Saltney looking west

Description

Aerial photograph showing Saltney looking west, taken in July 2010.
Saltney is a small town to the south of the river Dee, named after the salt marshes on which it lies. The Welsh-English border runs through Saltney, meaning only the western part is in Wales. It has a population of around 5,000, with primary schools, a secondary school, Saltney Primitive Methodist chapel and St Mark's Church.
Other sites in Saltney's history include:
Crichton's shipyard, a former rail-served boatyard on the Flintshire and Cheshire border. It specialised in iron shallow drafts, chiefly tugs and ferry-boats, with almost all the output built for foreign waters
Saltney Ferry station, to the west of Saltney, on the London and North Western Railway line, opened in 1891 but was closed in 1962 and is now demolished.
The world renowned Dee iron works, which was founded in 1847 by Henry Woods and Company, following the establishment of rail links to the area by the Great Western Railway. The works manufactured both forged iron and castings, including cables, anchors, shovels, spades, anvils, vices, nails and chains. In 1857, the firm was commissioned by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to make three large anchors for the Great Eastern steamship. During both world wars, the works manufactured chains for the Royal Navy.In 1964, the Henry Wood firm was purchased by the Bradney Chain and Engineering Company, who transferred production elsewhere and closed the Dee works. The premises were later purchased by the Chester Chain Company, who continued to occupy the original 1847 ironworks building. Planning permission was granted in September 2004 to demolish the buildings (subject to a proper record being made) in advance of residential development.