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

Work commenced on 5th July 1897 by Mr. Thomas Taylor of Pontypridd to construct a subway under the River Ely to make communication easier between the dock and harbour works. The engineer was the Taff Vale Railway's Engineer, Mr. George T. Sibbering. [1173] [10/3/1899 & 18/5/1900]

The subway was underneath the river at the point of the chain ferry which had begun service in June 1865. One entrance was at Ferry Road on the harbour side and the other near the basin at Penarth Dock.

The old chain ferry could not operate at low tide, and then a rowing boat was used, but passengers had the unpleasant task of traversing a muddy plank made slippery by the slimy deposits of every tide. It was originally estimated that the subway would cost £16,000 but there ware difficulties and no doubt the eventual cost was higher.

The subway was originally planned to be a carriage way, but it was made for foot passengers only. It was nearly 50 feet below the High Water Hark and the gradients at each end were 1 in 8 on the dock side and 1 in 11.25 on the harbour side.

Its total length was 1,250 feet and it was constructed of cast iron segments. The subway was actually a large pipe with an external diameter of 10 feet, and an interior diameter of 8 feet 10 ins. The subway was not only used by pedestrians but it also carried four pipe lines carrying hydraulic power, gas and water from the dock to the harbour works. It was lighted by electricity.

Compressed air was used throughout the work without mishap, but on two occasions the River Ely broke through into the tunnel flooding it for a time, but this caused no serious delay.

The subway was opened on 14th May 1900 and proved a boon to not only dock workers who came from Cardiff to work at Penarth Dock or Penarth men who worked at the harbour, but also to the public who were allowed to use it.

At each end was a red brick entrance with a turnstile. The entrance on the dock side has now been demolished. At that end had been the dock police office. The toll was 1d (one penny) for a pedestrian, 2d for a bicycle and 4d for a pram, and tolls were collected up to 1937.