Point of Ayr

<h2 id="coal">Coal</h2>
<p>For many years a <a href="/facts/Colliery/hJPK7wBl">colliery</a> operated at Point of Ayr at the northern extremity of the <a href="/facts/Flintshire_Coalfield/QN2nzNYu">Flintshire Coalfield</a>; it was one of the last remaining operational <a href="/facts/Mining_in_Wales/8eWPp5QC">deep mines in Wales</a>. The first trial borings took place in 1865, under the direction of <a href="/facts/Baron_Mostyn/29BKw1Gn">Lord Mostyn</a>, owner of <a href="/facts/Mostyn_Colliery/qn9qSmpt">Mostyn Colliery</a>, a few miles away. The borings seemed successful, and the <a href="/facts/Prestatyn_Coal_Company/GQBNrtVV">Prestatyn Coal Company</a> was formed to commence operations proper, however the project was abandoned before it got off the ground. In 1873, the site was investigated a second time, by a newly formed company, the <a href="/facts/Western_Mostyn_Colliery_Company/4dEfFlX3">Western Mostyn Colliery Company</a>, however the trial shaft was not successful, and the project was again abandoned.
</p><p>In 1883, a third company was formed, the <a href="/facts/Point_of_Ayr_Colliery_Company/JWEquxSx">Point of Ayr Colliery Company</a>, and in 1890 they struck a seam. Coal at this time was brought to the surface by a team of 75 <a href="/facts/Pit_ponies/NHTv9YWl">pit ponies</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> A second shaft was also sunk around this time. According to the <a href="/facts/Henry_Walker_(mines_inspector)/B6Fd5Ute">Inspector of Mines</a> records, in 1896 the pit employed 356 men producing coal for domestic and industrial uses. A third shaft was sunk sometime after the <a href="/facts/National_Coal_Board/s2dzAHIW">National Coal Board</a> took over the site following <a href="/facts/Nationalisation/cQcRubNU">nationalisation</a> in 1947. The <a href="/facts/Coal_field/hJPK7wBl">coal field</a> extended northwards under the Irish Sea. Six men have been killed during the sink of a new shaft on the 4th of July 1952. By 1953, 738 men were producing 213,000 tons of coal annually. Point of Ayr colliery closed on 23 August 1996.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Nothing now remains of the colliery. However, like many former coal mines, the name is retained by "Point of Ayr Colliery Band", a Brass Band competing at Championship level.
</p><p>The site was chosen in the early eighties for a demonstration "Oil from Coal" plant jointly funded by the government, the National Coal Board and others. Bench scale trials was carried out on site but the project became a victim of the miners strike and the subsequent cut back in research funding for this and clean burn technology. The plant never became operational and was scrapped.
</p>
<h2 id="gas">Gas</h2>
<p>Point of Ayr is also the place where <a href="/facts/Natural_gas/9MYQ7NAP">natural gas</a> from the Celtic gas-fields comes ashore. Gas is piped through a <a href="/facts/Pipeline_transport/gEmKcFhD">pipeline</a> 33.5 km (20 mile) long from the <a href="/facts/Douglas_Complex/3NwSXUKV">Douglas Complex</a> of gas and <a href="/facts/Petroleum/IQV0bHVd">petroleum</a> <a href="/facts/Drilling_platform/o4esL5fh">drilling platforms</a> in the Irish Sea. The Point of Ayr gas terminal has a gas processing capacity of 300 million <a href="/facts/Cubic_foot/0LVL3PUF">cubic feet</a> (8.5 million <a href="/facts/Cubic_metre/GPILKCtm">cubic metres</a>) per day at <a href="/facts/Standard_temperature_and_pressure/JhJv9KFJ">standard conditions</a>. The facilities remove methanol (used for hydrate inhibition), water and condensate. The gas is <a href="/facts/Gas_sweetening/oJ0HHFQV">sweetened</a> with an amine solvent to remove sulphur compounds to below 3.3 ppm and chilled to reduce the hydrocarbon dewpoint. The processing plant was originally part of the <a href="/facts/BHP/KIj8E6Nh">BHP</a> development of the Liverpool Bay area,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> but now owned and operated by <a href="/facts/Eni/mGKysH6o">Eni</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Gas is transported through a 27-km (17 mile) underground pipeline at 30 bar along the North Wales coast to Connah's Quay. After further processing, the gas is sold to <a href="/facts/Uniper/BxQVTjVM">Uniper</a>, for their <a href="/facts/Combined_cycle/WgEIh89p">combined cycle</a> <a href="/facts/Gas_turbine/JJJNwXrG">gas turbine</a> <a href="/facts/Power_station/vYeVY1fD">power station</a> at <a href="/facts/Connah%2527s_Quay/5FXQHlYU">Connah's Quay</a>, on <a href="/facts/Deeside/jXQ0tHBl">Deeside</a>, in Flintshire.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="lighthouse">Lighthouse</h2>
<p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Point_of_Ayr_Lighthouse/WnA0TTfS">Point of Ayr Lighthouse</a></p>

<p>Point of Ayr also gives its name to a <a href="/facts/Point_of_Ayr_Lighthouse/WnA0TTfS">lighthouse</a>, built in 1776, though inactive since 1883. It stands on <a href="/facts/Talacre/3VnFEnEJ">Talacre</a> beach, at the entrance to the River Dee <a href="/facts/Estuary/WmkSInmK">estuary</a>. The lighthouse once displayed two lights. The main beam, at 63 feet, shone seaward towards <a href="/facts/Llandudno/LN2Imjtv">Llandudno</a>. A secondary beam shone up the River Dee, towards the hamlet of <a href="/facts/Thurstaston/BW4ypPvp">Dawpool</a>, in <a href="/facts/Cheshire/a6jH4jNQ">Cheshire</a>, on the <a href="/facts/England/U9mE5bGL">English</a> side of the estuary. Whilst in service, the lighthouse was painted with red and white stripes, and had a red lantern housing. It was replaced in 1844 with a metal <a href="/facts/Pile_lighthouse/4CnjBKTC">pile lighthouse</a>, bearing a white light,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> put up by order of the <a href="/facts/Trinity_House/pEsH5jV8">Corporation of Trinity House</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> This new structure was itself replaced in 1883 with a <a href="/facts/Lightvessel/Du7zTsg2">lightship</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Wales portal</li><li>Engineering portal</li></ul>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Point_of_Ayr_Gas_Terminal/mm0EnahT">Point of Ayr Gas Terminal</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_lighthouses_in_Wales/5ch2qX4g">List of lighthouses in Wales</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

<ul><li><a href="https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels?type=lighthouse#filters">Trinity House</a></li></ul>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Point of Ayr.

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"RSPB Dee Estuary Point of Ayr". Rspb.org.uk. <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/pointofayr" target="_blank">http://www.rspb.org.uk/pointofayr</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Thomas, Harry (2003), Memory Lane: Volume I, p. 19, ISBN 978-0-9522755-6-5 <a href="978-0-9522755-6-5" target="_blank">978-0-9522755-6-5</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Point of Ayr, Miners Advice, retrieved 2 December 2007 <a href="http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/wales_pointofayr.htm" target="_blank">http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/wales_pointofayr.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Point of Ayr Colliery, BBC Wales Coalhouse, retrieved 2 December 2007 <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/coalhouse/sites/mines/pages/point_of_ayr_colliery.shtml" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/coalhouse/sites/mines/pages/point_of_ayr_colliery.shtml</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Point of Ayr Colliery, Welsh Coal Mines, retrieved 2 December 2007 <a href="http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/North/Point%20of%20Ayr.htm" target="_blank">http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/North/Point%20of%20Ayr.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Point of Ayr Gas Terminal, Offshore Technology, retrieved 2 December 2007 <a href="https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/bhp/bhp5.html" target="_blank">https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/bhp/bhp5.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Hughes, Owen (1 April 2014). "300 jobs secured with deal for Point of Ayr terminal and oil and gas fields". North Wales Live. <a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/point-ayr-terminal-oil-gas-6904263" target="_blank">http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/point-ayr-terminal-oil-gas-6904263</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Offshore Industry, Virtual Prestatyn, retrieved 2 December 2007 <a href="http://www.prestatyn.org.uk/offshore.industry/" target="_blank">http://www.prestatyn.org.uk/offshore.industry/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>Cliffe, Charles Frederick (1851), The Book of North Wales: Second Edition, p. 55 <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>Parry, Edward (1851), A Guide to North Wales, p. 229 <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>Point of Air (sic) Lighthouse, Lighthouse Depot Online, retrieved 2 December 2007 <a href="http://www.lighthousedepot.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=1262" target="_blank">http://www.lighthousedepot.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=1262</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Point of Ayr open-in-new

Point of Ayr