UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

Wales

County Borough: Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr / Bridgend

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Porthcawl is located on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, about 25 miles (40 km) west of the capital city, Cardiff, and 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Swansea.

Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the South Wales coast, overlooking the Bristol Channel, Porthcawl developed as a coal port during the 19th century, but its trade was soon taken over by more rapidly developing ports such as Barry. Northwest of the town, in the dunes known as Kenfig Burrows, are hidden the last remnants of the town and Kenfig Castle, which were overwhelmed by sand about 1400.

Porthcawl is a holiday resort in South Wales; there are many hotels (including the prominent Seabank Hotel) and guest houses as well as a funfair called Coney Beach. Four rocky points line the shore: Hutchwns Point [sic], Porthcawl Point (on which a lighthouse stands), Rhych Point and Newton Point. Porthcawl, like many British resorts, has suffered a decline in its holiday trade over recent years, especially since most of the South Wales Valleys coal pits closed. A major feature of the summer had been the miners' fortnight, when large numbers of miners had taken their annual break.

The promenade Esplanade [left], running along the seafront from Lock's Common in the west to the harbour, was built in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The promenade was restored in 1996. There are many cafes, bars, restaurants and hotels along the promenade, which offers views across the Bristol Channel.

The Esplanade Hotel [left] dated back to the 1880s. It was just about the grandest building in town — a four-storey edifice presenting a row of steeply pitched gables to the seafront. But it closed nearly around 2000, and the building fell into disrepair. It was replaced by a modern appartment block, the 'Esplanade House'. The Royal Society of Architects in Wales awarded 'Esplanade House' a Welsh Housing Design Award in 2006, but the architecture has proved unpopular with many local residents who have nicknamed it "the bottle bank".

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porthcawl; https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jan/31/communities.architecture]