Photos from left to right (click to enlarge and use "back" key to return):
M4 Bridge Second Severn Crossing - Gateway to South Wales;
Dunraven Park, Southerndown;
Craig-yr-Eos Bay, Ogmore-by-Sea;
Ogmore Castle, Ogmore Village
Ford and stepping stones at Pont-y-Brown

In 1920 Glamorgan County Council granted permission to divide the Parish into three Wards (St. Brides Major, Ogmore-by-Sea, Southerndown) which is why our Web Site Banner names these three villages.  However, we have not forgotten other areas and hamlets such as Castle-upon-Alun, Heol-y-Mynydd, Norton, Ogmore and Pont-y-Brown.  Following administrative and boundary changes over the years, the Community Council now has two Wards (St. Brides Major & Southerndown, and Ogmore-by-Sea) and is in the Vale of Glamorgan Council area.  Nearby villages of Ewenny, Merthyr Mawr and Wick are also mentioned frequently because of the bonds of family, friendship and community.  The Benefice (Parish) of Ewenny and St. Brides Major is in the Diocese of Llandaff of the Church in Wales/yr Eglwys yng Nghymru.  There is an Evangelical Church in Ogmore-by-Sea. 

We are very lucky to be living in a picturesque part of South Wales, much of it overlooking the sea at Ogmore and Southerndown, with wonderful views, dramatic landscape and beautiful, sandy coastline.  The 12th century Ogmore Castle stands at the confluence of the River Ewenny and River Ogmore which then flow to the sea via Newton Bay.  Whilst in the countryside, the area is close to all amenities and is equidistant from the cities of Cardiff and Swansea.  Nearby in Bridgend are major road (M4 motorway & A48) rail (Swansea to London Paddington main line) and bus links (National Express Coach stop) as well as Cardiff Airport/Maes Awyr Caerdydd at Rhoose. 

The difference between high and low tide (tidal range) in this locality along the Bristol Channel is reputed to be the greatest in Europe and second greatest in the world, with sea levels rising around 15 metres/49 ft at Avonmouth.  In the area of the Second Severn Crossing the current can have a rate of up to eight knots.  During violent storms the crashing waves at Dunraven Bay, Southerndown, cause spray to reach the top of the cliffs – something very hard to imagine when the tide is out as far as Trwyn y Witch (Witches Point).  Mostly, though, the Parish is quite sheltered and enjoys the same weather as across the water in Somerset and Devon.  Rhoose Point, the most southerly point on mainland Wales (marked by a 14 metre high obelisk made of Welsh slate) is approximately 12 miles away. 

Welcome page for: St Brides Major  | Southerndown | Ogmore-by-Sea