Volume Nine - Pre-Victorian to the present day - even more aspects - Cefn-y-Wrâch . . .

During the short time Mr Plimsoll was at the Hotel, it became known that he was there, and on his leaving he was heartily cheered by a crowd of sailors, several of whom shook hands with him and thanked him for his efforts on behalf of sailors. The cheers attracted a large number of others, and on it becoming generally known amongst the sailors that Mr Plimsoll had visited Cardiff, universal regret was expressed that they had not known of his arrival, so as to give him a fitting welcome.

During the afternoon Mr Plimsoll stated that he had recently called the attention of the Admiralty to the fact that worthless and worn-out boilers, sold by them, had been put into new steamers. One of the cases related to Cardiff, and in another instance the plates were little more than the thickness of a sixpence. He had received assurances which he believed would prevent this danger to life in future.

The following is the memorial which the Cardiff pilots have sent to the Board of Trade : -

Pilotage Office, Cardiff, March 18th, 1878.
The Assistant-Secretary, Marine Department, Board of Trade
Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W.

Sir, - The undersigned are first-class pilots belonging to the port of Cardiff, and desire respectfully to lay the following facts before the Board of Trade. The outlet from the Bute Docks to the Bristol Channel consists of a narrow passage cut through the outlying mud, and extending from the dock gates to the mouth of the river Taff. Beyond this there is an extensive shoal, known as the Cefn-y-Wrach. Through this shoal, some years ago, a channel was dredged by the trustees of Lord Bute, which, as we allege, has of late been rendered useless by silting and other causes. In our opinion, as a body, it is highly dangerous to take a ship out of the Bute Docks unless there be sufficient water to float her over the larger portion of the shoal. The Pilotage Board, by whose authority we are licensed, think otherwise, and consider that we should be competent to take vessels down the narrow and tortuous channel which, they allege, exists through the shoal. To-day one of our number, John Howe, No.40, who has held a licence for 21 years, was suspended for twelve months, for having, on the night of Tuesday, the 12th inst., refused to take to sea the steamship Royal Minstrel. His refusal was the result of his belief that the alleged channel through the shoal is useless. We are thus at direct issue with the Pilotage Board, many members of which have no nautical experience whatever.