BULLO PILL
Originally a small pill ('pill' is Welsh and means
a tidal inlet), used for boat building, in 1810 Bullo
Pill was selected by the Forest of Dean Tramroad Company
to be developed as a port for exporting Forest coal
and stone. This involved building of a large dock basin
with tidal lock gates and a upper basin for water storage,
which was followed by the installation of coal chutes
plus whaves and stone revetments along the river bank
for additional cargo-handling and mooring. This was
completed by 1833as was a tramway running from Cinderford
and before long, Bullo had grown into one of the most
important ports in the area. Around the basin several
factories sprung up, notably a marble-works and in later
times, a rubber- mill. In 1854, the tramway was superseded
by a broad-gauge branch railway line running from a
newly built junction on the main Great Western Railway.
All this increased Bullo's capacity and its height,
the port was handling over 1000 tons of cargo a day
but after 1900, as the railways grew, Bullo's trade
gradually declined and it finally closed in 1926. The
basin began to silt up, but in 1991 it was cleared and
new lock gates installed when plans were put forward
to develop the basin into a marina. Nothing has come
of this as yet though some private yachts and boats
are stored here.
|
