Brackla

Last updated

Brackla
Bridgend UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Brackla
Location within Bridgend
Population11,749 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference SS925805
Community
  • Brackla
Principal area
Preserved county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BRIDGEND
Postcode district CF31
Dialling code 01656
Police South Wales
Fire South Wales
Ambulance Welsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Bridgend
51°30′47″N3°33′04″W / 51.513°N 03.551°W / 51.513; -03.551

Brackla (Welsh : Bracla) is a large housing estate and community in the east of Bridgend in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Along with the communities of Bridgend and Coychurch Lower, it makes up the town of Bridgend.

Contents

At the 2001 census the community of Brackla had a population of 10,113, [2] increasing to 11,749 at the 2011 Census, making up nearly a quarter of Bridgend's population.

History

Until 1936, the 900 acres (3.6 km2) of land occupied east to west by the Bridgend Industrial Estate, Brackla and the Brackla Industrial Estate was farmland. In 1936, in view of the increasing likelihood of war with Germany, the British Government decided to build two new Royal Ordnance Factories, including one at Bridgend on the site of what is now Bridgend Industrial Estate.

To store munitions, they dug eight long shafts under Brackla Hill, connecting it to two new ordnance factories on what is now Brackla Industrial Estate. Both facilities were connected to the Great Western Railway South Wales Main Line, with the line to the Brackla facility running along what is now Church Acre. [3] At its peak, ROF 53 employed some 40,000 people, and was the biggest single factory in Western Europe.

After World War II, ROF 53 stopped production at the end of 1945, and closed completely by the end of 1946. The land was sold to property developers, with that north of the railway developed for housing.

Nuclear Bunker

In the late 1960s, two of the former munitions tunnels were redeveloped by the Ministry of Defence on behalf of the Home Office as a nuclear command bunker for South Wales, designated SRHQ 8.2. Brackla became the regional control centre for all of Wales, redesignated RGHQ 8.2. Sold in 1996, it has been derelict ever since. [4]

Governance

Brackla was the name of the electoral ward, coterminous with the community. The ward elected four county councillors to Bridgend County Borough Council. [5]

Following a local government boundary review, the Brackla ward was divided into four single-member electoral wards: Brackla West, Brackla West Central, Brackla East Central, Brackla East and Coychurch Lower. This was effective from the 2022 local elections. [6]

At the community level, Brackla elects 11 community councillors (and one youth councillor) to Brackla Community Council. [7]

Today

Brackla has four primary schools; Brackla Primary, Tremains Primary; Archdeacon John Lewis Church in Wales School & Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwr. Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School is a secondary school in the area.

Brackla contains a small shopping centre, named the Triangle, consisting of a supermarket (a Co-operative Supermarket) and other convenience stores (a Well Pharmacy branch, amongst others). Brackla has only three Public Houses situated in the area.

Brackla Community Council has recently begun work to gain Nature Reserve status for the local Tremains Wood. The area had come under abuse in recent years and the council aims to clean it up, with the eventual aim of replacing the bridges and have structured woodland walkways.

Transport

During World War II, the GWR station called Tremains Halt provided service to ROF 53 and afterwards to the trading estate. The station closed in the early 1960s. There is an ongoing investigation by Bridgend Borough Council to install a Park and Ride facility on the former station site, to serve both Brackla and the wider Bridgend area.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgend</span> Town in South Wales

Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, 20 miles (32 km) west of Cardiff and 20 miles (32 km) east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Ogmore. The River Ewenny also flows through the town. The population was 49,597 in 2021. Bridgend is within the Cardiff Capital Region which in 2019 had a population of approximately 1.54 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birchwood, Cheshire</span> Human settlement in England

Birchwood is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. The parish had a population of 10,614 at the 2021 census. Located originally in Lancashire, it was built as a new town in the 1970s. Birchwood is made up of three districts: Gorse Covert, Locking Stumps and Oakwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgend County Borough</span> County borough in Wales

Bridgend County Borough is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. The county borough has a total population of 139,200 people, and contains the town of Bridgend, after which it is named. Its members of the Senedd are Sarah Murphy MS, representing the Bridgend Constituency, and Huw Irranca-Davies MS representing the Ogmore Constituency, and its members of the UK parliament are Jamie Wallis and Chris Elmore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgend (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Bridgend is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Jamie Wallis, a Conservative.

ROF Bridgend,, located in Bridgend, South Wales, was one of the largest of sixteen World War II, UK government-owned, Royal Ordnance Factory munitions Filling Factories. Of great significance to the Britain's war effort, at its peak of production it employed around 40,000 people — said to be the largest ever factory in Britain's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgend County Borough Council</span> Local government of Bridgend County Borough, Wales

Bridgend County Borough Council is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarn, Bridgend</span> Human settlement in Wales

Sarn is a village in Bridgend County Borough, Wales, about three miles north of Bridgend and which lies just east of the confluence of the Ogmore and Llynfi rivers. It is located to the east of Aberkenfig, south of Brynmenyn, and south-east of Tondu. It is around 15 minutes' walk from the M4 and the McArthurGlen Group Bridgend Designer Outlet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bettws, Bridgend</span> Human settlement in Wales

Bettws, is a small ex-mining and farming village in the South Wales Valleys in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. Bettws is also an electoral ward for the county council.

Llangeinor is a small village located in the Garw Valley around 5 miles (8 km) north of Bridgend in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,243. The entire village is now protected as part of a conservation area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garw Valley</span> Human settlement in Wales

Garw Valley is a community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Bridgend County Borough, South Wales. As the name suggests, it follows and encompasses the valley of the River Garw. The community includes the village of Blaengarw at the head of the valley, followed by Pontycymer and Llangeinor on the river, with Bettws between the Garw and the Llynfi in the south. Garw Valley is bordered to the west by Maesteg, Llangynwyd Middle and Llangynwyd Lower; to the east by Ogmore Valley and to the south by Ynysawdre and St Bride's Minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ynysawdre</span> Human settlement in Wales

Ynysawdre is a small community in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales. It is located to the east of Aberkenfig in Wales, and comprises the two villages of Tondu and Brynmenyn. The name Ynysawdre is also usually used for a small section of Tondu. At the 2001 census, the population of the community was 3,698, reducing to 3,367 at the 2011 Census.

St Bride's Minor is a community in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales. Located north of Bridgend town it is made up of Sarn, a large housing estate, and the villages of Bryncethin and Abergarw. The southern border of the community is defined by the M4 motorway, though the community stretches briefly beyond the Motorway to take in the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet. The eastern, and largest area of the community consists of farmland and small scattered farm houses. At the 2001 census, the community's population was 5,575, increasing to 6,014 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coychurch Lower</span> Community in Wales

Coychurch Lower is a community in Bridgend County Borough, South Wales. Along with the communities of Brackla and Bridgend, it makes up the town of Bridgend. Coychurch Lower is the eastern district of Bridgend, and takes in the village of Coychurch and the area of Waterton. Traffic leaving the M4 motorway for Bridgend at Junction 35 travels through Coychurch Lower along the A473 road, passing through an area of business parks and out-of town shopping zones, which take up the majority of the western half of the community. The population of Coychurch Lower at the 2001 census was 1,206, increasing to 1,365 at the 2011 census.

Bridgend is a community in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales. Along with the communities of Brackla, Coychurch Lower and Laleston it makes up the town of Bridgend. Bridgend is the western district of Bridgend town, and takes in the town centre, Newcastle Hill, Tremains and to the north Wild Mill. The population of the community of Bridgend at the 2001 census was 13,950, increasing to 14,912 in the 2011 census.

Morfa is an electoral ward in the town of Bridgend, Wales. The ward elects councillors to Bridgend Town Council and, until 2022, Bridgend County Borough Council.

Oldcastle is an area and electoral ward of the town of Bridgend, Wales, to the south of the town centre. The ward elects councillors to Bridgend Town Council and Bridgend County Borough Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penprysg</span>

Penprysg is a residential area of the town of Pencoed in Bridgend County Borough, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litchard</span> Suburb in Bridgend County Borough

Litchard is a village and residential district north of Bridgend, Wales. It is also an electoral ward in the Coity Higher community, as well as a former ward to Bridgend County Borough Council.

Brackla East and Coychurch Lower is the name of an electoral ward in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. It covers the community of Coychurch Lower and part of the community of Brackla. The ward elects two councillors to Bridgend County Borough Council.

References

  1. ↑ "Ward population 2011" . Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish headcounts : Bridgend Retrieved 9 January 2010
  3. ↑ "The Brackla Site to the Royal Ordinance Factory - Bridgend South Wales". Archived from the original on 12 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Brackla RGHQ – Subterranea Britannica".
  5. ↑ "Bridgend County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  6. ↑ "Review of the Electoral Arrangements of the County Borough of Bridgend - Final Recommendations Report" (PDF). Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales. October 2019. pp. 25–31. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Brackla Community Councillors" (PDF). Brackla Community Council. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.