Brıdgend County Borough

Coal ran downhill in Bridgend County Borough. It rumbled out of the Llynfi, Garw and Ogmore valleys on its way to the coast, and the whole county still tilts that way, from the pit villages tucked into each cwm to the surf at Porthcawl.

These days the traffic mostly runs sideways, along the M4 between Cardiff and Swansea, so it’s easy to mistake the borough for somewhere you pass through rather than somewhere you stop. The trick is to follow the old gradient instead.

VoiceMap’s self-guided audio tours start at the top of the slope. In Maesteg, walk the Llynfi Valley through the memories of a former miner, past a sculpture called the Keeper of the Collieries, and hear how a landscape carries the soul of the community that dug beneath it. Then come down to Porthcawl, which swapped coal wagons for candyfloss and now welcomes an army of Elvis impersonators every year. There are ghosts at the Grand Pavilion and barrels of Guinness buried somewhere in the sand, so pause wherever the sea air earns it.

Put your earbuds in and follow the coal down to the sea. Tidy.