Volume Four - An Era of Change, Uncertainty, Depression & War - Penarth Dock closure in 1936 . . .

June 1936 - Penarth dock (Closing) - House of Commoms.

Captain Evans - asked the Minister of Transport whether the Government agreed to the Great Western Railway temporarily closing the Penarth Dock; and, if so, under what condition was the request granted?

Mr. Hore-Belisha - No Government permission is required for the temporary closing of Penarth Dock: the second part of the question does not therefore arise. - Hansard [088] 25th June 1936.

June 1936 - The Temporary Closing of Penarth Dock - a comprehensive article published within the Great Western Railway Magazine [1348] [1349] : -

The decision of the Great Western Railway Company temporarily to close Penarth Dock as from July 6, has not unnaturally caused a good deal of concern in South Wales. It will be recalled, however, that, when addressing the stockholders in February last. Sir Robert Horne (Chairman of the Company) referred to the almost negligible return that was being earned by the Company from their vast expenditure on the great chain of docks in South Wales, questioned the justification, even on grounds of public interest, for maintaining so many and intimated that unless there was a substantial increase in the export trade in the near future, or a higher scale of dock charges, the Company would have no alternative but to seek the sanction of Parliament to the concentration of the traffic at fewer ports.

The ports of Newport, Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Port Talbot, and Swansea are very largely concerned with the shipment of coal, and the following figures show how seriously their trade has declined in recent years :—