Steam and Motor Coasters

of North West Wales

There are plenty of sources available on this subject. Roy Fenton's "Cambrian Coasters! and C.V.Waine's beautifull books of drawings and plans cover the ordinary little coasters. The paddle/passengers steamers are covered in Lewis Lloyd's and others books and publications. Old copies of the "Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald", which can be seen at Gwynedd Archives, are full of refernces to the maritime trade of this corner of Wales.

I have not touched on the Holyhead ferries. That is a study on it's own.

The first powered vessels to trade in the area were low powered paddle steamers with sail assistance. They mostly carried passengers with a small hold for cargo. They were an important communication link between North Wales and the nearest city which was Liverpool. A summer tourist trade also developed with excursions along the North Wales Coast from Liverpool. In the winters a phenomenal amount of pigs were carried. (was this the start of the famous "Roberts of Portdinorwic" sausages!!) from Gwynedd to Livepool.

The paddle streamers time was from the 1820s to the 1870s (though excursion steamers continued right up to recent times). They became less important as the railway arrived in the area, first to Caernarfon along the northern coast and then the Cambrian Railway up the coast of Cardigan Bay to Pwllheli

Some of these ships were:-

Snowdon, Flambeau, Orion, Cambria, Erin Go Bragh, Fairy, Vale of Clwyd, Prince Llewelyn, St David, St Catherin, Ayrshire Lass, Prince of Wales, Prince Frederick William etc.

Advertisments for their sailings can be seen in old copies of the "Herald" (later the "Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald"). They were owned or operated by such companies as the "Cardigan Bay Steam Navigation Co", the " Liverpool and North Wales Steam Packet Co" etc. One of the main operators was the "City of Dublin Steam Packet Co".

As steam propulsion became more reliable screw propelled coasters developed (they still often retained sails and used them to save fuel when winds were favourable). Often these carried slates to Liverpool, London or other centres and carried coal, groceries, hardware and general goods back . There was also room for some passengers.

These coasters were regular visitors at the North West Wales ports and kept to their schedules regardless of the weather.

Some of these ships were:-

Rebecca (I & II) click to see history and picture, Dora, Telephone, King Ja Ja, Prince Ja Ja, Christiana, Medaway, Margaret, Ibis, St Tudwal, St Seiriol.

Some coasters were built specifically for the slate trade. These mostly sailed from Port Dinorwic (y Felinheli) and Port Penrhyn (near Bangor). These two ports and most of the ships which worked from there were owned by the big quarries. Caernarfon and Porthmadog were more open and the slate trade carried on with schooners and brigs. Caernarfon, though the main port of registry, handled mainly coastwise trade while the sub port of Porthmadog loaded cargoes for much further afield.

The steam slate carriers worked in the coastal trade. While slate was nearly always loaded outwards, a wide variety of cargoes were loaded to work the way back.

Some of these ships were:-

Some motor coasters wer built but by then the battle with the railways was lost. The last of these vessels were sold or broken up in the mid fifties.

One of the last regular traders was the FLORENCE COOKE. She was owned by Cokes Explosives of Penrhyndeudraeth and carried explosives from Porthmadog to the North East. She ceased trading in 1959.  Click here for some pictures of  her and a full history.

• Site by local merchant seaman. History of the harbours, creeks, coves, beaches where the small coastal vessels worked into. Many photos and paintings. WWW.Rhiw.com

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