Tall masted ships, North Dock, Swansea, Wales

circa 1880

Views of the days when tall masted ships graced our fair bay at Swansea, canvas blown against the Welsh skies. From here Swansea folk circumnavigated the globe with valuable minerals and cargoes of copper; thus the natural harbour of Swansea developed from 1624 to become a world power by the 19th Century. Huge docks were constructed by leading harbour engineer James Abernethy to accommodate thousands of tonnage of shipping: North, South, Prince of Wales, Kings and Queens' dock evolved in turn. Today, in the 21st Century, Abernethy's historic South dock and Tawe river are leisure parks and marinas adjacent to Swansea Bay - a unique perspective in the U.K. - which has been recognised by countless awards. These  include one which cites Swansea one of the top three maritime developments in Europe. The view of former North Dock (top) is the scene of today's Parc Tawe shopping development, which contains Plantasia, a giant climatically controlled glass pyramid containing over 5000 plant species - including some which are extinct in the wild.