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
Andersons Bay named after early settler James Anderson and his son and daughter-in-law John and Isabella, who were the first European settlers in the district in 1844 - four years before the founding of Dunedin. James's grandson John was the first European child born in the area, in 1846. Their home was close to what is now the corner of Somerville and Silverton Streets, a corner known for many years by the now almost-forgotten name of Ross's Corner. Andersons Bay Inlet, once known as Andersons Cove, is what remains of a far larger expanse of water which included the long-reclaimed Tainui Inlet.