Barry, Vale of Glamorgan dock basin was opened in 1889 to be followed by two other docks and extensive port installations. The Barry Railway brought coal down from the South Wales Valleys to the new docks whose trade grew from one million tons in the first year, to over nine million tons by 1903. The port was crowded with ships and had flourishing ship repair yards, cold stores, flour mills and an ice factory. By 1913, Barry was the largest coal exporting port in the world. Behind the docks rose the terraced houses of Barry which, with Cadoxton, soon formed a sizeable town. The
Coal industry in Wales long periods of time, the peat was consolidated and converted by the pressure of overlying layers into seams of coal. Although thinner than the original peat layers, some of the coal deposits in South Wales are of great thickness. The North Wales Coalfield is divided into two parts, the Flintshire Coalfield to the north and the nearly contiguous Denbighshire Coalfield to the south. The Flintshire Coalfield extends from the Point of Ayr in the north, through Connah's Quay to Caergwrle in the south. It also extends under the Dee Estuary to the Neston area of the Wirral Peninsula. The Denbighshire