Editing Glamorgan (section)

===Waterways and ports===
Due to Glamorgan's long coastline, several settlements grew and prospered as harbour and port towns. In 1801, Swansea was Glamorgan's largest urban area with a population five times that of Cardiff's.<ref name="Davies840">Davies (2008), p.840</ref> [[Cowbridge]] was the capital town of the Vale, and the centre of agricultural trade, with surplus stock being shipped to the coastal village of Aberthaw<ref name="Davies116">Davies (2008), p. 116</ref> and to a lesser extent [[Newton, Bridgend|Newton]].<ref name="Davies697">Davies (2008), p. 697</ref> Where there were breaks in the rocky coastline, small fishing and cockling communities existed, such as Port Eynon and [[Penclawdd]].

The event that changed the face of coastal Glamorgan was the growth of the Merthyr iron industry. Merthyr needed a coastal export point for its iron and Cardiff was the obvious choice being at the mouth of the River Taff.<ref name="Davies116"/> A road was built to connect the two towns, but with only horses to move the cargo, transportation was cumbersome; therefore an alternative was planned. Although Glamorgan had a large number of rivers, few were navigable for any considerable length.<ref name="Davies111">Davies (2008), p.111</ref> Between 1790 and 1794, acts of Parliament were obtained for the construction of three canals within Glamorgan, the [[Glamorganshire Canal]] (1790), [[Neath and Tennant Canal|Neath Canal]] (1791) and the [[Swansea Canal]] (1794). All three were vital in increasing the transportation of iron, copper, steel and coal from the uplands of the county to the ports at Swansea and Cardiff. Although the first stages of all three canals were completed by 1800 and revolutionised the commercial transportation systems of Glamorgan; in 1804 at Penydarren Ironworks, [[Richard Trevithick]]'s [[Pen-y-Darren (locomotive)|"Pen-y-Darren" locomotive]] became the first engine to pull a load along rails;<ref name="Davies886">Davies (2008), p.886</ref> heralding the coming of the railways, which would eventually replace the canals.

The [[Cardiff Docks|port at Cardiff]] grew quickly during the 19th century, not as a mass exporter of iron but of coal, transported from Pontypridd and the [[Cynon Valley|Cynon]] and Rhondda Valleys. From 1840 to 1870 Cardiff's export tonnage of coal increased from 44,350 to 2,219,000.<ref name="Davies117">Davies (2008), p.117</ref> By 1871, Cardiff had outgrown all of its Welsh rivals to become the most populous town in the country<ref name="Davies117"/> [[Swansea Docks]] continued to be the world's leading exporter of copper, but did not experience the growth of Cardiff due to poor links to the coalfields. Ambitious attempts were made to link Swansea's docks to coal rich areas, such as the [[Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway]], but these plans were never truly economically successful. The biggest threat to Cardiff's dominance came in the early 20th century at [[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan|Barry]]. In 1881, Barry had 484 inhabitants, after an 1884 act of Parliament{{which|date=July 2024}} authorising the construction of a docks and railway link, the town grew to over 27,000 by 1901.<ref name="Davies52">Davies (2008) p.52</ref> The chief advocate of Barry's growth as a dock was [[David Davies (industrialist)|David Davies]], and in 1901 Barry was exporting more coal than Cardiff, peaking in 1913 when it shipped 11.41 million tons.<ref name="Davies52"/>

The [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|interwar depression]] experienced by Great Britain brought an end to the prosperity of the Glamorgan ports.<ref name="Davies699">Davies (2008), p.699</ref> During the Second World War, the main ports of Glamorgan were heavily targeted by German bombing raids, though exports were not severely disrupted. By the second half of the 20th century none of the county's docks showed any growth, and with the collapse of the coal trade in South Wales Cardiff and Barry Docks became near derelict, shipping mainly general cargo. Swansea also suffered a vast reduction on trade with the end of the area as a world leader in copper smelting. The only dock to remain a viable exporter was the [[Port of Port Talbot]]. First built in 1839,<ref name="Davies697"/> the docks at Port Talbot were a minor concern in relation to the more established ports, but exports increased after the 1916 with the completion of the Margam Steelworks.<ref name="Davies697"/> Exports continued strongly when the [[Port Talbot Steelworks|Abbey Works]] were built in 1952. Port Talbot would eventually become the biggest exporting port in Glamorgan, and the second largest in Wales, only surpassed by [[Milford Haven (harbour)|Milford Haven]].