Porthgain and Abereiddy

Porthgain Harbour SM 8142 3255

Porthgain and Abereiddi were both slate quarries from around 1840 to the 1890s, by which time Abereiddy was disused. In 1893 the focus was on stone quarrying and brickmaking at Porthgain. Various companies came and went until final closure in 1931. Being so remote the infrastructure has just quietly decayed. What is left is a veritable paradise for Industrial Archeaologists and all easily accessible.

The harbour was the site of the brickworks, crushers and ore hoppers, gradually developing over the years, with major re-building of the harbour in 1902-1904. The brickworks has disappeared except for one building, now a cafe, with the stump of one chimney next to it. The huge bulk of the hoppers stand guard over the harbour, the crusher in the centre and ore chutes at each end.

Porthgain village	Porthgain Harbour	Porthgain Brickworks	Porthgain village limekiln
Crushers and storage bins	Crushers and storage bins	Crushers and storage bins	Looking up a hopper
Tunnel under the hoppers		Eastern ore chute	Eastern ore chute
Western ore chute	Western ore chute	Ore chute and Pilot House	Ore chute and engine shed
Traction engine lane to Pentop	Gun from Liberty ship 'Dan Beard'

St Brides Quarry, Porthgain - SM 8122 3246

St Brides Quarry was the original quarry at Porthgain, operated by inclines and briefly Blondin ropeways up and down to the harbour. Later a tunnel ran straight through to the harbour, emerging near the Eastern ore chutes. The engine shed, weighbridge and water facilities were located here, probably a little more sheltered that at Pen Clegyr.

St Brides Quarry rear face	St Brides Quarry, front face	St Brides Quarry bridge	St Brides Quarry tramway
Porthgain engine shed	Porthgain engine shed	Porthgain engine shed	Porthgain engine shed
Porthgain engine shed	Engine shed approach		Building by Pentop Cottages
Tramway weighbridge	Tramway weighbridge	Tramway weighbridge	Foundations by weighbridge
Watertank foundations	Watertank foundations

Pen Clegyr Quarry, Porthgain - SM 8075 3270

The waste tips were nearest to the hoppers with the tramway, known as 'Jerusalem Road' running down to the main stone quarry at Pen Clegyr. Inclines ran to the two working faces and the smithy and other engineering facilities were here.

Quarry waste tips	Quarry waste tips	Quarry waste tips	Quarry waste tips
Tramway and 'Jerusalem Road'	Tramway and 'Jerusalem Road'	Tramway and 'Jerusalem Road'	Tramway and 'Jerusalem Road'
Tramway sleepers	Ironmongery beside tramway
Smithy buildings	Smithy buildings	Smithy machine base	Smithy buildings
Smithy buildings, 'GR' and '1911'	Smithy buildings	Smithy iron drain	Incline engine house
Incline to lower quarry	Incline to upper quarry	Incline from upper quarry
Upper Pen Clegyr Quarry	Lower Pen Clegyr Quarry	Rail in Pen Clegyr Quarry	Ironmongery in quarry

St Brides Slate Quarry, Abereiddy - SM 7945 3150

St Brides Slate Quarry, Abereiddy had a fairly short life and was linked to Porthgain by a horse-worked tramway following the contours of Barry Island (but this Barry Island is not the pleasure beach of the valleys). At some time the stone between the quarry and the sea was blasted away to create the 'Blue Lagoon' that you see here now. The 'lift' may have been a steep incline as in North Wales, rather than a vertical lift.

St Brides slate quarry	Engine house and lift	St Brides slate quarry	Tramway by the 'statue'
The workshops	The powder house	Manager's house	Abereiddy Row cottages
Tramway from quarry	Tramway to quarry	Tramway from quarry	Tramway to Porthgain
Tramway to Abereiddy	Tramway to Porthgain

Defence and Fortifications

Castlemartin Ranges - SR 9681 9305 to 9711 9303

A group of three target bunkers, the middle and Western are connected by a 2'6" tramway. Two more bunkers are on the headland with tramways and wagon turntables but I didn't see them on this visit. Nearby at Penally are practice trenches used for training in WW1.

Eastern target bunker	Middle target bunker	Western target bunker
Tramway between bunkers		Penally practice trenches

Begelly airfield bombing decoy - SN 1089 0747

This was the command post, type Q, built in 1941 - 1943 as part of an airfield bombing decoy protecting the RAF airfield at Carew Cheriton.

Begelly bombing decoy	Begelly bombing decoy	Begelly bombing decoy
Begelly bombing decoy	Begelly bombing decoy	Begelly bombing decoy

The Saundersfoot Railway

The Thomas Chapel and Reynalton Branches

The Harbour, Bonvilles Court and the Tunnel

Looking back to the harbour	The line leaves the harbour area	Looking back towards the harbour	Heading towards the incline
Railway Inn Cottage	Heading towards the incline	Railway Inn Cottage	The foot of the incline
On the way up the incline	On the way up the incline	The incline brake-house	The incline brake-house
The incline brake-house	The brake-house noticeboard	Looking back at the brake-house	On towards the tunnel
Tunnel under Saundersfoot station	Tunnel under Saundersfoot station	Tunnel under Saundersfoot station

Begelly - SN 1130 0720

From the tunnel under Saundersfoot Station the railway passed over the common to reach Begelly where there were a number of old collieries.

Begelly bridge abutments	Begelly to Broom trackbed	Begelly to Broom trackbed
Begelly to Broom trackbed	Begelly trackbed

Broom (Shipping) Colliery branch - SN 1089 0790

Broom (or Shipping) Colliery seems to have opened c1860, closing in c1880. However it re-opened in 1934, reached by an incline from a siding of the Saundersfoot Railway, but it closed in 1939.

Broom Colliery loading dock	Broom Colliery loading dock	Broom Colliery loading dock
Broom Colliery loading dock	Broom Colliery tramway	Broom near colliery junction

Thomas Chapel - SN 1040 0905

The end of the line from Saundersfoot was the site af a number of old collieries. Thomas Chapel Colliery would have on the East of the line here, as was New Hayes Colliery. Hackett colliery was to the West of the line, near the Reynalton extension. These collieries were mostly closed in the 1860s. The ruins of a building, possibly a mill, stand at the end of the line.

Thomas Chapel approach	Thomas Chapel approach	Thomas Chapel buildings
Thomas Chapel buildings	Thomas Chapel buildings	Thomas Chapel buildings
Thomas Chapel buildings	Thomas Chapel buildings	Thomas Chapel trackbed

The Reynalton Branch

Mining had been carried out around Reynalton since since 1795 but came into prominence in 1913 when the New Reynalton Anthracite Coal Co opened new workings and the Saunderfoot Railway was extended to serve them. Sadly little came of the venture and it was abandoned in 1922.

The Reynalton branch	Reynalton bridge North abutments	Reynalton bridge South abutments
Reynalton culvert	The end of the railway	Reynalton looking South

The Wisemans Bridge and Stepaside Branch

Saundersfoot to Wiseman's Bridge

The most well-known stretch of the Saundersfoot Railway, running down Railway Street (now The Strand) and through the coastal tunnels to Wiseman's Bridge.

Railway Street, Saundersfoot	First tunnel into Railway Street	First tunnel from Railway Street	First tunnel to Railway Street
Second tunnel at Coppet Hall	Second tunnel at Coppet Hall	Third tunnel from Coppet Hall	Third tunnel to Coppet Hall
Third tunnel	Third tunnel from Wiseman's Bridge	From Wiseman's Bridge to third tunnel	From Wiseman's Bridge to third tunnel

Wiseman's Bridge to Stepaside and Kilgetty

Turning inland, the railway follows the Kilgetty Canal up to the collieries and ironworks at Stepaside.

'Step Cottage' at Wiseman's Bridge	'Step Cottage' at Wiseman's Bridge	'Tramway Cottage, Wiseman's Bridge	Stepaside to Wiseman's Bridge
Stepaside to Wiseman's Bridge	Stepaside to Wiseman's Bridge	Stepaside to Wiseman's Bridge	Gibbet crane at Stepaside, 2018

Black Walk Tramroad

An old tramroad ran from Cants Colliery at St Issell's to the beach at Coppet Hall. It was 'old' in 1845 and can be followed as a footpath through the inevitable caravan site but becomes more obvious near Coppet Hall.

Black Walk Tramroad at Coppet Hall

Original rails and sleeper from Saundersfoot

Stewart Liles has sent me these photos of Saundersfoot Railway rails and sleeper, He says :- "We recently (2021) stayed on a small caravan site in Pembrokeshire and discovered that it was adjacent to an embankment which carried the trackbed of the old Saundersfoot Railway (4ft gauge) near the village of Begelly. This was the branch which lead from the harbour, around four miles inland to Thomas Chapel colliery, and opened in 1834, not the one which ran along the coast. The caravan site owner showed me two lengths of cast iron fish-bellied rail that he had found years ago; unfortunately each is missing an end. Apparently quite a number have been found but many are now built into people's houses as fireplace lintels, etc!
The rails are 50" long including a 2.5” overlap at each end where they sat in a chair; 4.75" deep in the centre; 2.5" deep at the ends and 1.75" wide on the running surface. Lugs protrude downward near each end, these would have located into holes in the chairs. Also around the area are a number of flat stone blocks, about a foot square, which once held the chairs; each have 2 holes in and a rectangular rust stain."

Saundersfoot Railway rail

Saundersfoot Railway rail

Saundersfoot Railway sleeper

Stepaside (Kilgetty) Ironworks and Grove Colliery

Stepaside (Kilgetty) Ironworks - SN 1410 0735

Stepaside or Kilgetty Ironworks opened in 1849 with one of the two furnaces at work. Originally the Pembrokeshire Iron & Coal Co, it became part of the Bonvilles Court Coal & Iron Co in 1873 until closure in 1876. Operation was always very intermittant and only occasionally were both furnaces alight. Some of the workshops were used until the 1930s but most of the works just slumbered.

Ore and Coal Bins, Calcining and Lime Kilns

Stepaside Ironworks, 1889	Stepaside Ironworks in 1866	Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks
Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks
Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks furnace tops	Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks
Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks	Stepaside Ironworks

The top of the furnaces

Ironworks furnace top

Ironworks furnace top

Ironworks furnace top

Ironworks furnace top

Engine House

Stepaside Ironworks engine house	Probably the base of a furnace	Stepaside Ironworks engine house	Stepaside Ironworks engine house
Stepaside Ironworks engine house	Stepaside Ironworks engine house	Stepaside Ironworks engine house

Furnaces and Casting House

Ironworks furnace backs	Ironworks furnace backs
Ironworks casting house	Ironworks casting house	Ironworks casting house

Coke Ovens and Workshops

Stepaside Ironworks ironwork	Remains of one of the coke oven	Ironworks railway bridge	Stepaside, track for railway
Stepaside Ironworks workshops	Stepaside Ironworks workshops	Stepaside Ironworks workshops

Grove Colliery - SN 1392 0711

Built in 1856, the 640ft deep Grove Colliery is said to be the deepest pit dug by hand in Wales. It was connected underground to Lower Level Pit, an incline into the ironworks and a tramway down to Stepaside to connect with the Saundersfoot Railway. It closed c1897.

Grove Colliery noticeboard	Grove Colliery workshops	Grove Colliery engine house	Grove Colliery engine house
Grove Colliery engine house	Grove Colliery engine house	Grove Colliery engine house	Grove Colliery later winding house
Grove Colliery original winding house	Grove Colliery original winding house	Grove Colliery both winding houses	Grove Colliery later winding house
Grove Colliery later winding house	Grove Colliery pithead	Grove Colliery tramroad	Grove Colliery tramroad
Grove Colliery tramroad	Grove Colliery tramroad	Grove Colliery tramroad sleepers	Grove Colliery tramroad sleepers

Around Pembrokeshire

Ironmongery

A few pieces of assorted ironmongery from around the county

'VR' postbox at Begelly

'Broads 117 D2' drain cover

Kilgetty milestone dated '1838'

Kilgetty milestone dated '1838'

Acknowledgments, sources and further reading.

'The Railways of Porthgain and Abereiddi' by R C Jermy
'Industrial Saundersfoot' and 'The Saundersfoot Railway', both by M. R. C. Price
Castlemartin ranges - IRS Bulletin 945, Brian Cuttell
The Defence of Britain Database