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Economic development: Swansea Docks The coastal location favoured the establishment of docks at Swansea. The development of the dock system at Swansea fits well with Bird’s model of port development (Maps of Swansea’s dock development). Small boats used wharves on a meander in the River Tawe before the first dock was built in 1851. The North Dock was built in response to increased trade and larger ships and was made by cutting a new channel for the River Tawe and using the old channel as the Dock. A second larger dock, the South Dock was opened in 1859, in response to expanding trade. These docks attracted further industry and employment with the establishment of ships agents, brokers and shipping services. By 1882 new larger docks had been built on the opposite side of the river (the east side) to cope with larger vessels, increased coal exports and larger steel and tinplate shipments. Port activity migrated downstream and the older North and South Docks, now too small and under intense competition from the larger, newer dock system, were forced to close: the North Dock closed in 1930 and the South Dock closed in 1972. This area subsequently became the focus for extensive redevelopment through the 1970s and 1980s. The newer docks on the east side continued to expand, incorporating the docks at Port Talbot, where a new harbour was opened in 1970. The Port Talbot Harbour can take ships over 150,000 tonnes and can be considered the final stage in Bird’s model. Today the different docks serve different needs: the Prince of Wales dock is used exclusively for landing sand and gravel dredged from the Severn Estuary and used for local construction; the King’s Dock handles cargo and the Queen’s dock, the busiest, handles oil products.
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