west. The lighthouse at the entrance to the channel leading to the docks is just visible. Barry island on the skyline

The Old Harbour, Barry, looking east towards the causeway that was built to Barry Island
Barry in 1871 was a village on the north shore of the Bristol Channel a few miles west of Cardiff with a population of about 100, few of whom had been born there.[1] Most of the people in Barry and the nearby villages of Cadoxton and Merthyr Dyfan earned a living as farmers, craftsmen or tradesmen.[2] Barry Island, just offshore, was popular with day trippers. They could reach it over stepping stones at low tide or by boat at other times. An estimated 12,000 people visited the island in 1876.[3]

Barry Sound lay between the island and the mainland, sheltered from storms by the island and by Friar's point. It had been a port in Medieval times.[4] The island was about 1 mile (1.6 km) long and .5 miles (0.80 km) wide, with a height of 120 feet (37 m) above mean sea level. The mainland slopes up to the north, so the sound was well sheltered from the wind.[5] No rivers or streams ran into the sound.[6]

The Bristol Channel is known for the range of its tides. During normal spring tides there is a range in water level of 36 feet (11 m), and during normal neap tides a range of 19.5 feet (5.9 m). At low water during spring tides there is a depth of 25 feet (7.6 m) at a distance of 2,100 feet (640 m) from the site of the dock entrance.[7]

Background[edit]
For most of the 19th century Cardiff was the main port for exporting South Wales coal.[8] Cardiff shipped 998,000 tons of coal in 1859, 1.9 million tons in 1867 and 7.7 million tons of coal in 1889.[9] John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute (1793–1848) had built the Cardiff Docks, which remained in the possession of his son. Other coal mine owners had no choice but to use these docks and the Taff Vale Railway to export their product under terms dictated by Bute.[8] They complained about delays and congestion at the port, and said that Bute was charging extortionate fees.[9]

A scheme to build a dock at Barry dated back as early as 1865, when John Thomas, a retired farmer of Barry island, proposed a Glamorgan Coast Railroad to link Pencoed, Llansannor, Cowbridge and Aberthaw with Barry, and a further line to Cogan, where the Penarth Dock and the Grangetown line was alread

 the docks, the dock walls and quays, coal loading equipment and railways to deliver coal from the mines to the docks. A second dock and second entrance lock were added in 1898. Barry Dock Offices was built in 1897-1900 by the architect Arthur E. Bell.

In 1909, between 8,000 and 10,000 men were employed in the docks, and by 1913, the docks were the busiest coal port in the world, exporting 11.05 million tons at peak. Coal exports declined after World War I (1914–18). Strikes and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused further problems. The docks proved useful during World War II (1939–45). They were nationalised soon after the war ended. The Geest company used the docks to import West Indian bananas from 1959 until the 1980s. From 1957 obsolete railway cars and steam locomotives were stored on sidings beside the docks before being scrapped. More than 200 locomotives were recovered by enthusiasts for conservation or restoration. Parts of the docks have become industrial estates such as the Atlantic Trading Estate, and the area around the first dock, now called The Waterfront, has been redeveloped for residential and commercial use. The second dock is still active.

Contents  [hide]
1 Location
2 Background
3 Construction
3.1 Project launch
3.2 Dams and excavation
3.3 Railways and docks
3.4 Completion
4 Facilities
4.1 Approach channel
4.2 Dock basin
4.3 Lady Windsor Lock
4.4 Docks
4.5 Machinery and labour
5 History
5.1 Boom years
5.2 Decline
5.3 Scrapyard
6 Recent years
6.1 Urban development
6.2 Commercial operations
7 References
8 Sources
Location[edit]

The Bendricks looking west. The lighthouse at the entrance to the channel leading to the docks is just visible. Barry island on the skyline