Above: A cast iron wheel from an early nineteenth century coal truck. Basic small cast iron products like this were needed in massive quantities to feed the new coal mines appearing all over England and Wales.

Iron was essential for most activities by the mid 1700s. It played a similar role to plastic in the present time. Cooking pots, nails, buckles, chains, knives, forks, garden spades, and hundreds of other small things.

At the other end of the spectrum, iron was increasingly being used in ships, building, bridges, weapons, and the 'new' technologies of steam engines and iron ships. As confidence grew in using iron more and more ideas came forward for its use. Early buildings used small amounts of iron, often in place of wooden beams and supports. By the early 1800s, larger cast iron beams were being used to build much bigger buildings than had been possible using wood.

Greater experience of working iron enabled teams of men to work to produce quite massive things such as ships' anchors and components for steam engines. Large iron foundries were established that grouped men together in massive teams that worked very closely together in very dangerous conditions to produce what were to become marvels of the time.

Above: An early cast iron mooring bollard from Swansea's New Cut(River Tawe). The SHT stands for 'Swansea Harbour Trust'. The bollards were cast at the Yniscedwyn Iron Works. The design was based on an upturned cannon with a cannon ball stuck in the muzzle. This was a traditional design, ideal for mooring sailing vessels.