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Bridgend Libraries
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About Bridgend - show infohide info
Bridgend, or Pen-y-bont in Welsh, lies in the county of Glamorgan in South Wales. Bridgend is almost halfway between Cardiff and Swansea, and has the River Ogmore and River Ewenny running by it. The name of the town is taken from the original bridge that crossed the River Ogmore, as Bridgend had developed alongside a ford that allowed crossing of the River. It was on the main route between east and west Wales. Bridgend is home to three castles: Coity, Ogmore and Newcastle. Coity Castle is about two miles from the town centre, Ogmore is seven miles out in Ogmore village, and Newcastle overlooks Bridgend up on Newcastle Hill. The three castles were built to form a defensive triangle from the coast to Coity. Bridgend developed quickly into an agricultural town and was important to many of the local farmers. It was still a small market town, but became quite significant and remained so until the 20th century. While it never had a coal mine itself, Bridgend played an important part in the surrounding coal mining industry. The first coal mines opened in the valleys north of Bridgend in the seventeenth century, with the Llynfi valley being the first to be industrialized. Both brickwork and ironwork industries were established at a similar time, but the ironworks declined following the founder’s death, and closed in 1836. With the arrival of the Great Western Railway, Bridgend was at the junction between the main London to Fishguard line and the branch to the three valleys, where coal were sent down. The town had its part to play during the Second World War. Bridgend was home to both a Prisoner of War camp as well as a big munitions factory. The Bridgend area was photographed by the Luftwaffe, but never bombed owing to the area’s air pocket that made bombing hazardous for the planes. Bridgend has continued to develop, with the villages of Merthyr Mawr, Coity, Laleston and Ewenny under threat of being absorbed by the urban sprawl. Bridgend and surrounding areas are host to Ford Motor Company and Sony factories, and the Securicor run prison, HM Parc Prison, built in the 1990s is the only private prison in Wales.
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