About this project . . .

To date, and to my best knowledge, there are no published books dedicated to the history and heritage of Penarth Dock and the Ely Tidal Harbour. There are a number of wonderful books about Penarth and the locality which mention the docks, but just in passing. The 150th anniversary of the opening ceremony passed sadly with a whimper in June 2015 ; alas in a few years time, our family recollections and experiences of living nearby and working at the dock will be lost forever. I am passionate that these links to the recent past and beyond should be recorded for posterity.

I have no intention to profit financially; I simply wish to recount and record the story of the dock and the pontoon etc. in context of the social and industrial norms of the period. I firstly considered that this should be a book, but after contacting a few publishers, I was less than satisfied that the content could be complete or that the cost would be reasonable given the scope of the subject. This is where the internet and people power is, I feel, potentially much better than a book; its 'free' and accessible for all to use plus it can be interactive and responsive especially if others with knowledge and memories contribute. I do hope this will be a welcomed as a resource for local schools and colleges as well.

The content of this website is therefore intended strictly for non-commercial, non-profit use only. If I have inadvertently infringed copyright or upset anyone, I apologise unreservedly. Please send me an email with the page referenced and your concern and I will give timely consideration to the amendment of the item(s) in question. I would also be extremely happy to receive further relevant information, especially photos, constructive comment and corrections to the subject matter, so please feel free to contact me by email.

In the process of building the heritage and legacy of the Penarth Dock and its Pontoon I have over the last five decades or so collected, distilled, borrowed, and possibly inadvertently stolen content from numerous sources; including, but not limited to documents, photographs, website content, books and witness comment. I believe that much of the information I have used to illustrate the story is in the Public Domain and/or out of copyright, but I do not take this for granted. Where credits are known, these are traceable by reference to the bracketed numbers e.g. [023] placed adjacent to an image; its corresponding credit may be found in the sources and credits pages. I also give credit to publication sources where known. Thank you to those who have kindly provided permission and especially to those who have contributed to the story.