Abermawr

Aber Mawr rocks looking towards Aber Bach
Gravestone of Captain Bowlby in Granston churchyard

Abermawr is a stretch of coastline and is regarded as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Abermawr is a mostly shingle beach with marsh and woodland behind it. It is popular with many walkers who are walking along the coast past Porthgain, Abereiddi and Abercastle. The large pebble bank of the bay was created by a storm on the 25th of October 1859. The currents at Abermawr can be hazardous but the headlands are low so are less gusty.

History

In 1847 one Captain Claxton surveyed the Irish Channel to try to ascertain the best route across. Abermawr was considered briefly as the terminal of the South Wales Railway, later to merge with the Great Western Railway, for services to Ireland and their trans-Atlantic service.[1] After surveys by Brunel though, this route was re-planned to move to Neyland instead.[2] An Act of Parliament to abandon these works and redirect to Neyland was granted on 17 June 1862.[1]

In 1862 cables were laid from Abermawr to Wexford by a ship called Berwick, and a second cable was laid in 1880 this time however to Blackwater. There was a corrugated iron hut for the operators to work and live in. Messages received here would be retransmitted to London.

The storm of 1859 resulted in the wreck of the ship Charles Holmes, commanded by Captain C. H. N. Bowlby. All the 28 people on board were drowned and their bodies washed up on the beaches of Aberbach and Abermawr.[3]

In World War I the site proved of great use to North America and a small number of soldiers guarded it. However in the early 1920s a storm damaged the site and it was abandoned. When the tide is out you can see there is evidence of a prehistoric forest.

References

  1. 1 2 Jones, Stephen K. (2006). Brunel in South Wales. II: Communications and Coal. Stroud: The History Press. p. 167. ISBN 9780752439181.
  2. ↑ Richards, Alun John (2011). The Rails and Sails of Welsh Slate. Gwalch. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-84524-174-2.
  3. ↑ Tom Bennett (1992) Shipwrecks Around Wales; Volume 2.

External links

Coordinates: 51°58′10″N 5°05′07″W / 51.96944°N 5.08530°W / 51.96944; -5.08530

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