Burry Port Harbour is a former industrial harbour which mainly served the coal industry, on the Loughor estuary (Moryd Llwchwr). It is now converted into a marina. The town of Burry Port grew around the harbour.
| Burry Port Harbour | |
|---|---|
 North west facing view of the harbour | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Wales |
| Location | Burry Port |
| Coordinates | 51°40′51″N4°15′11″W / 51.680924°N 4.253086°W |
| UN/LOCODE | GB BPT |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1832 |
| Owned by | The Marine Group |
The town of Burry Port dates from the nineteenth century although the neighbouring village of Pembrey has a history dating back to the medieval period. From the late eighteenth century, the development of small collieries in the area led to the building of a network of canals and then tramways to carry coal from inland mines to the sea. The first of these canals was built by Thomas Kymer and reached the sea at Kidwelly and another was built in 1798 by the Earl of Ashburnham to serve his collieries. Harbour facilities remained basic until Pembrey Harbour was opened in 1819. However, the fairly rapid growth of coal mining in the years following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 resulted in it not being large enough to serve the needs of the mine owners of the Gwendraeth Valley. As a result, with the backing of the Pemberton family and other local landowners an Act of Parliament was secured in 1825 to form the Pembrey New Harbour Company. [1] This became known as Burry Port Harbour before it was completed. [1]
The new harbour opened in 1832 although the harbour walls collapsed soon after leading to a delay in its full operation. [1] It provided a means to transport coal produced in the Gwendraeth Valley out to sea, although it still depended on a complex pattern of inland canals and tramways. Those who invested in the development of the harbour believed that its location offered considerable potential for expansion, as it had an advantage over neighbouring Llanelli Harbour in that vessels did not need to navigate the narrow channel along the Loughor estuary. In June 1838, John H. Browne, clerk to the Burry Port Harbour Company, wrote to the Cambrian newspaper drawing attention to the advantages after an article on port facilities in the South Wales Coalfield failed to refer to Burry Port. [2] Three years later, in 1841, an account of the potential development of the anthracite coalfield to provide fuel for steamships highlighted the potential of Burry Port Harbour to accommodate larger ships than could progress through the narrow channel to the larger port at Llanelli. [3]
The town of Burry Port did not exist at this time. The earliest records of the town springing up around the new docks adjacent to Pembrey appear around 1850. The importance of the newly emerging town increased when the railways reached Burry Port. The station serving both Pembrey and the new town of Burry Port was built a few hundred yards down from Pembrey at Burry Port.
The canal network was now unable to handle the loads from the Gwendraeth valley mines and part of the canal network was converted into the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway by the late 1860s with the port continuing to grow in importance and shipping volumes. It did not, however, achieve the levels of trade that many had anticipated and went into gradual decline in the twentieth century.
Dyfed is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel.
Carmarthenshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as the "Garden of Wales" and is also home to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Burry Port is a port town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on the Loughor estuary, to the west of Llanelli and south-east of Kidwelly. Its population was recorded at 5,680 in the 2001 census and 6,156 in the 2011 census, and estimated at 5,998 in 2019. The town has a harbour. It is also where Amelia Earhart landed as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Nearby are the Pembrey Burrows sand dune and wetland system, forming a country park, and the Cefn Sidan sands. Its musical heritage includes Burry Port Opera, Male Choir and Burry Port Town Band.
Carmarthen Bay is an inlet of the South Wales coast, including notable beaches such as Pendine Sands and Cefn Sidan sands. Carmarthen Bay is partially within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee list Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries as a Special Area of Conservation.
Pembrey is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly, overlooking Carmarthen Bay, with a population of about 2,154 in 2011. The electoral ward having a population of 4,301. It is in the community of Pembrey and Burry Port Town.
The Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway (BP&GVR) was a mineral railway company that constructed a railway line in Carmarthenshire, Wales, by conversion of a canal, to connect collieries and limestone pits to the sea at Kidwelly. It extended its network to include Burry Port, Trimsaran and a brickworks at Pwll, later extending to Sandy near Llanelli. For a time the company worked the separate Gwendraeth Valleys Railway. The BP&GVR was notable because of the very low height of some overbridges, a legacy of the canal conversion.
The South Wales Coalfield extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales Valleys.
The River Gwendraeth is a river in Carmarthenshire in West Wales.
Pontyberem is a village and community situated in the Gwendraeth Valley halfway between Carmarthen and Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. As of the 2001 Census, the population was recorded as 2,829, reducing to 2,768 at the 2011 Census.
Trimsaran is a community and former mining village which lies on the B4308 between Llanelli and Kidwelly, in the Welsh county of Carmarthenshire.
Cefneithin is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, in the Carmarthenshire coalfield area. It lies just off the A48 road, 7 miles north west of Ammanford and 9 miles north of Llanelli. Its nearby community villages include Cross Hands, Drefach, Cwmmawr, Foelgastell and Gorslas. The Gwendraeth Fawr river flows nearby and its source is at Llyn Llech Owain, just north of the village. Cefneithin has a chapel (Tabernacl), a village hall, a primary school, and a secondary school. The latter, Ysgol Maes y Gwendraeth, was re-opened in 2016 after an extensive renovation and an £18.4m investment; it has 1,000 pupils, of which 157 in sixth form, and resources for children with additional learning needs. Prior to 2016 when the school was called Ysgol Gyfun Maes Yr Yrfa, some of its famous pupils include Nigel Owens, Jonathan Edwards, TV presenter Alex Jones and British and Irish Lion rugby player, Dwayne Peel.
The Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal was a canal and tramroad system in Carmarthenshire, Wales, built to carry anthracite coal to the coast for onward transportation by coastal ships. It began life as Kymer's Canal in 1766, which linked pits at Pwll y Llygod to a dock near Kidwelly. Access to the dock gradually became more difficult as the estuary silted up, and an extension to Llanelli was authorised in 1812. Progress was slow, and the new canal was linked to a harbour at Pembrey built by Thomas Gaunt in the 1820s, until the company's own harbour at Burry Port was completed in 1832. Tramways served a number of collieries to the east of Burry Port.
Burry Port Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Burry Port.
The coal industry in Wales played an important role in the Industrial Revolution in Wales. Coal mining in Wales expanded in the 18th century to provide fuel for the blast furnaces of the iron and copper industries that were expanding in southern Wales. The industry had reached large proportions by the end of that century, and then further expanded to supply steam-coal for the steam vessels that were beginning to trade around the world. The Cardiff Coal Exchange set the world price for steam-coal and Cardiff became a major coal-exporting port. The South Wales Coalfield was at its peak in 1913 and was one of the largest coalfields in the world. It remained the largest coalfield in Britain until 1925. The supply of coal dwindled, and pits closed in spite of a UK-wide strike against closures. Aberpergwm Colliery is the last deep mine in Wales.
The Anthracite Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in parts of Carmarthenshire, Glamorgan and Breconshire, in South Wales.
Craiglon Bridge Halt railway station may have served the Craig-Lon Colliery and its workers near Pembrey, but this business was closed in the 1930s. It continued to serve the inhabitants of the Lando area between 1932 and 1953 and was one of several basic halts opened on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in Carmarthenshire, Wales. A firing range was located nearby in WWII.
Pontyates railway station was opened in 1909 It continued to serve the inhabitants of the Pontyates / Pont-iets area and hinterland between 1909 and 1953; it was one of several stations opened on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Pembrey railway station or Pembrey Halt railway station served the village of Pen-bre or Pembrey. It continued to serve the inhabitants of the area between 1909 and 1953 and was one of several basic halts opened on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Burry Port railway station served the town of Burry Port. It continued to serve the inhabitants of the area near Llanelli between 1909 and 1953 and was one of several basic halts opened on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in Carmarthenshire, Wales.