Port of Holyhead

Coordinates: 53°18′34″N 4°37′44″W / 53.3094°N 4.6289°W / 53.3094; -4.6289
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Port of Holyhead From geograph.org.uk 8 October 2007
Just inside the 'New' harbour at Holyhead port.

The Port of Holyhead (

port in Anglesey, United Kingdom, handling more than 2 million passengers each year.[1] It covers an area of 240 hectares, and is operated by Stena Line Ports Ltd.[2] The port is the principal link for crossings from north Wales and central and northern England to Ireland. The port is partly on Holy Island and partly on Salt Island (Welsh: Ynys Halen). It is made up of the Inner Harbour, the Outer Harbour and the New Harbour (opened in 1880),[3] all sheltered by the Holyhead Breakwater which, at 2.7 kilometres, is the longest in the UK.[2][3]

History

George IV at Holyhead en route to Ireland in 1821

Formerly subservient to

George IV of the United Kingdom in 1821, when he arrived in Holyhead on the royal yacht, before leaving on a state visit to Ireland on the steam packet Lightning.[6]

In 1845, an Act of Parliament led to the construction of the new port, and a new railway station was opened in 1851.

Prince of Wales, now an adult, who officially opened the New Harbour on 17 June 1880. A new station hotel was erected at about the same time. However, as a starting point for sea journeys to Ireland, Holyhead soon had a rival, as the port of Fishguard began operating ferries in 1906.[3][9]

In 1916, a naval base was created and the Irish Sea Hunting Flotilla was established later in the

Royal Dutch Navy began using the port as a base. In June 1939, the Royal Navy submarine HMS Thetis sank during sea trials in Liverpool Bay, and it was subsequently brought to the harbour at Holyhead after being beached at Traeth Bychan. It remained at Holyhead in dry dock while the contents were removed; fourteen of the 99 victims were buried locally.[5] A new container port opened at Holyhead in 1970, the container service between Holyhead and Dublin having begun two years earlier. Major changes were made to the port facilities, and the station hotel was demolished in 1978. Bigger ferry vessels came into use, and the Stena Lynx 1 catamaran began services in the early 1990s.[9]

In the late 20th century, the port was owned by Sealink (later Stena Sealink), a ferry company which ran a fast ferry from the Admiralty Pier and slower ferries from an alternative berth. The Irish ferry company B&I also operated ferries to and from Ireland from the port of Holyhead. B&I took Sealink to court in 1992 for imposing less favourable conditions on its competitor when using the port. In the following year, another company, Sea Containers Ltd, took legal action against Sealink Ports on similar grounds.[10] Stena Line discontinued its fast ferry service in 2015,[11] leaving Irish Ferries operating the fastest service between Holyhead and Dublin.[12]

Current services

Interior of the building shared by the port and railway station

North Wales Coast Line to Chester and London Euston. The walk between trains and ferry check in is less than two minutes, but longer from the remote platform 1, used by Avanti West Coast services. The port is accessible to motor vehicles via both the A5 and the A55 roads. Pedestrian access from Holyhead town centre is via the Celtic Gateway
, a bridge linking town and port, and takes about five minutes. The largest ferries arrive and depart from the 300-metre Admiralty Pier.

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Sea Passenger Statistics 2007". 29 May 2008. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Holyhead". Ports and Harbours of the UK. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Phil Carradice. "The opening of Holyhead's new harbour". BBC Blogs - Wales. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  4. ^ John Maxwell Dunn (1948). The Chester & Holyhead Railway. Oakwood Press.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4456-5153-8
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-7083-2214-7
    .
  7. ^ Joseph Hone (7 July 1953). "Queen Victoria in Ireland, 1853". History Today: Archive. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  8. ISBN 0727725769
    .
  9. ^ a b Ann Roberts. "Brief History of the Holyhead Port". www.holyhead.com/holyheadporthistory. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  10. ISBN 978-90-6215-804-1
    .
  11. ^ Owen Hughes (4 February 2015). "Stena Line fast ferry service from Holyhead to Ireland scrapped after passenger numbers fall by 90%". WalesOnline. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Dublin Swift". Irish Ferries. Retrieved 26 April 2016.

Bibliography

External links

53°18′34″N 4°37′44″W / 53.3094°N 4.6289°W / 53.3094; -4.6289

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