local nature reserve for the London Wildlife Trust and became the chair of its management committee in 1985.

Barry left his teaching post in 1988 and went on the then 'Enterprise Allowance Scheme', starting his own small business as an artist and craftsman, making hand drums including Irish bodhrans like the one he uses in some of his performances, and designing celtic art work which he sold on printed tee-shirts. This allowed him to develop his creative side which had so far been frustrated. It also lead him into performing his songs and poems in local venues and he became an active member of the South East London Musicians Collective which organised gigs for local musicians with a variety of backgrounds.

In the meantime, when his allowance came to an end he worked part time as an Education Officer on a site for the London Wildlife Trust and joined the (voluntary) management committee of their London Wildlife Garden Centre, a nursery for native plants with a strong educational side. After being on the committee as an educational consultant he chaired it between 1991 and 1993, running a couple of successful summer playschemes there.

After his Education Officer post with the trust ended in 1990 he worked for the Natural History Museum as a part time explainer in their Discovery Centre, a hands on child centred activity gallery working with visiting school groups, mainly primary schools, and families. Here he received a lot of training and experience in object centred discussion, storytelling, art workshops and in working with people with various kinds of learning difficulties or sensory challenges. This was where he first developed The Wild Man of the Woods, his longest running and most popular children's performance. During this time he continued to make drums and to do various kinds of performances, involving one or two T.V. appearances, including a children's documentary feature and playing in a musical session, which proved to be very useful experience.

After working in the museum for three years Barry moved to Coventry, where he currently lives. He works as a supply (relief) teacher for the local council's primary and special needs schools and has continued to develop his children's performances. He has been a member of Coventry's Agenda 21 Steering Group and Chair of the Coventry Environment Network. His performances are his preferred way of making a living. He enjoys developing new shows and is always keen to visit new venues to try out new ideas. For Barry, art science and nature are parts of a deeply felt spiritual impulse, something which comes across clearly in the humour, enthusiasm and often inspirational quality of his performances.