Hafod Quay 51° 40’ N, 3° 54’W
Hafod quay, built on the river Tawe in 1810, linked the copperworks with the port of Swansea and the rest of the world.
Four tons of coal were required to smelt one ton of copper ore. Initially the ore was brought into Swansea from Cornwall and Anglesey in wooden sailing barques, the ships then made the return journey with a cargo of coal.
By the 1830s Swansea’s copper industry had become global, ores were imported from Cuba, Australia and Chile. The copper barques became bigger to cope with the heavier cargos, longer distances, and the tougher conditions they encountered.
The round trip to Chile of 24,000Km (15,000 miles) took between six and nine months, it was especially treacherous and meant rounding Cape Horn, at the southern tip of South America. The sailors who made this journey were known around the world as ‘Cape Horners’ for their bravery and sailing skills.
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Adeiladwyd cei Hafod ar lan afon Tawe yn 1810 er mwyn cysylltu’r gwaith copr gyda porthladd Abertawe a gweddill y byd.Roedd angen pedair tunell o lo i doddi un tunell o mwyn copr. Yn y dechrau, daeth y mwyn copr o Gernyw a Môn mewn llongau hwylio o’r math ‘barque’. Aethant a llwythi o lo ar y ffordd nôl.
Erbyn tridegau’r deunawfed ganrhif, aeth diwydiant copr Abertawe yn fyd-eang. Daeth y mwyn o Giwba, Awstralia a Chile. Tyfodd y llongau yn fwy i gludo llwythi trymach, yn bellach, a thrwy amgylchiadau annoddach.
Roedd y daith i Chile ac yn ôl yn 24,000 cilomedr (15,000 milltir) o bellder a cymerai rhwng chwech a naw mis. Yr oedd yn arbennig o beryglus a golygai mynd heibio Cape Horn, ar waelod deheuol De America. Adnabyddid y morwyr a wnaeth y daith yma fel ‘Cape Horners’ ar draws y byd, fel tynged i’w dewrder a’u gallu morwrol.
