Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - The dock extension of 1883 . . .

Congestion at Penarth Docks had become acute by January 1883 even though "there are about 28 miles of sidings connected with storing wagons for the convenience of merchants" according to the "Visit to Works" report in 1884 of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. [016]

The docks were not the only issue since conditions on the TVR main line were also problematic:

“It is not an infrequent thing for a train of coal coming from Pontypridd down to Cardiff, a distance of 12 or 13 miles, to be 8 or 9 hours on the journey . . . . simply from the congestion of traffic. It is no infrequent thing, I believe, for enginemen to be 7 or 8 hours without moving a yard, waiting until the line can be cleared.” [006]

This was the impetus for the Barry Dock Bill spurred on by the rebellious coalowners and shippers led by David Davies of the Ocean Collieries. The Bill finally received assent on 14th August 1884 but was bitterly opposed by the TVR and the Bute Trustees. Barry Docks, however, was finally opened on 18th July 1889.

The building of the extension and newspaper reports provides insight into daily life as the work progressed. The census return provides a snapshot of Penarth Dock on Sunday 3rd April 1881 prior to work commencing:

“There were around two dozen vessels in the dock and harbour, about half of which were Severn trows and other small sailing craft. There were six steamships, including ‘Varna’, ‘Norfolk’, ‘Juan’, and ‘Scio’.

One of the largest sailing vessels was the ‘County of Aberdeen’ (1,943 tons), a four-masted iron ship built on the Clyde only two years earlier for R. J. Craig of Glasgow. There were 17 crew members on-board, including the Chief Mate, Alfred Oram (34 years) and his wife Jane. The crew included seven from Scotland, three from England, and others from New York, Nova Scotia, Ireland and France.”

The Cardiff Times [019] reported on the 24th September 1881: "Penarth - The quantity of coal shipped at the above place for the past month was 153,237 tons, and at Penarth Tidal Harbour, 19,558 tons. . . .