DEVELOPMENT OF THE PORT
Porthmadog did not exist before William Madocks, in 1811, built a sea wall, the Cob, to reclaim a large proportion of Traeth Mawr from the sea for agricultural use. The diversion of the Glaslyn river caused it to scour out a new natural harbour and the first wharves were built in 1825.
The rapidly expanding cities of England and northern Europe needed high quality roofing slate, which was transported from the quarries to the new port by tramway. The Ffestiniog Railway opened in 1836.
Shipbuilding was a major industry with nearly three hundred vessels built around the estuary and at Porthmadog and Borth-y-gest including, latterly, the famous “Western Ocean Yachts”.
The local ships engaged in other deep-sea trade, carrying phosphates from the West Indies and salt cod from Newfoundland and Labrador. Large “Cape Horn” sailing ships, too large to enter the port, where owned and manned by local people.
The outbreak of WWI brought a halt to shipbuilding and the start of an acceleration of the decline in slate exports. The last cargo of slate was loaded in 1947.
Ships continued to call at the port up to the 1980s. The Florence Cooke was a regular caller to load explosives and unload general cargoes. Heavy equipment was brought in for building Trawsfynydd and other power stations in the 1960s and 1980s.