PORTHCAWL in South Wales is typical of so many seaside towns. The crowds have thinned, its pubs look battered, the discount stores and charity shops have arrived. It’s all very sad, because in its glory days Porthcawl was the principality’s own miniature Blackpool. Whole communities from the industrial valleys used to travel by train to pack the pubs and the prom during miners’ fortnight, filling the Victorian guesthouses and the caravans on the huge Trecco Bay caravan park. It had its select part, too, near Locks Common, where the well-to-do would play golf at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club before taking tea at the Seabank Hotel.

Now there’s a slightly dispiriting sense of the past that taints much of what goes on in the town, from the weekly tea dances in the Grand Pavilion to last month’s Elvis Festival, when Europe’s biggest collection of paunchy Presley impersonators turned out.

You’d imagine that all this means the end of Porthcawl as a desirable place to live. Yet research from Halifax estate agents published in September indicated that over the past year Porthcawl house prices rose by 27 per cent — more than any other seaside town in the country. That means that the Glamorgan town trounced Whitby (17 per cent), Sandbanks (15 per cent) and Padstow (12 per cent). And this wasn’t a freak one-off result. In June Halifax also revealed that Porthcawl’s house prices had risen by 100 per cent in the past three years. So what’s going on in Porthcawl?

To find the answer you must go to the bottom end of Porthcawl, near the old harbour and dock, where there’s a 100-acre expanse of land bordering the shore towards Trecco Bay. This is where, according to Andrew Parry Jones, the town’s new regeneration officer, Bridgend council is “in the early stage of drawing up a regeneration plan”. The project involves a new marina costing more than £30 million. The present dock will be expanded inland, making room for 400 berths. Eight hundred homes will be built, together with commercial buildings and retail outlets. Jones expects the site to be marketed in the next year and predicts that this will kickstart a five-year period of regeneration.

But is a marina viable when there are already bigger ones in Cardiff and Swansea? “We will be popular because sailors typically make journeys between Swansea and Cardiff, which is quite an arduous trip,” says Jones. “A stopover at Porthcawl will be very convenient. The situation of this marina, which will go into the heart of the town, will be very attractive. We’ll also have five prizewinning beaches a short walk from the boats, and neither Cardiff nor Swansea has beaches close to their marinas. The amount of ‘spend per berth’ on marinas is high and this will give the local economy the boost it needs.”

The South Wales economy has enjoyed a remarkable upturn in the past decade, with both Swansea and Cardiff booming. Porthcawl is halfway between the two cities, conveniently located off the M4, yet it has only recently become seriously popular as a commuter town.

“That’s due to the town being allowed to become rundown due to lack of council funding,” says Norman Harris, a printer who publishes local history books. “Investment has been, quite understandably, given to the industrial valleys which suffered worst during the 1980s depression. It was always assumed that Porthcawl could look after itself.”

It appears to be new-builds that are fuelling the price growths. Beverley Wookey, area sales manager for Redrow Homes, says: “The company built 42 apartments, priced from £155,000 to £375,000, at Esplanade House, on the site of the old Esplanade Hotel, in October last year and we sold them all within three hours of them coming on the market. The demand in the area is phenomenal.” Two-bedroom flats at Esplanade House have been reselling for £195,950.

Last year Redrow Homes also finished building 40 five-bedroom homes at Locks Common priced at between £415,000 and £700,000. Only one is still for sale. The company is currently building two, three and four-bedroom homes just outside the town at North Cornelly. Buyers looking for a period home will find a five-bedroom semi-detached family home a short walk from the seafront is being sold by Prestons (01656 783307) for £285,000. A three-bed semi in nearby Nottage will cost about £200,000.

It’s all very well to build amenities with public-sector money but will Porthcawl also be able to attract new business, which is vital to the success of any long-term regeneration? Today’s shopping centre shows precious few signs of gentrification. There’s a good deli, but you’ll search in vain for juice bars and coffee chain outlets and antique shops. Where Padstow has Rick Stein’s enterprises in various forms, Porthcawl has Pietro Sidoli’s cafés, chip shops and ice-cream parlours. It’s jolly and welcoming and loved by all. But young and trendy it isn’t.

“With a population of only about 16,000, attracting big supermarkets is, admittedly, going to be a problem,” says Jones. “But we have had informal approaches from interested high-street chains and I’m sure more will follow. The marina will give this town a thriving year-round economy and we’re going to develop quality tourism too. Porthcawl is about to change.”

www.redrow.co.uk

Fact file

Why Porthcawl? It’s better value than Cardiff, and has better sea views.
What do you get for your cash? A semi costs about £200,000, and a detached house £300,000.
Where’s the smart money? Buying large houses on the seafront and converting them into flats that sell for £275,000.
Any celebs? The actor Rob Brydon and pop star Steve Strange were raised here.

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