Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - The construction of the dock . . .

The Travel Album - By the 1880's travellers were buying loose albumen prints and pasting them into albums as souvenirs of their grand tours of Britain and abroad. Alfred Freke and John Long sold views of Cardiff but by far the best studio was Collings'.

From 1864 Joseph Collings took a memorable series of high quality large format views of Cardiff, Penarth and surrounding areas. His use of 12" x 10" glass negatives assured him meticulous detail and this is particularly evident in his industrial studies.

Collings recorded the excavation and building of Penarth Dock, Roath Dock, and some of the civil engineering associated with the local railway construction. His street scenes include several of the celebrations connected with the coming of age of the Marquis of Bute. His rooftop views from the Castle tower are of great interest. Further afield, Collings recorded the ruins of Van House, Caerphilly and Castell Coch before restoration. Many of these images were probably as a direct result of commissions by the Bute Estate. We even have photographs of Bute's Pwllypant quarry.

Joseph Collings died in 1875 but his wife Margaret and their son, who carried on the business, were continuing to sell albums of prints from these negatives as 'Photographic Views of Old Cardiff' in 1890.

Some of these important negatives are stored in the Welsh Folk Museum. A priceless album of contemporary prints by Collings is in Cardiff Library. - The National Library of Wales Journal vol.1 [1217] Summer 1939.