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

1843 - A search of the Welsh Newspapers archive [361] records the arrival of numerous vessels importing iron-ore from Whitehaven in Cumberland to wharfs on the Glamorganshire Canal and to the quay-sides of the Bute Dock. For example, on the 27th May 1843 there were 9 vessels listed as arrived in the Bute Dock alone. This trade with Whitehaven, with occasional Barrow-in-Furness ore, seems to peak during the period 1843 through to 1849. I found the following reference : 'Those who are old enough will remember the vast quantities of the splendid Whitehaven ore which adorned the quays of the Glamorgan Canal. The rich "kidney" nodules seemed almost pure iron itself, and passers-by often stopped to handle and admire it'.

1845 - A section of the Tithe Map of St. Mary's Parish, Cardiff, showing the land usage and ownership at the seaward end of the River Taff and the Glamorganshire Canal nearby the Sea Lock.

The Railway Mania crash may have slowed the expansion of railway infrastructure nationally, but Cardiff's established railway and the existing coal and iron infrastructure helped insulate the Bute Docks from its worst effects.

The three main facts in support of this statement are : -

The Taff Vale Railway was already established before the crash, therefore, Cardiff was not dependent on speculative railway schemes that still needed to be funded, planned, authorised and built.

The South Wales coal export trade continued to expand despite the financial crisis as the industrial revolution evolved exponentially.

The subsequent development of the East Bute Dock suggests that demand for these port facilities was progressively expanding and remained extremely strong.