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26-534: Opened in 1900, it provided a direct connection between Penarth Dock and Grangetown until its closure in 1963. Penarth Dock opened in 1865 on the southern edge of Cardiff Bay , at the mouth of the Ely. However, the nearest crossing over the river was a road bridge nearly a mile upstream at Llandough . The operators of the dock, the Taff Vale Railway Company , introduced a chain ferry across to

52-695: A base for the United States Navy . Penarth Dock was closed in 1963. In the 1980s part of the site was earmarked for a later marina and the rest was drained and used as a refuse land-fill site intended for later redevelopment. The new Penarth Marina opened in 1987. Pont y Werin Pont y Werin ( Welsh for The People's Bridge ) is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge spanning the River Ely between Cardiff Bay and Penarth , Wales . Costing approximately £ 4.5 million, Pont y Werin crosses between

78-489: A few miles to the north. She was joined in the venture by several prominent politicians and businessmen and, in 1858, engineer John Hawkshaw designed the dock, curving along the south bank of the River Ely. Work on Penarth Dock began in 1859. The dock was officially opened on Saturday, 10 June 1865. Though Baroness Windsor and her grandson Robert were intended to perform the ceremony, they failed to arrive in time for

104-474: A fire on board, she was diverted to the Falkland Islands and remained there until 1937 as a storage vessel. The Ely Subway , a pedestrian tunnel beneath the river, was opened in 1900 to provide a shortcut for workers walking between the dock and Grangetown , and was in operation until 1963. Coal exports from Penarth peaked in 1913, with 4,660,648 tons exported in that year. Trade declined after

130-507: A lease on Penarth Dock, the Marquess unsuccessfully tried to levy them on their trade from Penarth. Penarth Dock exported 900,000 tons of coal in 1870 and by 1882 was exporting 2 million tons per year. The dock was enlarged in 1884. In February 1886 Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's famous ship, SS Great Britain , in her new role as a coal ship departed from Penarth Docks bound for Panama . It was, however, to be her final voyage when, after

156-619: A national TV vote. The Pont y Werin was designed by Cass Hayward LLP. Building work to create a new 140 m (460 ft) bridge over the Ely River commenced in summer 2009. The four main sections, which weigh between 38 and 46 tonnes, were lowered into place by the 1,200-tonne crane, the largest in the UK, over a seven-day period in late March 2010 in the presence of Lee Waters, Director of Sustrans Cymru and Jane Davidson AM , Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing. Pont y Werin

182-440: A penny for entry, cyclists two pence, and prams four pence; horses also reportedly used the subway. It also carried gas and water pipes, and hydraulic lines for coal-loading machinery in the docks, while water leaking in from outside the tunnel was pumped away through drains in the floor. A burst pipe on 4 August 1902 caused a flood and led to the subway's temporary closure. The subway was officially decommissioned in 1936 as part of

208-687: A pledge of funding from the Big Lottery Fund , and Sustrans , intending to complete the bridge by summer 2010. Funding for the new bridge came from the Welsh Assembly Government (£1.645m), Cardiff Council (£1.3m), Sustrans (£1.15m), Cardiff Harbour Authority (£250,000) and from the Vale of Glamorgan Council (£200,000). Sustrans used part of a £50m award it received from the Big Lottery Fund in 2007 after winning

234-491: A slow decline until closed in 1963. The site has since been redeveloped to become Penarth Marina , which now opens into Cardiff Bay . Harriet Windsor-Clive, Baroness Windsor , whose Plymouth Estate owned vast areas of Glamorgan, formed the Penarth Harbour Company in 1855 with a view to develop a dock for Penarth . She wanted a facility which could rival the new Cardiff Docks which were being constructed

260-546: Is a UK wide art project from sustainable transport charity Sustrans with each bench featuring three life-size sculptures which are laser-cut by Laser Process Ltd from weathering Corten steel. There are nearly 80 installed across the country with Pont y Werin having two benches placed on it – one representing Cardiff and one for Penarth. For the Vale of Glamorgan’s bench, the Vale-born Olympic gold medallist Nicole Cooke

286-624: The Cardiff International Sports Village and Penarth , allowing the public to travel to the Sports Village via Cogan railway station . Opened on 14 July 2010, the bascule bridge completes the 6.5 mile (10.5 km) Cardiff Bay circular walk and cycle route, and incorporates a 20-metre opening section to allow river traffic to pass. The project to build Pont y Werin ("the People's Bridge") received

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312-587: The Great War , despite all the coal production of the western South Wales Valleys being sent via Penarth. In 1932 the Earl of Plymouth had to forego his royalty payments to help keep the dock in business, but Penarth Dock finally closed in 1936 after annual exports had dropped to 685,000 tons. During the Second World War the dock was revived as a training facility for stevedores and, in 1943, became

338-544: The 1980s as part of the redevelopment of Penarth Dock into Penarth Marina —the site is now Plas Pamir, a residential road. The bricked-up northern entrance is located within the grounds of Cardiff Bay Yacht Club. The tunnel is not actively maintained, but (other than the damage to the southern entrance) remains intact. It was inspected in 1991 during the construction of the Cardiff Bay Barrage and found to be in good condition. However, renovating and reopening it

364-457: The cast-iron tunnel—only 11 feet below the river bed at its deepest point—was subjected to intense differentials in pressure between high and low tides in the bay above. The tunnel flooded twice during construction, in November 1897 and December 1898, although workers were able to evacuate both times without any loss of life. Tunneling finished on 25 September 1899, and a ceremony was held to mark

390-406: The founder member of Pedal Power, was chosen along with Cardiff Devils player, Jason Stone. The remaining personality for each bench was chosen by a drawing by local primary school pupils. The Cardiff Bay side of the bridge will temporarily be diverted through Victoria Wharf whilst a nearby building project is completed. The bridge is only a short distance upstream from the disused Ely Subway ,

416-666: The high tide. The event was carried out by James Poole, the chairman of the Taff Vale Railway , who were the lessees of the new dock. Penarth Dock covered 26 acres and had a 270 feet long entrance lock. The Taff Vale Railway took a 999-year lease on Penarth Dock, despite having to fight a legal action against Cardiff's Marquess of Bute as far as the House of Lords to enable them to do so freely. They had initially been given incentives to build their railway to Cardiff Docks rather than Penarth. When they went ahead in 1865 and took

442-484: The northern bank of the Ely as a shortcut for both their workers (many of whom lived in Grangetown) and members of the public. However, the ferry was unable to run in bad weather—even sinking twice during storms—and as the docks continued to develop in importance a permanent crossing was considered necessary. The company submitted a bill to Parliament in 1896 seeking permission for a number of new works, one of which

468-612: The same design used for the Central London Railway . The northern entrance was located at the southern end of Ferry Road in Grangetown (next to some large petroleum storage tanks owned by the Bear Creek Oil Company), while the southern entrance was next to the dockside Mission Church. The tunneling process was slow and difficult. The ground was largely a loose mixture of mud, gravel, and clay, and

494-549: The subway's official opening on 14 May 1900. The total cost of construction was between £25,000 and £26,000. The subway had a diameter of 10 feet 6 inches, with a usable footpath 6 feet wide, and 7 feet 6 inches of headroom. The tunnel ramped downwards relatively steeply from both entrances to its halfway point, with a gradient of 1 in 7. The interior was painted with a mixture of white enamel and granulated cork to prevent condensation, and lit with electric bulbs. Toll keepers oversaw turnstiles at either entrance, charging pedestrians

520-405: The wider closure of Penarth Dock, and the toll keepers were removed, but it nevertheless remained open to pedestrians. It was repurposed as an air raid shelter during the Second World War when the docks were requisitioned for the U.S. Navy . After the war the subway remained accessible to the public but increasingly fell into disrepair, and it gained a reputation for vandalism and petty crime. It

546-454: Was a tunnel beneath the river to replace the ferry. Construction began in July 1897 on a subway designed by George Sibbering, the company's chief engineer, with works overseen by Thomas Taylor, a contractor from Pontypridd . The ramped entrances at either end were dug by hand but the majority of the route—325 yards of the subway's total length of 400 yards—was tunneled with a Greathead shield , of

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572-461: Was chosen who has been a keen supporter of the bridge, urging people to get behind and vote for the project back in 2007. Paralympic gold medallist, Dame Tanni Grey Thompson , has also been a keen supporter of the bridge, speaking publicly about the benefits it will bring to pedestrians, cyclists and disabled people. She also features as a portrait on the bridge. For the Cardiff bench, Sybil Williams,

598-544: Was eventually closed and boarded up in 1963 as part of the wider decommissioning of Penarth Dock; the entrances were then bricked up in 1965. It continued to be used as a conduit for power cables by the South Wales Electricity Board until 1976, when part of the Penarth entrance was demolished and some of the cast iron tunnel sections were removed. The demolished southern entrance was sealed over in

624-506: Was originally set to open on 8 June 2010 but the date was pushed back six weeks until 14 July due to a delay in receiving supplies from Germany, but was accessible for vessels to pass beneath the bridge before this date. However, none of the cycleway links to the bridge on the Vale of Glamorgan side, costing £300,000, were ready by 14 July. The bridge was opened by the Deputy First Minister of Wales , Ieuan Wyn Jones who

650-465: Was the then Welsh Minister for Transport. Among those in attendance were Jason Stone, Sybil Williams, Lydia Harris and Tim Burns who were nominated by the public to appear on the bridge's portrait benches. Portraits on the bridge feature a laser cut outline of local heroes, celebrities or historic figures, with a bench placed on either side of the river each featuring 3 such personalities chosen by Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan residents. The Portrait Bench

676-519: Was ultimately not pursued in favour of building Pont Y Werin —a brand new footbridge around half a kilometre upstream—instead. A commemorative mural of the subway, painted by local artists Peaceful Progress, can be found at the southern end of Pont Y Werin. Penarth Dock Penarth Dock was a port and harbour which was located on the south bank of the mouth of the River Ely , at Penarth , Glamorgan , Wales . It opened in 1865 and reached its heyday before World War I , after which followed

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