Volume Thirteen - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Penarth - born of the economic and geological shift from iron to coal. . . . .

	c.1830 - The lower end of the Sea Lock pound at Cardiff.
	Late 1830's - Map of Cardiff prepared for John Crichton Stuart, Marquis of Bute by John Wood showing the Bute Ship Canal and the extent of the Taff Vale Railway.

The growth of the coal industry during the 1830's and early 1840's had mainly arisen from the local demand and overwhelming needs of of the South Wales iron-industry which by 1840 accounted for feeding over one hundred furnaces. Other demands included the tinplate works such as that at Melingriffith near Cardiff, and further west, in the Swansea area, the copper industry which was an extremely energy hungry user. The export market from Cardiff was, therefore, comparatively small and failed to meet the expectations of Bute. The problem was that this coastal traffic offered little prospect of rapid growth since shipments were mostly related to population increase. Less than 65,000 tons of coal was shipped from South Wales wharves during 1840 and 1841 but increased progressively in the decade as the graph indicates for years 1840, 1845 and 1848.