Annex D - Information Sent to Members of Pembrokeshire County Council's Planning Committee for the Meeting on 20 April 2021.

 Annex D

 An Alternative Outline View

for using the

Western Dockyard

at

Pembroke Dock

Possible Future Uses of the Western Dockyard

Visitor Attraction

The western end of the dockyard has several monuments that relate to the history of the former uses of the place that brought a new industry to the remote west of Wales that saw the founding of Pembroke Dock and a place for the ships that were built there on the world stage. All this rich history might well be facing final oblivion if planning application 20/0732/PA is granted permission. That would be a great shame for Pembroke Dock, particularly as the town could have both the new project and a heritage-based visitor economy. Other possibilities are discussed here

 

It should also be remembered that the Irish ferry service deposits thousand of visitors at the dockyard every year.

 

Water Based Activities

The Timber Pond is a structure built in about 1843 within the extended dockyard perimeter that stood immediately to the east of what is now the Fort Road foreshore. At the eastern end of the pond there is a full width ramp made of a 12 ins (0.3 m) layer of pitched stone, over a 2 ft (0.6 m) layer of rubble and concrete, this laid over a 4 ft (1.2 m) layer of puddled clay. This ramp slopes down at an angle of about 25 degrees to the horizontal to a depth of around 18 Feet (5.5.m) below the western wall of the pond. The bottom of the pond made up of the puddled clay in a layer about 4 ft (1.2 m) ft thick. (The National Archives: ADM 140/486)

 

The predicted tidal ranges for Milford Haven, for years 2008 – 2026 are:

Highest astronomical tide - 7.85m (25 ft 9 ins)

Mean High Water Springs – 7.04 metres (23 ft 1 ins)

Mean high water neaps - 5.29m (17 ft 4 ins)

Mean low water neaps -2.47m (8 ft 2 ins)

Mean low water springs - 0.76m (2ft 6 ins)

Lowest astronomical tide - 0.04m (0 ft 2 ins)

 

The Timber Pond was designed with the intention of it being flushed out by the full range of tides experienced in the dockyard. The pond has two visible culverts that allow the transfer of water to and from the pond. One, on its northern side connects to the Graving Dock and the other, on the western side, connects to the foreshore of Fort Road Beach.

 

The timber pond would appear to be very useful facility for the introductory training of people who might wish to gain the basic skills of rowing, kayaking, canoeing or other similar water-based activities. Once the basic handling skills have been acquired, students can then access the main water of the haven via Slips 1 and 2 at most states of the tide. From here they can access the shallower water west of the Carr Jetty arches or other parts of the waterway to the east.

 

The Timber Pond was, on its western side a roadway that gives access to the Carr Jetty and beyond this the 12 ft high Dockyard Wall (Listed Grade II) that provides shelter from the predominantly westerly winds.

 

A survey conducted in 2013 stated that the pond was in generally good condition, although the exit of the northern culvert into the Graving Dock was inaccessible due to a thick layer of mud in the bottom of the dock. The western culvert discharged successfully onto the Fort Road beach.

 

To the south of the Timber Pond there is a grassed and concreted area that could provide parking and picnic facilities in association with the former Flying Boat Centre building that could be repurposed as a refreshment of storage facility. Building 44A Workshop (Former Admiralty Store, previously Admiralty Building 20A Trailer & Tangye Pumps) (MHPA Bldg. M689), could easily be used as a store for equipment associated with the activities that would take place in the Timber Pond.

 

Small Business/Heritage Use

There are a number buildings within the area that it is proposed to develop that could serve the dual purpose of being bases for local businesses and heritage attractions.

 

Some of the buildings that it is proposed to destroy could very well be repurposed, where necessary, for small business use. This would allow the historical significance of the dockyard and its past to be appreciated. There are fantastic examples of such adaptions at Chatham Historic Dockyard, where formerly basic and functional buildings have been adapted to make wonderful offices, museums, shops and restaurants.

 

A few examples of such buildings are:

Building 26 Workshop (Former Admiralty Workshop, previously Building 2H Hayes Joiner’s Shop, previously Iron Store) (MHPA Bldg. M675).

This small building, built of strap pointed, squared quarry faced blocks of carboniferous limestone is suited to small business use, possibly as a small scale workshop or, with improvements to insulation and wash facilities as an office space. See page 124 of Environmental Statement Appendix 10.3

 

The Former Pattern & Gunnery Fitting Shop (later Hayes Building 4H Machine Shop) (MHPA Unit 17)

 This building could fulfil a similar role to the Iron Store above, as could the Former Testing House (later Hayes Building 5H Stores) (MHPA Unit 19), Building 8 Heavy Engineering (Former Admiralty Salvage Shed, previously Admiralty Building 5A Salvage Shed, previously Shipbuilding Shop No. 1 and Shipbuilding Shop No. 2) (MHPA Bldg. M662A) .

 

Building 29 Blast / Spray Shop (Former Admiralty Rigging Shed, previously Admiralty Building 17A Boom Shed) (MHPA Bldg. 678)

An example of one of the many buildings in the dockyard that instead of being demolished, could be repurposed for use as a visitor attraction. One use, for example, might be as the venue for a large-scale audio-visual presentation/experience of an aspect of the history of the activities that took place in the dockyard throughout its life. Here that might be the history and use of Boom Defences, with a focus on this obscure defence activity at Pembroke Dock and other harbours on the western seaboard of the United Kingdom. This would be a niche, intriguing and unique experience for visitors that would publicise a military activity that is little known. There are numerous other examples that could be used that would bring little known activities to a wider audience. This could be a self-standing business or part of the wider heritage experience of visiting the site, speaking of which…….

 

Heritage focused activities

The oldest building within the western dockyard is the medieval tower at Paterchurch. The origins of this building are unknown, but it seems to have been a substantial medieval house with a large, 10 metre tall look out tower attached. A few hundred metres to the west was a small chapel and burials have been discovered in the vicinity. The small shed to the east of the chapel is clearly another surviving part of the medieval mansion, but the rest of the old house, if anything remains of it, must be buried beneath the concrete slab to the west and north of the tower. It should be remembered that the house originally stood on the south bank of an inlet of Milford Haven and some drawing show the building accessible by a bridge, over what appears to be deep ditch.

 

At present the building seems to have been hemmed in by containers and other artefacts by an inconsiderate neighbour, but if this end of the dockyard was repurposed as a visitor attraction, then the tower could well be opened up to the public and made accessible form the rest of the yard. It is a fascinating building. For more information see www.pdboyinsuffolk.blogspot.com and links from there.

 

The remainder of the western dockyard, particularly the monuments that will disappear should the Pembroke Dock Infrastructure (PDI) project go ahead, tell the story of the construction of ships from the preparation of the timber in the Timber Pond, to the building slips and the fitting out at the Carr Jetty. The Graving Dock represents the repair work that was undertaken at the dockyard and the technology used at the time to empty the dock once the caisson was in place to gain access to the bottom of the ship that had been floated in. Ultimately the dock could be used to house an historic vessel that might have associations with Pembroke Dock/Milford Haven.

 

This unique combination of monuments could tell a story that would capture the imagination of visitors and boost the visitor economy of the town. Should the PDI project go ahead in the dockyard, this last chance to change the image and fortunes of Pembroke Dock will be lost.

 

Of course, the western dockyard could provide a new home or “outstation” for other maritime/heritage groups, both local and national. Examples might be the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society, the National Museum of Wales, the Imperial War Museum, the Royal Air Force Museum, The National Museum of the Royal Navy, The National Army Museum etc. There would be adequate accommodation and there would be access to a range of funding streams. These could cater for the conservation deficit that would exist in the cost of repurposing of the buildings.

 

 

The Milford Haven Port Authority (MHPA) has produced a prodigious amount of documentation to support their application to take advantage of up to £60 million worth of grant funding and other investments. The reality is that this money is too small a sum to and the dockyard site too small a site to implement their ambitions. I suspect that in the end compromises will be made that will see the monuments effectively destroyed, an expansion of the boating building facilities offered by Mainstay Marine and perhaps the removal of some of the fabrication businesses from Waterloo Industrial Estate to fill the empty buildings newly erected in the yard. 

 

The compromises made will be the reduction in height of the large sheds, to say 20 metres and possibly, in the case of Shed C abutting the Commodore, the removal of the shed to the west of the paddock. Perhaps this is MHPA’s plan – aim high and negotiate for less. However, any such compromise still delivers a death blow to what really matters – the fate of the monuments that will be lost and the employment opportunities that will be missed. The PDI project should be built on the Waterloo Industrial Estate.

 

One of the greatest obstacles to this happening is whether Natural Resources Wales (NRW) can agree to the building of a super slip down the western side of Cosheston Pill. This is where the past endeavours of the Port Authority will come back to haunt them. I hope that NRW is able to see beyond this to the future prosperity of Pembroke Dock, and allow the building of the slip. Perhaps the answer is a partnership between MHPA, PCC and some of the businesses that operate at Waterloo and Warrior Way to ensure that Pembroke Dock gets the best of both worlds.