Brackla(Welsh:Bracla) is a large housing estate andcommunityin the east ofBridgendinBridgend County Borough,Wales. Along with the communities ofBridgendandCoychurch Lower,it makes up the town of Bridgend.
Brackla
| |
|---|---|
  Brackla Location withinBridgend | |
| Population | 11,749 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SS925805 |
| Community |
|
| 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 | |
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
editUntil 1936, the 900 acres (3.6 km2) of land occupied east to west by theBridgend 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 newRoyal 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 theGreat Western RailwaySouth 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 inWestern Europe.
AfterWorld 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
editIn the late 1960s, two of the former munitions tunnels were redeveloped by theMinistry of Defenceon behalf of theHome Officeas 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
editBrackla was the name of theelectoral ward,coterminous with the community. The ward elected four county councillors toBridgend 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 the2022 local elections.[6]
At the community level, Brackla elects 11 community councillors (and one youth councillor) to Brackla Community Council.[7]
Today
editBrackla has four primary schools; Brackla Primary, Tremains Primary; Archdeacon John Lewis Church in Wales School & Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwr.Archbishop McGrath Catholic High Schoolis a secondary school in the area.
Brackla contains a small shopping centre, named the Triangle, consisting of a supermarket (aCo-operative Supermarket) and other convenience stores (aWell Pharmacybranch, amongst others). Brackla has only threePublic Housessituated 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
editDuring World War II, the GWR station calledTremains Haltprovided 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 aPark and Ridefacility on the former station site, to serve both Brackla and the wider Bridgend area.
References
edit- ^"Ward population 2011".Retrieved10 April2015.
- ^Office for National Statistics:Census 2001: Parish headcounts: BridgendRetrieved 9 January 2010
- ^"The Brackla Site to the Royal Ordinance Factory - Bridgend South Wales".Archived fromthe originalon 12 August 2011.
- ^"Brackla RGHQ – Subterranea Britannica".
- ^"Bridgend County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012"(PDF).The Elections Centre.Retrieved18 November2018.
- ^"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.Retrieved10 July2022.
- ^"Brackla Community Councillors"(PDF).Brackla Community Council.Retrieved2 April2019.