Riverside walk is made more accessible

A riverside section of the Craig y Parcau local nature reserve in Bridgend is now more accessible to walkers following a series of improvements.

Found next to Newbridge Fields on the opposite side of the river to the sports pitches, Craig y Parcau is an area of woodland which can also be accessed from the Broadlands estate.

The woodland slopes down to the riverside where work has been completed to make the footpath much safer. Revets have been installed to help protect the river bank from erosion, and new wooden bridges and footways have also been created.

The improvements have been carried out by Bridgend County Borough Council in partnership with Bridgend Town Council, Keep Wales Tidy, the Ogmore Angling Association, Welsh Government, and the Tesco ‘Bags of Help’ scheme.

Craig Y Parcau is a hidden gem, but some parts of the old riverside path had either been lost due to erosion or become unsafe. It’s now accessible again and can be reached by steps at either end of the nature reserve.

Fallen trees were used as part of the work to provide a more natural way of dissipating the river energy on the bank edges than a hard engineered approach which would have used steel piles. I’d like to thank our partners who have worked together on this project. It has been a real team effort to provide somewhere else to go for a gentle picturesque stroll.

Councillor Charles Smith, Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Education

A walk through the oak and ash woodland of Craig y Parcau is a real wildlife haven. You’ll see lots of birds using the trees as look-out posts for insects hovering over the Ogmore River, while carpets of wildflowers line the paths. Visitors may even be lucky enough to spot a Kingfisher!

Craig Y Parcau is one of four local nature reserves in Bridgend County Borough along with Locks Common in Porthcawl, Tremains Wood in Brackla, and Frog Pond Wood in Pyle.