In 2023 I obtained permission to photograph the signal box in Burry Port. The signal box was opened in 1907, and currently contains much of the original mechanisms and signal levers.

I am working with Pembrey & Burry Port Heritage to save this historic building and, ideally, create a museum highlighting the history of the extensive railway system that served the harbour of Burry Port. In October 2023 our heritage group published an outstanding article on the signal box. There is postscript to the published article, in which there is a negative response from CADW to our request that the building be listed to avert demolition, which is the objective of Network Rail.

In 2022 I published a photo-essay of the remaining harbour structures to record the industrial heritage before it is lost forever.

From the signal box it’s easy to envision the commotion and excitement of the multiplicity of the rail tracks, signalling and the clatter of point changes. The chuffing of the steam emanating from all the coal-fired locomotives must have been intoxicating; in addition to the clattering of goods wagons filling the air. This period in the life of industrial Burry Port, with the cacophony of rail, tram, and shipping must have been invigorating.

Even today, you can still hear the sound of the signal levers, and the signal cables as they tug at the semaphore arms, also the clanging of communication bells coming from the signal box. The signal box will be a sadly missed part of our town and community.