Porthgain

The village of Porthgain has a historical prosperous industrial history.The harbour in the early 1900’s and at one point in time exported slate from quarries a few miles from Abereiddi.

The quarries south of Abereiddi were linked by a tramway. Porthgain Railway was water-powered by mills at Porthgain and the slate was sawed into slabs before there for shipment. When the slate was not needed the harbour was developed into brickmaking and later developed to crushed stone for road works. Large brick hoppers alongside the harbour were used to store crushed dolerite before shipment, now these buildings that tower around the harbour are Scheduled Ancient Monuments.
This period was dated: Material from a local quarry carried to the harbour was from 1850 to 1910 and bricks were made in the harbour area from 1889 to 1912 using waste from the slate operation.

Now the pretty little village of Porthgain, designated a conservation area is a peaceful place today with the fishermen cottages and workshops made into home and restaurants protected by the horseshoe shapes harbour walls from the prevailing winds and tide surge. The harbour is best viewed from the coastal path from the West where you see the whitewashed harbour master shed and the village buildings nestled into each other. This view is probably one of my favourite places to paint in Pembrokeshire.