Original: Around the 1860s at the height of the iron and steel era, a pier and a deep-water dock were built by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway to accommodate the large ships that had difficulty in reaching Bristol Harbour.
Simplified: Portishead's dock and railway lines Portishead dock In the 1860s, in the middle of the iron and steel era, a pier and a dock were built for the big boats that could not easily get to Bristol Harbour.