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The historic Port Penrhyn dates back to the early
years of the 18th Century, when cargos of slate were exported to
Ireland and France from the location then known as Aber Cegin from
then until the late 18th Century the port only handled some coast
trade. However, in 1786
Richard Pennant (the first
Lord Penrhyn) took over the ownership of Penrhyn Estates and
appointed Benjamin Wyatt in 1786 as his agent. Wyatt addressed
the problem of bringing slates from the quarry at Bethesda to Port
Penrhyn by the construction of the Penrhyn Railway linking the
quarry to a newly constructed stone wharf at the mouth of the River
Cegin in 1790. Further developments took place in the early and mid
19th Century culminating in the construction of a breakwater on the
eastern side which created the dock basin which can be seen today.
In recent years with the retraction of the
Welsh slate industry the port has become much quieter. However, the
port web site
www.portpenrhyn.co.uk does have an optimistic out look and
suggests ways in which the port can be improved. Of course
improvements will probably mean quite a few of the historic features
disappearing and the current open access to the public probably
being curtailed. These photographs were taken in late autumn 2006. |
