Cardiff in making iron and later steel, brought to the sea by packhorse from Merthyr Tydfil. This was first achieved by the construction of a long canal from Merthyr (510 feet above sea-level) to the Taff Estuary at Cardiff. Eventually the Taff Vale Railway replaced the canal barges and massive marshalling yards sprang up as new docks were developed in Cardiff – all prompted by the soaring worldwide demand for coal from the South Wales valleys. At its peak, Cardiff's port area, known as Tiger Bay, became the busiest port in the world and – for some time – the world's
Cardiff Urban Area Cardiff Urban Area The Cardiff Built-up Area or Cardiff Urban Area is the name given to the urban area around Cardiff. The vast bulk of the population and area are contributed by Cardiff which had a population of 335,145 as recorded at the 2011 census. The rest was made up by the towns of Penarth and Dinas Powys connected to the south-east of the city along Cardiff Bay as well as the South Wales Valleys towns of Caerphilly and Pontypridd. The total official population of this urban area was given to be 447,487 in 2011. This was on increase of