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New Quay
- 'Cei Newydd', with Its picturesque houses, pubs
and restaurants clings to the sides of the hills rising
above the blue waters of Cardigan Bay on the coast of West
Wales.
The sheltered harbour
and safe beaches are the focus of activity in the summer
when New Quay becomes a bustling and vibrant holiday resort where
sailing, fishing, water sports and relaxation, are among the main attractions. |
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History: In the early days New Quay was
a fishing and smuggling port. Later a burgeoning shipbuilding industry developed, reaching its peak in the middle of the nineteenth century. Towards the end of that century shipbuilding died out and tourism gradually filled the void. Today New Quay has little industry - just a
little fishing and a shellfish processing plant. By far the majority of residents now are associated with Tourism and its associated services.
Initially New Quay was just a cluster of thatched houses on and above
the beach at Tangeulan and Penguelan (Glanmor Terrace). Although there is no record of who lived there at that time, they were almost certainly fishermen using the relatively sheltered cove to bring in their boats and build their houses.
The land upon which New Quay now stands was part of the three farms of
Penwig, Neuadd and Penrhiwpistiyll.
In the eighteenth century, smuggling was a viable alternative to agriculture on this part of the coast.
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Shipbuilding started in New Quay in the eighteenth century although exactly when is unclear as registration had not always been a legal requirement. The first recorded vessel built at New Quay was the 24 ton sloop 'Thomas and Mary' which was launched in 1779. Between 1800 and 1820, 31 ships were built at
New Quay, most of which were sloops. |
| New Quay was becoming more popular as a port at the start of the nineteenth century, there being an increase
in tonnage shipped from 500 to 3,500 tons between 1823 and 1833. It became evident that the harbour needed to be increased in size by the addition of a new pier. The old pier, called Penpolion
(see photo on right) was just a haphazard assembly of poles driven into the sand
with loose boulders. It protected a small area below the present
lifeboat station and the Sandy Slip . Today Penpolion is a concrete
pier. |
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In 1834 Daniel Beynon was invited to submit a plan
for a new pier which was carried out after the formation of the New Quay Harbour Company.
The pier was built with stone from a
quarry which can now be seen above 'New Quay Fresh and Frozen Foods'
at the end of Rock Street. A railway was built to carry the stones from the quarry to the end of the pier. The track of this railway is now reflected in the name given to Rock Street.
The small stone lighthouse, 30 feet high, was not
built until 1839 and was placed at the end of the pier. It was known
locally as the 'Pepper Pot' - an item that it
clearly resembled.
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The lighthouse had a window light
which showed a fixed bright light 40 feet above high water level
and visible for 6 to 10 miles. It had a small access door in the
base.
A severe storm in 1859 damaged the pier and
washed the lighthouse away. It was rebuilt but destroyed a
second time almost 80 years later during another severe storm on
28th February 1937. |
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With the completion of the new pier, New Quay started to grow with the building of new streets including Rock Street, Mason Street and the upper part of Church Street.
The New Quay Harbour Company were now able to charge a fee for the
importation - and export of almost all supplies.
By 1848 shipbuilding had become a major industry
in New Quay and in this year it is recorded that there were 10 vessels on the stocks at one
time that required the skills of some three hundred workmen. They were
summoned to work each morning by a bell hung from the branch of a big
chestnut tree.
Visitors had been coming to New Quay in
small numbers aboard steamers from Liverpool and Bristol. However, the
increased ease of transportation by land into the area, brought about
the next phase of New Quay's development. Lodging houses started to
appear in New Quay and visitors wrote glowingly of its benefits. One
visitor wrote in the 'Christian World' of 1885: ' ..a little town,
white in the bright sunshine, built along the steep sides of a
shimmering Bay.....this little town was the quaintest most picturesque
one could wish to see.
| Horse drawn buses brought visitors from
the stations at Aberystwyth
and Llandysul in the 1890's. It is noted that by 1895 New Quay had
some 10,000 visitors in the year.
right:
New
Quay beach in the early 1900s |
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Today, tourism is more important than ever to New Quay and it
remains a popular resort. Centrally located on the Cardigan Bay
Heritage coast, New Quay is mid way between the coastal market
towns of Aberystwyth and Cardigan with Lampeter just 20 minutes
inland. A day trip from New Quay could include Machynlleth and
Aberdovey to the north or St Davids and Haverfordwest in
Pembrokeshire to the south.
See our 'Activities'
page for what to do in and around New Quay.
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