as a young boy from the valleys we used to go to porthcawl by the red+white bus service every "miner's fortnight" for 2 weeks...come rain or shine we would normally end up on the beach...get back to our b+b for food and then later on walk for hours out to "rest bay" and back (kept us away from spending money at the fair)...never knew anything about the history of the harbour but used to climb up and along the walls at low tide as far as i could and drive my parents mad... many many happy memories of porthcawl live on...even now +60yrs later!!...thank you
The coastal towns and villages in the UK have such a rich history. I love hearing the stories of what a big role they used to play in industry and the growth of the area
@@flydriveexplore Hopefully one blessing to come out of the last 12 months is that places like this will get more visitors and they can learn about its history
Thanks for another great video tour. My growing up time was the sixties (Man) and I spent a fair bit of time around that harbour, jogging along that narrow wall as fast as I dared - well, not that fast. I mentioned after your Santampa video that my dad was in the RAF Air Sea Rescue. His final posting was Porthcawl and I'd be fascinated if you have any information. Sadly, I never got to ask the whole story, but I think he was moved to Porthcawl, where my grandmother was landlady of the Royal Oak, after he was injured in Scotland. Good news for me. My mum was living in Porthcawl. They married at St John's Newton in 1946. A point of interest from this end. I'm living in walking distance of the Battle of Britain Bunker that was used in the making of the film. The plotting table where the RAF and Luftwaffe squadrons were moved about is a big blnk map but it names a few places and one of them is... PORTHCAWL. No one working there could tell me why. It's a mystery. Looking forward to more videos.
Tanks for the info. The 'Battle of Britain' film was one of my favourite growing up. Don't know why Porthcawl was mentioned on the map, maybe it was added by someone from Porthcawl working on the film? Maybe, RAF Stormy Down but it wasn't that big and there were a lot of other airfields around the country.
@@flydriveexploreDon't think so. The map was pretty much original as far as I could tell. It seemed that there were just a few towns marked as reference points and one of them was a place of no strategic importance. It's now a museum so might look into it and see if any history has surfaced.
@@OnASeasideMission Yes, in those days there was a lot of visual flying. As you said, could be a reference or some sort of waypoint on the south Wales coast.
During the war, both the Lufftwaffe and the allies used coastal recognition as a means of honing in on targets. The shape and contours of the coastline would be used almost as a "road sign", often pretty accurately especially when missions had moonlight to aid this. Porthcawl may have been used for this purpose during the Swansea blitz.
@@philjones6054 Pretty much as I thought at the time. There's not much about Porthcawl except that little kink in the coastline. All the same, the plotting table - which is about the size of a decent living room - wasn't used for routine navigation but just to display the positions of aircraft. My construction was that a few towns, coastal and inland, were picked as references.
Great vid, your style of presentation is Brilliant. Very Interesting and Knowledgeable. I am Welsh but live in Bristol since 60's but used to visit Nottage to see my Parents. Walked the Docks tons of times with the Family and the Dog. Been in Jennings a few times for coffee. I can remember how violent the storms can be. I recall waves clearing the entire lighthousemust have been amazing up there! The sea would be pulverized into foam! Love Porthcall always will canoeing and surfing in Rest Bay! Happy days nearly makes me cry. Great vid! Thanks Andy.
Thanks the feedback and taking the time to comment. Yes, the waves over the pier can be incredible in a storm. That pier has endured the tides for over a 100 years.
Fascinating. If like me, most in and around porthcawl know very little of their Welsh industrial past . Without Welsh raw materials, there would have been no British empire
One part of Porthcawl that I would like to see is the Trecco bay caravan park that was extended in the mid 1960's , the Eastern end of the caravan site operated by Theodors
Thank You for that very informative vlog. I have visited Porthcawl from the 1970s to present day and always wondered of its history. My old farther -in-law is/was a native of Cardiff and Bridgend and we still have relative in and around Porthcawl. We love the area but as we get older, the traveling from the NW of England gets harder but we are due another visit in 2022 all being well. Thank You./
Visited today on our way back to Yorkshire from Mumbles, when I saw the depth of that harbour on a low tide it had to be researched. Great video. Subscribed.
That has brought back some very happy childhood memories for me. My grandfather was the coastguard in Porthcawl very early in the 20th century. My father spent most of his childhood there. Every summer we would go to Porthcawl and Dad would catch up with old friends and see some relations who still lived there. Dad lived there until he joined the Royal Navy in 1913 as a boy sailor
@@flydriveexplore The thing my father remembered a lot of was very tragic. Just before WW1 seaside holidays were just beginning to become popular, but of course very few of the visitors could actually swim. Schools did not have swimming lessons in those days and I don't suppose there were many swimming pools in many towns. There were drowned visitors brought in to the coastguard station very regularly. My Dad made very sure that myself, my two sisters and my brother could swim as soon as, if not before we could walk.
@@flydriveexplore Thank you for your reply, but I think the coastguard service must be far more busy these days than it was when my grandfather was a coastguard. I would think that the area each individual coastguard station has to patrol is much larger these days. Modern coastguard stations have many high tech instruments to help them see and monitor shipping in a far wider area than the binoculars and telescope my grandfather used! Also coastguard stations now have very fast and very powerful speed boats. My grandfather had a rowing boat with an outboard motor! There are far more small privately owned seagoing yachts and small motor cabin cruisers now, and they are the ones who usually get into trouble! Also smuggling is a major problem these days with so many small boats. It is no longer tobacco and alcohol that is the main contraband discovered. Today it is drugs and trafficked people! I often wonder what my grandfather would think of a modern coastguard station! I think he would be amazed.
The similarity between the names Porthcawl and Portugal are amazing. Portugal comes from Portus Cale, Portus was porth in latin and Cale was porth in Celtic language.
That's correct about Porth however the Cawl part probably comes from the Welsh "Cawl" soup. Porthcawl isn't an old town, it only came into existence because of the docks. Before the 1800s it was just two villages, Newton and Nottage.
Thoroughly enjoying the info and background of porthcawl. I wonder if the buried harbour walls are still there or was the stone removed and reused elsewhere.
Not sure, I imagine it may have been easier and cheaper just to fill it in although as it was wartime they may have salvaged the stones. Couldn't find any pics of the filling in process.
the tides along this whole stretch of coast have always made me a very weary explorer, the tides are so quick to turn and with such large tidal plains, it can be easy to become trapped. I love collecting bits from our past from rivers and shores. I live near Neath, but I often travel surrounding areas because our past is literally everywhere. My biggest conclusion from years of exploring is that I don't think our past is as Roman as they say it is, in-fact I think the Romans had a tenancy to adopt the ideas of other cultures and make them their own. It also seems to me that an awful lot of our past is buried and destroyed on purpose. Anyway I enjoyed this well made video and will subscribe :)
Thank you Marcus, for another really good video. Most enjoyable. One of the best things about the lockdown is your history videos of the area. Keep up the good work. Can't wait for next weeks video.
Superb historic Vid, Fantastic very old historic photos, Excellent research, I remember as a boy, I was told about the salt lake car park was a harbour in the olden times? could not believe it then, way to much grass, and flat ground? I think you are very good at this type of stuff, you could do this type of thing for so much all over South Wales? and I bet it would be amazing.
Well done Marcus !, another very informative film, really interesting, looked really cold, just as well you were wearing your Barbour jacket! Hope Mel treated you to a Beale’s fish and chips and Irish curry sauce, you deserved it, keep on filming, by the way thought I saw Derek Brockway in the background trying to hear what you were saying!!
Thanks, I'm starting to run out of local places to feature within walking distance. We have recently been to Beales, see Sunday's video (we chose the coldest day).
Nice to see some history of the harbour, however I know there will be an ALDI store to the entrance of Salt Lake car park, thank you for the history lesson and keep the good work up.
Yes, I've heard they are going to build an Aldi but that's on the land at the bottom towards the fire station. That area was always part of the land and wasn't infilled. Not sure what exactly they used to fill the inner harbour and how stable that part is.
I really appreciate all these videos that you create. It must take a fair amount of effort and time to shoot and edit them? I also appreciate the fact that you take us on explorations not only to all the wonderful industrial heritage that this area has to offer but also for taking us to areas of outstanding beauty - which offer a true tonic for the soul.
Thanks very much. It is hard work to film and edit the videos but I often go back afterwards and visit the place without the camera just to enjoy it myself.
Good video , very interesting . I was born in Porthcawl and my grandfather worked in Gaens quarry , I wonder if thats where the stone for the harbour was quarried ?
@@flydriveexplore Yes , Gaens quarry in South Cornelly , now owned by T.S.Rees . When my grandfather worked there it was owned by the English China Clay Company . I``ve not been able to find out much more about it , when opened etc., presumably in the mid 19th century with the expansion of Porthcawl and Port Talbot and the coal and steel industries .
GREAT HISTORY N VIDEO MARCUS UH OHH MEL'S AWOL LOL 🤣 THE PICS OF THE TALL MASTED SAIL SHIPS ARE COOL , DID THEY SHIP WELSH SLATE OUTA THERE TOO 🤔 LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE USUAL WET WELSH WEATHER I'VE GOT TYPICAL MIDWEST INDIANA WEATHER TEN INCHES OF SNOW ❄️ LAST WEEK AND ONE DEGREE TODAY BRRRR OKAY NUFF WAFFLIN FOLKS TAKE CARE
Thanks, Mel didn't come, no chips! They shipped coal and iron from the valleys, you can see more about where these came from in my video about Industrial South Wales ua-cam.com/video/HRIndxOv2bE/v-deo.html
I used to swim in Salt Pool Maldon in Essex but now been shrunk and now has ducks and swans as some dived in salt pool where it says no diving so council panicked and closed the salt water swimming and changed to duck pond so as usual stupid fool ruins its for everyone else...
To see some more old Porthcawl check out our Then and Now vid ua-cam.com/video/FC-_HBDxafo/v-deo.html
Were you a maths teacher?
as a young boy from the valleys we used to go to porthcawl by the red+white bus service every "miner's fortnight" for 2 weeks...come rain or shine we would normally end up on the beach...get back to our b+b for food and then later on walk for hours out to "rest bay" and back (kept us away from spending money at the fair)...never knew anything about the history of the harbour but used to climb up and along the walls at low tide as far as i could and drive my parents mad... many many happy memories of porthcawl live on...even now +60yrs later!!...thank you
Glad it brought back memories, I remember Miner's fortnight, it was so busy over Coney Beach.
The coastal towns and villages in the UK have such a rich history. I love hearing the stories of what a big role they used to play in industry and the growth of the area
Yes, you're right. There's a lot of history which many casual visitors would not really notice.
@@flydriveexplore Hopefully one blessing to come out of the last 12 months is that places like this will get more visitors and they can learn about its history
Thanks for another great video tour.
My growing up time was the sixties (Man) and I spent a fair bit of time around that harbour, jogging along that narrow wall as fast as I dared - well, not that fast.
I mentioned after your Santampa video that my dad was in the RAF Air Sea Rescue. His final posting was Porthcawl and I'd be fascinated if you have any information.
Sadly, I never got to ask the whole story, but I think he was moved to Porthcawl, where my grandmother was landlady of the Royal Oak, after he was injured in Scotland.
Good news for me. My mum was living in Porthcawl. They married at St John's Newton in 1946.
A point of interest from this end. I'm living in walking distance of the Battle of Britain Bunker that was used in the making of the film.
The plotting table where the RAF and Luftwaffe squadrons were moved about is a big blnk map but it names a few places and one of them is...
PORTHCAWL.
No one working there could tell me why.
It's a mystery.
Looking forward to more videos.
Tanks for the info. The 'Battle of Britain' film was one of my favourite growing up. Don't know why Porthcawl was mentioned on the map, maybe it was added by someone from Porthcawl working on the film? Maybe, RAF Stormy Down but it wasn't that big and there were a lot of other airfields around the country.
@@flydriveexploreDon't think so.
The map was pretty much original as far as I could tell.
It seemed that there were just a few towns marked as reference points and one of them was a place of no strategic importance.
It's now a museum so might look into it and see if any history has surfaced.
@@OnASeasideMission Yes, in those days there was a lot of visual flying. As you said, could be a reference or some sort of waypoint on the south Wales coast.
During the war, both the Lufftwaffe and the allies used coastal recognition as a means of honing in on targets. The shape and contours of the coastline would be used almost as a "road sign", often pretty accurately especially when missions had moonlight to aid this.
Porthcawl may have been used for this purpose during the Swansea blitz.
@@philjones6054 Pretty much as I thought at the time. There's not much about Porthcawl except that little kink in the coastline.
All the same, the plotting table - which is about the size of a decent living room - wasn't used for routine navigation but just to display the positions of aircraft.
My construction was that a few towns, coastal and inland, were picked as references.
Great vid, your style of presentation is Brilliant. Very Interesting and Knowledgeable. I am Welsh but live in Bristol since 60's but used to visit Nottage to see my Parents. Walked the Docks tons of times with the Family and the Dog. Been in Jennings a few times for coffee. I can remember how violent the storms can be. I recall waves clearing the entire lighthousemust have been amazing up there! The sea would be pulverized into foam! Love Porthcall always will canoeing and surfing in Rest Bay! Happy days nearly makes me cry. Great vid! Thanks Andy.
Thanks the feedback and taking the time to comment. Yes, the waves over the pier can be incredible in a storm. That pier has endured the tides for over a 100 years.
Nice video I enjoyed it very much. Hope to see more soon. Your history lessons are always great. Have a great day 😀
Thank you! 😃
so grim in the winter. brutal to the soul.
I was surprised to see it a year or 2 ago, as I remember it being much smaller as a child in the late 70s and early 80s?!!
Great Video. 👍 Facinating history of Porthcawl Harbour. Thank you.👍Looking forward to visiting Porthcawl when this lockdown ends.
Thanks, I didn't know about the original 1820s harbour myself until I researched this.
Fascinating. If like me, most in and around porthcawl know very little of their Welsh industrial past . Without Welsh raw materials, there would have been no British empire
Brilliant video, love the photography and historical background. Cheers!
Many thanks!
One part of Porthcawl that I would like to see is the Trecco bay caravan park that was extended in the mid 1960's , the Eastern end of the caravan site operated by Theodors
Thank You for that very informative vlog. I have visited Porthcawl from the 1970s to present day and always wondered of its history. My old farther -in-law is/was a native of Cardiff and Bridgend and we still have relative in and around Porthcawl. We love the area but as we get older, the traveling from the NW of England gets harder but we are due another visit in 2022 all being well. Thank You./
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I hope you have a good time when you visit next year.
Visited today on our way back to Yorkshire from Mumbles, when I saw the depth of that harbour on a low tide it had to be researched.
Great video.
Subscribed.
Nice one. That tidal range is amazing.
That has brought back some very happy childhood memories for me. My grandfather was the coastguard in Porthcawl very early in the 20th century. My father spent most of his childhood there. Every summer we would go to Porthcawl and Dad would catch up with old friends and see some relations who still lived there. Dad lived there until he joined the Royal Navy in 1913 as a boy sailor
Glad it brought back memories. The amount of shipping and work as a coastguard must have been much busier back then.
@@flydriveexplore The thing my father remembered a lot of was very tragic. Just before WW1 seaside holidays were just beginning to become popular, but of course very few of the visitors could actually swim. Schools did not have swimming lessons in those days and I don't suppose there were many swimming pools in many towns. There were drowned visitors brought in to the coastguard station very regularly. My Dad made very sure that myself, my two sisters and my brother could swim as soon as, if not before we could walk.
@@faithgooder2938 Yes, drownings were very common back then.
@@flydriveexplore Thank you for your reply, but I think the coastguard service must be far more busy these days than it was when my grandfather was a coastguard. I would think that the area each individual coastguard station has to patrol is much larger these days. Modern coastguard stations have many high tech instruments to help them see and monitor shipping in a far wider area than the binoculars and telescope my grandfather used! Also coastguard stations now have very fast and very powerful speed boats. My grandfather had a rowing boat with an outboard motor! There are far more small privately owned seagoing yachts and small motor cabin cruisers now, and they are the ones who usually get into trouble! Also smuggling is a major problem these days with so many small boats. It is no longer tobacco and alcohol that is the main contraband discovered. Today it is drugs and trafficked people! I often wonder what my grandfather would think of a modern coastguard station! I think he would be amazed.
The similarity between the names Porthcawl and Portugal are amazing. Portugal comes from Portus Cale, Portus was porth in latin and Cale was porth in Celtic language.
That's correct about Porth however the Cawl part probably comes from the Welsh "Cawl" soup. Porthcawl isn't an old town, it only came into existence because of the docks. Before the 1800s it was just two villages, Newton and Nottage.
@@flydriveexplore thank you! Greetings from Portugal!
@@lopazio Where in Portugal?
@@flydriveexplore Lisbon
Thoroughly enjoying the info and background of porthcawl. I wonder if the buried harbour walls are still there or was the stone removed and reused elsewhere.
Not sure, I imagine it may have been easier and cheaper just to fill it in although as it was wartime they may have salvaged the stones. Couldn't find any pics of the filling in process.
I seen you on the live cam making this video. Said to my wife at the time it’s the guy off UA-cam. Nice videos 👍
Thanks, I forgot there was a webcam there
Interesting. You didn't mention the old train track they used to have on the car park. I remember this from my younger years.
Where was the old track? I know where the old station and Porthacwl line used to be but didn't know any track was left after the line was closed
@@flydriveexplore it used to circumnavigate the car park.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/porthcawls-miniature-railway-could-make-2017291
the tides along this whole stretch of coast have always made me a very weary explorer, the tides are so quick to turn and with such large tidal plains, it can be easy to become trapped. I love collecting bits from our past from rivers and shores. I live near Neath, but I often travel surrounding areas because our past is literally everywhere. My biggest conclusion from years of exploring is that I don't think our past is as Roman as they say it is, in-fact I think the Romans had a tenancy to adopt the ideas of other cultures and make them their own. It also seems to me that an awful lot of our past is buried and destroyed on purpose. Anyway I enjoyed this well made video and will subscribe :)
Thank you Marcus, for another really good video. Most enjoyable.
One of the best things about the lockdown is your history videos of the area. Keep up the good work.
Can't wait for next weeks video.
Thanks again, the next local history one will be a couple of weeks I think due to the current limitations
Superb historic Vid, Fantastic very old historic photos, Excellent research, I remember as a boy, I was told about the salt lake car park was a harbour in the olden times? could not believe it then, way to much grass, and flat ground? I think you are very good at this type of stuff, you could do this type of thing for so much all over South Wales? and I bet it would be amazing.
Thank you very much.
Well done Marcus !, another very informative film, really interesting, looked really cold, just as well you were wearing your Barbour jacket! Hope Mel treated you to a Beale’s fish and chips and Irish curry sauce, you deserved it, keep on filming, by the way thought I saw Derek Brockway in the background trying to hear what you were saying!!
Thanks, I'm starting to run out of local places to feature within walking distance. We have recently been to Beales, see Sunday's video (we chose the coldest day).
Can’t seem to find Sunday’s video
@@keithmorris375 I meant to say, see this coming Sunday's video.
Nice to see some history of the harbour, however I know there will be an ALDI store to the entrance of Salt Lake car park, thank you for the history lesson and keep the good work up.
Yes, I've heard they are going to build an Aldi but that's on the land at the bottom towards the fire station. That area was always part of the land and wasn't infilled. Not sure what exactly they used to fill the inner harbour and how stable that part is.
Wow huge range lots of history and dodgy weather..Well Done
Thanks, that tide is big. Typical Welsh weather.
I really appreciate all these videos that you create. It must take a fair amount of effort and time to shoot and edit them?
I also appreciate the fact that you take us on explorations not only to all the wonderful industrial heritage that this area has to offer but also for taking us to areas of outstanding beauty - which offer a true tonic for the soul.
Thanks very much. It is hard work to film and edit the videos but I often go back afterwards and visit the place without the camera just to enjoy it myself.
Good to see you have sponsorship now, hope Barbour are paying well!! LOL
Unfortunately, they haven't opened their cheque book yet.
Thank you
You're welcome
Well done Marcus superb mate ✌️
👍
Good video , very interesting . I was born in Porthcawl and my grandfather worked in Gaens quarry , I wonder if thats where the stone for the harbour was quarried ?
Could be, I imagine they sourced it locally. The stone for the deep water harbour in Port Talbot came from Cornelly
@@flydriveexplore Yes , Gaens quarry in South Cornelly , now owned by T.S.Rees . When my grandfather worked there it was owned by the English China Clay Company . I``ve not been able to find out much more about it , when opened etc., presumably in the mid 19th century with the expansion of Porthcawl and Port Talbot and the coal and steel industries .
Great video
Thanks
GREAT HISTORY N VIDEO MARCUS UH OHH MEL'S AWOL LOL 🤣 THE PICS OF THE TALL MASTED SAIL SHIPS ARE COOL , DID THEY SHIP WELSH SLATE OUTA THERE TOO 🤔 LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE USUAL WET WELSH WEATHER I'VE GOT TYPICAL MIDWEST INDIANA WEATHER TEN INCHES OF SNOW ❄️ LAST WEEK AND ONE DEGREE TODAY BRRRR OKAY NUFF WAFFLIN FOLKS TAKE CARE
Thanks, Mel didn't come, no chips! They shipped coal and iron from the valleys, you can see more about where these came from in my video about Industrial South Wales ua-cam.com/video/HRIndxOv2bE/v-deo.html
Hello Marcus. Is there any news on when the prom/pier will re-open. I heard March but they said similar last year
I would say another couple of weeks at least for the pier. Longer for the pier.
Great video does anyone know what the archway in the harbour was as I have tried to look for what it was online but couldn’t find a thing
I believe that was a set of steps leading down for harbour access. All filled in now.
Oh thanks you so much loved the video and knew most of them through living near porthcawl but great video none the less keep up the great content 👍🏻
Always thought more should have been done with that salt lake car park area , seemed a waste of ground
It's been the same since I've lived in Porthcawl (over 40 years). I think it will be the same for the next 40.
I used to swim in Salt Pool Maldon in Essex but now been shrunk and now has ducks and swans as some dived in salt pool where it says no diving so council panicked and closed the salt water swimming and changed to duck pond so as usual stupid fool ruins its for everyone else...