Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - A History of Penarth Dock by Roy Thorne . . .

Barry's did as the table shows : -

Coal production was proceeding at such a great rate that the initial fears of Cardiff and Penarth were not realised. Barry with its better facilities gained the greatest advantage and in 1894 a start was made on a new dock which was completed in 1898.

The rivalry of Barry stimulated fresh ideas. In 1891 Cardiff tried unsuccessfully to divert the Taff across the mud flats to the mouth of the River Ely, but Parliament would not approve this better channel which would have reduced dredging costs.

A few years later another idea to create a Harbour Trust to take in all the docks at the estuaries of the Taff and Ely was mooted, and to make a dam from Cardiff Pier to Penarth Head. This would have given a dock of 500 acres, but this proposal was not adopted.