Barry, The Docks 1899

Photo ref: 43450

More about this scene

Situated eight miles south-west of Cardiff, Barry was the last of the great Welsh coal ports to be developed. No 1 Dock, covering 73 acres of deep water, opened in 1889 and was equipped with nineteen coal hoists. No 2 Dock, covering 34 acres of deep water, opened in 1898; the north side for coal, the south side for general cargo, and the eastern end for timber, with timber ponds covering 34 acres and six acres respectively. No 3 Dock, or the Basin, was the tidal entrance, but could accommodate some general cargo. The ship nearest the camera is Turnbull, Scott & Co's 'Eastgate', which was built in their family-owned shipyard at of Thomas Turnbull & Son, Whitby. The yard was opened in 1840 to build wooden ships, but in 1871 production was switched to building iron tramps. A total of 113 were built between then and the yard's closure in 1902. Of these, sixty were built for the Turnbull family themselves for their fleets at Whitby, Cardiff and London. The reason for the yard's closure was that Whitby bridge restricted dimensions to a maximum beam of 44ft.