St. Brides Major, Ogmore-by-Sea and Southerndown Community Website

Weather, Sunset & Eventide Picture Gallery

The above six photographs were shot within a maximum of five minutes.  They were taken from the top of Southerndown cliffs at Cymdda Car Park on Monday, 29th July, 2002 on what had been a sunny afternoon and show how quickly dangerous sea mists can engulf the Bristol Channel in a very short space of time.  The faint black "smudge" to the right of centre in the first picture is a small yacht that had been sailing in bright sunshine and disappeared as the mist rolled in.

These two photographs were taken at Dunraven Bay, Southerndown, in January, 1985

This photograph was taken in the 1950s in the field where St. Brides Major School now stands and Heol yr Ysgol houses were built.  The Fox & Hounds pub is to the right of the picture; the buildings in the centre are barns that belonged to Tyn y Porth Farm. 

Heavy snow fell on 7th and 8th January, 1982 that was made worse by high winds which caused huge snowdrifts to form.  The first day was beautiful, sunny and still; then the snow came silently overnight as it was powdery, although the wind was howling.  This was repeated the following day and night which resulted in many communities being totally cut off for several weeks, especially in West Wales.  Members of a political party who had arrived for a conference had to prolong their stay in Porthcawl and were airlifted out by helicopter.  Milk was delivered to Porthcawl by boat from Swansea.  The photograph on the left was taken in St. Brides Major with St. Bridget's Church in the background. 

The photographs below were taken on 17th and 18th January, 1982 when some of the drifts were still 10 ft high.  The middle photo below shows heavy snow on the roof.  There had been a wall of snow covering the door and over the guttering.  Many bungalows had snow driven higher than the eaves and cars were completely covered, yet others in the same street only had a light dusting.  The milkman was brilliant, continuing to deliver by Landrover and walking around the village.