The Seamen's Mission House, Swansea Docks

1953

Created by brother 13 years ago
This photo shows the old chapel that was once a photo processing laboratory that my grandfather Arthur Dawson Managed. It had formerly been a chapel for sailors who berthed their boats in North Dock Basin, Swansea and has now been restored to form an Arts Centre. In the early 20th century this was sited in quite a rough area of the Swansea Docklands and in the 1950s it was still a very busy area with mainly fishing boats using the area. Margaret and myself often used to visit the processing works on a Saturday morning whilst my grandfather finished off any processing work that needed doing. Even at the tender age of 8 I would often wander around the docks taking monotone photographs that my grandfather would process for me. A large fishmarket was sited just behind the Mission House and goods trains were shunted to and from the area. All has changed now and the area has had lots of flats built around what was formerly dockland. A large marina has been established, and a large Waterfront Museum has been built which houses artefacts and a history of Industrial South Wales.

Pictures