Developments at the turn of the 20th century - This photo, dated 1908, shows to great advantage the four traversing coal tips numbers 15 to 18 installed on the north quay of the Penarth Dock Basin 'having been erected by Messrs. Fielding and Platt of Gloucester in 1899-1900. They are built of steel and are direct-acting hoists to deal with wagons of a gross weight of 25 tons, whilst the cradle can travel at 180 feet per minute; wagons can be tipped at any height between 4 end 45 feet above the quay-level, or 55 feet above water-level when there is 32 feet of water on the cill.' [178] The book 'Penarth in old picture postcards' states:- 'This extremely efficient process enabled a vast amount of coal to loaded onto the waiting ships in a relatively short period, and gave the Dock the reputation of being the fastest coal-loading port in the world!' [300]

Developments at the turn of the 20th century - The R. & J. H. Rea freighter 'Bangarth' shown at tips 15 to 18 in this Photochrom postcard dating from 1905. In 1872 Russell Rea commenced business as a coal merchant in Liverpool. A few years later his brother James Rea joined the partnership and the name of the firm was changed to R. & J. H. Rea. They owned a fleet of five steamers, each having a capacity of about 2,500 tons dead weight named the 'Bangarth', 'Calgarth', 'Dalegarth', 'Gatesgarth', and 'Throstlegarth'. In addition to these vessels they possessed five steam tugs and about 200 lighters. Messrs. E. & J. H. Rea had shipping offices at London, Liverpool, Southampton, Bristol and Cardiff. [053]