Former Deganwy dock

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The arm of land which sticks out into the Conwy estuary at Deganwy was built by the London & North Western Railway in an attempt to tap the lucrative market for transporting Welsh roofing slates. The RAF aerial photo, courtesy of the Welsh Government, shows the dock in 1945.

Aerial photo of Deganwy dock in 1945The harbour, opened in 1885, was equipped with tracks of standard and narrow gauges. Small loaded wagons from quarries in Blaenau Ffestiniog were placed on the LNWR’s larger wagons for the journey down the Conwy Valley to Deganwy, where they were placed on narrow-gauge tracks again for the slate to be loaded into ships. The drawing by Di Sweet shows three quarry wagons on a larger wagon.

In 1886 a German company opened an office in Deganwy, having completed arrangements for slates to be shipped from the quay to any port between Le Havre and Riga. Germany had recently increased duty on slates imported overland from France, Austria and Belgium but not slates which arrived by ship. It was said that Chancellor Otto von Bismarck had noticed that foreign sailors and shipowners spent lavishly in German ports!

The Deganwy slate venture was not a great success. The Ffestiniog Railway (now a major tourist attraction) provided a shorter route to the sea at Porthmadog.

Drawing by Di Sweet of LNWR wagon carrying slate quarry wagonsThe dock was used for other goods. A labourer from Ty’n y Groes was accidentally killed at the quay in 1894 while unloading coal from a steamer into railway trucks. In 1901 two sailors from a Glasgow vessel, delivering cement to Deganwy, were killed by a train on the level crossing leading to the quay.

In the mid-20th century, the sidings were used to store old railway coaches which would be pressed into service for the crowds visiting North Wales in the summer holidays. The tracks were removed in the 1960s.

Photo of Deganwy dock with boatsThe dock was a popular area for leisure boat owners to moor, store and repair their vessels, as shown in the 1960s photo by John Bailey. The arm of land was home to various businesses, including Williams Boat Builders from 1930 to 1979.

The tidal nature of the dock (preventing access by boat at low tide) left Deganwy’s mooring facilities unable to compete with the new ones at Conwy Marina. In 2002 work began on transforming the dock into a marina with constant water. This was completed in 2004, along with the first of the new homes there. The Quay Hotel opened in 2007.

With thanks to Deganwy History Group, Di Sweet and the Welsh Government, and to Vicky Macdonald for the audio presentation

Postcode: LL31 9DJ    View Location Map

Deganwy Marina website

Quay Hotel website

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