HOLYHEAD PIER—OLD HARBOUR.
The first stone of this great national work was laid in the month of August, 1810. The Pier extends from the small island called Ynys Halen, or Salt Island, in an east-south-east direction into the sea; and is about 1000 feet in length. On the south side it is faced with a perpendicular wall of cut stone; near the east end a spur projects 60 feet at right angles with the wall, so as to afford shelter from the east winds. The back of the Pier, or part towards the sea, is on an inclined plane from the top of the parapet, and is built with large rough stones placed edge-ways, as close together as possible, and wedged with smaller ones, so that the sea has no power over it. A morning or evening walk on the parapet, which is used as a promenade, is strongly recommended; it will have a tendency to enliven the spirits, and brace the nerves. On the south side of the Harbour is a fine Graving Dock, admirably constructed, and one of the first in England. The Dock gates are protected by a spur projecting from Turkey Shore to the northward 330 feet, on the east side of the gates. The whole of the above improvements were effected for about £130,000—the Graving Dock about £12,000. Formerly the road to the Pier was through the town; but Government constructed a new road on the margin of the Pool or Basin, which covers an area of fifty or sixty acres, and is filled with water at high tide, but dry at low water.
The anchorage ground outside the Harbour having been so much raked by use that the anchors would not hold, several vessels were in consequence lost. In 1831, a very strong chain of 300 feet in length was laid down across the entrance; so that when a vessel now drags her anchor before the gale, she drives forward until she grapples the chain. This plan has been the means of saving a number of vessels, and none have been on shore since it was adopted. On the Pier there is a large capstan of great power, for the use of the Government Packets and other vessels. Many large ships, by the aid of a plentiful supply of warps, have been brought into the Harbour during heavy gales, evidently snatched from destruction by the prompt assistance thus rendered. A Life Boat reposes on a frame furnished with wheels, in order that it may be moved at an instant’s notice; a gratifying proof that the cause of humanity is not suffered to slumber.