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Porthcawl is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, 25 miles (40 km) west of the capital city, Cardiff and 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Swansea.
Situated on a low limestone headland on the South Wales coast, overlooking the Bristol Channel, Porthcawl developed as a coal port during the 19th century, but its trade was soon taken over by more rapidly developing ports such as Barry. Northwest of the town, in the dunes known as Kenfig Burrows, are hidden the last remnants of the town and Kenfig Castle, which were overwhelmed by sand about 1400.
Porthcawl is also a holiday resort and is home to a large static caravan park known as Trecco Bay. It has an extensive promenade and several beaches, two of which are Blue Flag beaches: a tourist-oriented beach at Trecco Bay, at the east end of the town; a sandy beach at Rest Bay, which lies to the northwest of the town; and the quiet and sandy Pink Bay leading out towards Sker Point where a tarmac-covered car park serves a sandy beach.
There are many hotels (including the prominent Seabank Hotel) and guest houses as well as a funfair called Coney Beach. Four rocky points line the shore: Hutchwns Point, Porthcawl Point (on which a lighthouse is situated), Rhych Point and Newton Point.
Porthcawl, like many British resorts has suffered a decline in its holiday trade over recent years, especially since most of the South Wales Valleys coal pits have closed. A major feature of the summer used to be the miners' fortnight when the miners would take their annual break in large numbers.
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