Swansea Bay

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Swansea Bay as seen from Townhill
Swansea Bay as seen from Townhill

Swansea Bay (Welsh: Bae Abertawe) is an bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the bay.

Swansea Bay (and all of the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel) experiences one of the largest tidal ranges in the world with a maximum range of about 10 m.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Oyster fishing was once an important industry in Swansea Bay, employing 600 people at its height in the 1860s. However, overfishing, disease and pollution had all but wiped out the oyster population by 1920. In 2005 plans were announced to reintroduce the industry.[2]

[edit] Beaches

The bay is lined with sandy beaches. Each stretch of beach within the bay has its own individual name:

[edit] Swansea Bay beach

Swansea Bay is the 5 mile stretch of sandy beach between Swansea Docks and the Knab Rock near Mumbles. It is backed by a cycle/pedestrian track (part of National Cycle Route 4) and a coastal road. Urban and suburban areas of Swansea lie just inland of the road.

[edit] Tourism

In recent years, tourism has provided a boost to the local economy. Swansea Bay itself was popular in Victorian times and in the early part of the 20th century. However, despite having dunes and golden sands over a large section of the Bay all the way from the mouth of the River Neath to Blackpill, with the exception of the Swansea Docks breakwater, it now rarely hosts more than a few hundred visitors on even the best day, even in the height of summer and has seen little of the tourist boom. Ironically in the last ten years or so, with the reduction in pollution (see below) has come an increase in the amount of sand on the lower stretches of the Bay at low tide which were once almost pure mud flats.

In an attempt to popularise the Bay, in late February 2007, Swansea Council announced plans for a major revamp of the entire Bay from The Slip all the way round to Mumbles Pier. These include new toilets at The Slip, further improvements to the St. Helens Ground, housing on part of the Recreation Ground, a new 'Extreme Sports' Centre at Sketty Lane, further improvements at the popular Blackpill Lido including a new cycle and pedestrian bridge linking the coast path to the Clyne Valley Cycle Path, a multi-story car park at Mumbles Quarry and mixed development at Oystermouth Square and improvements to the Mumbles Pier.

Bracelet bay, Mumbles and Swansea bay, seen from the Mumbles Lighthouse
Bracelet bay, Mumbles and Swansea bay, seen from the Mumbles Lighthouse

[edit] Pollution

For the last two decades of the 20th Century, the bay was blighted by pollution, partly from the surrounding heavy industry and partly from sewerage outlets being sited at inappropriate locations including the main one that was located just seaward of Mumbles Lighthouse. A pumping station inside the cliff adjacent to Knab Rock brought all of Swansea city's effluent in a raw form to this point. Adding to the problem was the natural current flow of the waters in the Bay which often did not move the polluted waters further out to sea. Ironically, the outgoing tide did not carry the raw sewage down the adjacent Bristol Channel, but instead cause it to be sucked in around the circumference of the Bay and only then out down the Channel. If not fully discharged on that tide, the incoming tide would then push the same effluent up the Channel, and once again circulate around the Bay. Efforts were made by the local authority to reduce the pollution in the Bay but care had to be taken to ensure the pollution did not move to the popular beach resorts in south Gower instead.

This original sewer outlet was finally made inactive in around 1996 following the construction of a brand new pipeline which ran all the way back around the Bay following the line of the old Mumbles Railway as far as Beach Street, along the sea-side of the Maritime Quarter and through Swansea Docks to a new £90 million sewerage treatment plant at Crymlyn Burrows near Port Tennant from which a new outlet was made, extending further out to sea. As a consequence of the huge improvement these works have made, it is hoped that Swansea Bay will achieve Blue Flag Beach status sometime in the latter half of the millennium decade. Aberavon beach was awarded Blue Flag status in December 2007.[1]

[edit] Power generation

There is a gas-fired power station located just inland at Baglan Bay. A new biomass power station has been approved for construction near the coast at Port Talbot.

[edit] Future plans

Swansea Bay (along with the rest of the UK) has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. This offers a potential for electricity generation using tidal lagoons. The bay is set to host the world's first tidal lagoon by approximately 2009.[3] It will be sited about a mile offshore and will be about 5 square kilometres in size.

In addition to tidal power, construction of an offshore windfarm in the Bay has been approved,[4] but construction has now been deferred owing to the costs involved. The windfarm was to have been sited at Scarweather Sands, about three miles off the coast and visible from Porthcawl.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Swansea Bay and Gower Tides
  2. ^ Bay plans oyster trade revival (English). BBC.
  3. ^ source: http://www.tidalelectric.com/Projects%20UK.htm
  4. ^ source: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/contentlookup.cfm?ucidparam=20041005181339

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 51°35′N, 3°54′W

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