Salt Island, Anglesey
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Salt Island () is joined to
Holy Island, Anglesey Holy Island (, 'the island of (Saint) Cybi') is an island on the western side of the larger Isle of Anglesey, Wales, from which it is separated by the Cymyran Strait. It is called "Holy" because of the high concentration of standing stones, bur ...
, in
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
. It is a natural provider of shelter for the town's Old Harbour from the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
and is part of the
Port of Holyhead file:Just inside the 'new' harbour at Holyhead port - geograph.org.uk - 579776.jpg, 300px, Just inside the 'New' harbour at Holyhead port., alt=Port of Holyhead From geograph.org.uk 8 October 2007 The Port of Holyhead () is a commercial and fe ...
.


History

The island is believed to have gained its name from a factory on the island which processed
sea water Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximate ...
in order to extract
sea salt Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. It is used as a seasoning in foods, cooking, cosmetics and for preserving food. It is also called bay salt, solar salt, or simply salt. Like mined rock salt, production of sea sal ...
. The Stanley Sailors' Hospital was set up in 1871 by public subscription and initially only treated sailors although it quickly became a general hospital. It was taken over by the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
in 1948 and closed its doors in 1987 and was subsequently demolished.


Lighthouse

There have been three
lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...
located on the island. The current lighthouse is the Holyhead Mail Pier Light. It was designed by
John Rennie the Elder John Rennie (7 June 1761 – 4 October 1821) was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, docks and warehouses, and a pioneer in the use of structural cast-iron. Early years John Rennie was born near Phantassie in Haddin ...
in 1821, although he died before supervising the construction. It is one of the few surviving examples of Rennie's work. The lighthouse was superseded by the Holyhead Breakwater Lighthouse when the new harbour opened in 1873.


Pier

The main
pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
on the island, the Admiralty Pier, was opened in 1821. At around long it extends east into the sea and has been used to handle ferry traffic since it was opened. Due to its important historical links between Great Britain and Ireland, the pier has twice had royal visitors. On 7 August 1821,
King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...
arrived from Ireland. The Arch known as
Admiralty Arch The Admiralty Arch is a historic landmark building in London, providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, London, The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Commissioned by King Edward VII in mem ...
was constructed to commemorate this visit. and once in 1898 when
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
set sail for her last voyage to Ireland. An inner arm, pairing the existing long breakwater (built between 1848 and 1876) was planned from Salt Island. The isolated broad gauge tramway railway from the
Holyhead Mountain Holyhead Mountain ( Welsh ''Mynydd Twr,'' from ''mynydd'' 'mountain, unenclosed land' and ''twr'' 'a heap, pile') is the highest point on Holy Island, Anglesey, and in the county of Anglesey, north Wales. It lies about two miles west of the town ...
quarry used to build the former had a branch to Salt Island, via Newry Beach, to facilitate this. Although started with an intention to be 2,100 feet long, the inner arm was never developed beyond a rubble spit at the northern tip of the island. Stone blocks that supported this tramway are still to be found along the upper seafront of Newry Beach. No trace remains of the, presumably, wooden viaduct across the Borth Sach inlet which provided access to the island. During the 1990s the remains of rails were still to be found amongst the large boulders deposited as the foundations for the inner arm. In more recent times, starting in February 2001, the island was expanded into the sea by the process of
land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...
. In total was gained at a cost of £10 million. An average of 7,000 tonnes of rock and mud was extracted per day during the process.


Transport and access

Salt Island is part of the
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
of
Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...
and almost the whole extent of the island is used as a passenger, car and freight terminal and berths for ferries to and from
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Both
Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Pembr ...
and
Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...
sail from Salt Island to the Port of Dublin. The Holyhead lifeboat station is on the island. The
Admiralty Arch The Admiralty Arch is a historic landmark building in London, providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, London, The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Commissioned by King Edward VII in mem ...
, the end of the A5 which links
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to Holyhead is located very close to the southern tip of the island. This was opened in 1826 when the last section of the road the
Menai Suspension Bridge The Menai Suspension Bridge ( or ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it was the world's first major suspension bridge. Th ...
was completed. Access to the island as a whole is strictly monitored and is virtually impossible for
pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...
s to enter.


References


External links

* {{coord, 53, 18, 58, N, 4, 37, 26.5, W, region:GB_type:isle, display=title Islands of Anglesey Holyhead