Goodwick
Encyclopedia
Goodwick is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire
, south-west Wales
, immediately west of its twin town of Fishguard
. Goodwick was a small fishing village in the parish of Llanwnda
, but in 1887 work commenced on a railway connection and harbour, and the village grew rapidly to service this. The main industry is now tourism although in the town's industrial past brick making was once an important industry. Some fishing still takes place on a small scale but most activity is centered around Milford Haven
.
. The quarried-out area became the quay. The harbour was finally opened on August 30, 1906. Planned to be the end of the Great Western Railway
's line and its major sea port, replacing Neyland
, problems with the harbour (known as Fishguard Harbour) prevented larger ocean liners from docking. Accordingly the harbour has a smaller inner breakwater protecting the remaining open side.
RMS Mauretania
visited once in 1909 although passengers had to board by tender
when transferring to and from the London
train. The smaller breakwater was built as part of the preparations for the visit of the RMS Mauretania and is sometimes known as the "Mauretania Mole
". The breakwater lead to unanticipated silting, and the prospect of future visits from larger liners was abandoned. Directly above the harbour is a small estate known as "Harbour Village", built to house workers during the construction of the harbour.
The port now accommodates a ferry
and seasonal fast catamaran
service to Rosslare
operated by Stena Line
.
The RNLI operate an all weather Trent class lifeboat
, the Blue Peter VII, and a class D inshore lifeboat from within the harbour.
In October 2011 plans for a new marina
were revealed in the Western Telegraph
. The developers Conygar who hope to invest £100 million into the project have submitted plans to Pembrokeshire County Council
for a 450 berth marina, 253 new residential apartments and a 19 acre platform for the potential expansion of the existing Stena Line port. The scheme would also create a publicly-accessible promenade and waterfront, and visitor parking as well as workshops, stores and ancillary facilities. If approved most of the proposed new developments will be sited by reclaiming land from the sea bed within the two existing breakwaters mainly near the current 'Ocean Lab' and along side the existing ferry terminal access roads. Conygar have also exchanged contracts to acquire an eleven acre site for a lorry stop and distribution park on the perimeter of the Stena Line owned port.
.
As mentioned above, the harbour is used by Stena Line ferries to Rosslare in Ireland. In 2011, the conventional ferry has two sailings each way per day, one around lunch time and one in the dead of night. The Stena Lynx fast ferry operates in the summer only which in the 2010 season consisted of a morning departure to Rosslare and a late afternoon arrival into Fishguard harbour.
The town is served by the Fishguard town service bus, which runs alternatly from Harbour Village or Stop-and-Call to Fishguard
town hall. Two Fishguard - St Davids bus routes also pass through the town.
. Kelly's Directory for 1895 does not mention the Stop-and-Call nor does it appear on a map which dates from ca. 1850.
by Denys Corbett Wilson
, flying a Bleriot XI
. The flight lasted one hour 40 minutes, with landfall near Enniscorthy
, Ireland.
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
, south-west Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, immediately west of its twin town of Fishguard
Fishguard
Fishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....
. Goodwick was a small fishing village in the parish of Llanwnda
Llanwnda, Pembrokeshire
Llanwnda is a rural village and historical parish to the north of the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire.Llanwnda lies some two miles northwest of the port of Fishguard and is inside the boundaries of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park....
, but in 1887 work commenced on a railway connection and harbour, and the village grew rapidly to service this. The main industry is now tourism although in the town's industrial past brick making was once an important industry. Some fishing still takes place on a small scale but most activity is centered around Milford Haven
Milford Haven
Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...
.
Fishguard Harbour
The harbour was constructed by blasting 1.6 million tonnes of rock from the hillside to make a 900 m long breakwaterBreakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
. The quarried-out area became the quay. The harbour was finally opened on August 30, 1906. Planned to be the end of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
's line and its major sea port, replacing Neyland
Neyland
Neyland is a town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Cleddau and the upstream end of the Milford Haven estuary. The nearby Cleddau Bridge crosses the river, linking Neyland to Pembroke Dock.-History:...
, problems with the harbour (known as Fishguard Harbour) prevented larger ocean liners from docking. Accordingly the harbour has a smaller inner breakwater protecting the remaining open side.
RMS Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1906)
RMS Mauretania was an ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear for the British Cunard Line, and launched on 20 September 1906. At the time, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world. Mauretania became a favourite among...
visited once in 1909 although passengers had to board by tender
Ship's tender
A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...
when transferring to and from the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
train. The smaller breakwater was built as part of the preparations for the visit of the RMS Mauretania and is sometimes known as the "Mauretania Mole
Mole (architecture)
A mole is a massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater, or a causeway between places separated by water. The word comes from Middle French mole and ultimately Latin mōlēs meaning a large mass, especially of rock and has the same root as molecule.Historically, the term "mole"...
". The breakwater lead to unanticipated silting, and the prospect of future visits from larger liners was abandoned. Directly above the harbour is a small estate known as "Harbour Village", built to house workers during the construction of the harbour.
The port now accommodates a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
and seasonal fast catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
service to Rosslare
Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeastern-most point of Ireland's coastline, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Wales and France....
operated by Stena Line
Stena Line
Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...
.
The RNLI operate an all weather Trent class lifeboat
Trent class lifeboat
The Trent class lifeboat is an all-weather lifeboat operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution from 30 stations around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland to provide coverage up to out to sea...
, the Blue Peter VII, and a class D inshore lifeboat from within the harbour.
In October 2011 plans for a new marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
were revealed in the Western Telegraph
Western Telegraph
The Western Telegraph is a Welsh regional newspaper covering Pembrokeshire and bordering Carmarthenshire. Founded as the Haverfordwest & Milford Haven Telegraph, it is published on a weekly basis and is currently split into three editions...
. The developers Conygar who hope to invest £100 million into the project have submitted plans to Pembrokeshire County Council
Pembrokeshire County Council
Pembrokeshire County Council is the governing body for Pembrokeshire, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.-Political makeup:Elections take place every four years. The last election was 1 May 2008.- Current composition :- Historic results :...
for a 450 berth marina, 253 new residential apartments and a 19 acre platform for the potential expansion of the existing Stena Line port. The scheme would also create a publicly-accessible promenade and waterfront, and visitor parking as well as workshops, stores and ancillary facilities. If approved most of the proposed new developments will be sited by reclaiming land from the sea bed within the two existing breakwaters mainly near the current 'Ocean Lab' and along side the existing ferry terminal access roads. Conygar have also exchanged contracts to acquire an eleven acre site for a lorry stop and distribution park on the perimeter of the Stena Line owned port.
Transport
Fishguard & Goodwick railway station served local rail travelers from the town, and from nearby Fishguard, until the line was effectivly closed to such passengers by the reduction in service to boat trains only. After this, trains only served Fishguard HarbourFishguard Harbour railway station
Fishguard Harbour railway station serves the port of Fishguard Harbour, Wales. It is the terminus of one of the branches of the West Wales Line from Swansea.-Ownership:...
.
As mentioned above, the harbour is used by Stena Line ferries to Rosslare in Ireland. In 2011, the conventional ferry has two sailings each way per day, one around lunch time and one in the dead of night. The Stena Lynx fast ferry operates in the summer only which in the 2010 season consisted of a morning departure to Rosslare and a late afternoon arrival into Fishguard harbour.
The town is served by the Fishguard town service bus, which runs alternatly from Harbour Village or Stop-and-Call to Fishguard
Fishguard
Fishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....
town hall. Two Fishguard - St Davids bus routes also pass through the town.
Stop-and-Call
Originally a separate settlement, Stop-and-Call has now become continuous with Goodwick. It sits at the point where Goodwick Hill begins to level out after climbing 100 metres in about 1 km from the centre of Goodwick. A map dating from 1891 shows the area as being moorland, with very few buildings; at this time it was in the parish of LlanwndaLlanwnda, Pembrokeshire
Llanwnda is a rural village and historical parish to the north of the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire.Llanwnda lies some two miles northwest of the port of Fishguard and is inside the boundaries of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park....
. Kelly's Directory for 1895 does not mention the Stop-and-Call nor does it appear on a map which dates from ca. 1850.
Early Aviation
The first successful flight from Britain to Ireland was made from Goodwick's Harbour Village on 22 April 19121912 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1912:-January:*10 January – Lieutenant Commander Charles Samson flies Short Improved S.27 No. 38 from a platform constructed over the deck of battleship HMS Africa moored in the River Medway, England...
by Denys Corbett Wilson
Denys Corbett Wilson
Denys Corbett Wilson was a pioneering Irish aviator.He is most notable for his 100-minute flight on 22 April 1912, from Goodwick in Pembrokeshire to Enniscorthy - from the island of Great Britain to the island of Ireland...
, flying a Bleriot XI
Blériot XI
The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in...
. The flight lasted one hour 40 minutes, with landfall near Enniscorthy
Enniscorthy
Enniscorthy is the second largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. The population of the town and environs is 9538. The Placenames Database of Ireland sheds no light on the origins of the town's name. It may refer either to the "Island of Corthaidh" or the "Island of Rocks". With a history going...
, Ireland.
