The steamer Wythburn being loaded at Porth y Nant dock. Hundreds of tons of granite were quarried in the valley on a daily basis and ships regularly moored up alongside one of three jetties in the bay to be loaded with the setts and crushed stone. The bay had no shelter from the westerly winds and vessels were occasionally wrecked during storms. There was no road access to the valley and goods mostly came in and out by sea.