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 Bay Barrage of Cardiff Bay, exposing extensive mudflats save for two hours either side of high water, was seen as aesthetically unappealing. Edwards credited the solution to this perceived problem to a Welsh Office civil servant, Freddie Watson. Watson proposed building a barrage stretching across the mouth of Cardiff Bay from Cardiff Docks to Penarth, which would impound freshwater from the rivers Ely and Taff to create a large freshwater lake, thus providing permanent high water. By making the area more appealing, investment was to be attracted to the docklands. The barrage was consequently seen as central to the regeneration project. In