| 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.port-penrhyn.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. | 
