Volume Eleven - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - some more aspects - The Explosives Pier at Penarth Dock . . .

1896 - The book 'The handling of dangerous goods ... : notes on the properties ...' The Section entitled 'Importation Licenses for Explosives' has an entry that states that the Port of Penarth : Harbour Authority - The Lessees, Taff Vale Railway Co., Cardiff : Bye-Laws approved date - 6/11/1882 : Whether a Port approved by Customs - 19th March 1883. [1006]

Transportation and storage of explosives would have undoubtedly been undertaken at Penarth Dock during wartime and evidence suggests it continued during the inter-war years and, at least, up to the end of the hostilities of WWII in 1945. During WWI (1914-18) the Penarth Dock and Ely Tidal Harbour was extremely busy coaling merchant vessels. You may recall that the zenith of coal exportation was 1913. The dock closed in 1936 but became an American base during WWII (1939-45). see chapter : Activity at the dock during World War II . . .

1943 - 'Schedule of Rates and Conditions for the Ports of Cardiff and Penarth' : 'Dockers shall receive 2/6d. a day when working with explosives as scheduled.'

1962 - The importation of explosives at Penarth is referenced within Parliamentary Papers, (House of Commons and Command), Volume XV, for the Session 31st October 1961 until 25th October 1962. Appendix E, lists 'Ports in Great Britain for which Importation Licences are Authorised to be Granted, and which have been Approved by the Customs for the Sampling of Explosives' :- 'Port' - Penarth, Glamorgan ; 'Harbour Authority' - The Docks and Inland Waterways Executive. [499] [1069]