Newport, Wales and was the largest masonry dock in the world. Although coal exports from Newport were by now modest compared to the Port of Cardiff (which included Cardiff, Penarth and Barry), Newport was the place where the Miners' Federation of Great Britain was founded in 1889, and international trade was sufficiently large for 8 consuls and 14 vice-consuls to be based in the town. In 1898 Lysaght's Orb Works opened and by 1901 employed 3,000 staff. Urban expansion took in Pillgwenlly and Lliswerry to the south; this eventually necessitated a new crossing of the River Usk, which was provided by the
Coal industry in Wales By 1593, coal was being exported from ports on the Dee Estuary. The trade developed swiftly and by 1616, the principle collieries were at Bagillt, Englefield, Leaderbrook, Mostyn, Uphfytton and Wepre. Most mines were horizontal adits or shallow bell pits, though a few were becoming sufficiently large to have accumulations of water and ventilation problems. Coal industry in Wales The coal industry in Wales has played an important role in the Industrial Revolution in Wales. Coal mining expanded in the eighteenth century to provide fuel for the blast furnaces of the iron and copper industries that were expanding in South