The Old Stone Bridge       Bridgend Recreation Centre

Bridgend is an industrial town and as such, people from all corners of South Wales travel there every day to work in its offices, shops, hospitals and factories. Indeed, Bridgend is famed for its accommodation of industry. Within the town boundaries lies one of the biggest Ford plants in Europe, as well as the Japanese-owned Sony Electronics factory, which has created jobs for thousands of people since it opened in the mid-eighties. The shops in the town centre include many of the larger chain stores that you would expect to find in larger towns and cities. The vast array of shops includes a Sainsbury’s, two branches of Tescos, W.H Smith, Boots, Dorothy Perkins, Burtons and Top Man. Finding somewhere to eat is no problem either: Bridgend is host to a wide selection of foreign food restaurants, including Italian, Chinese, and Indian eating-houses. If fast-food is your bag, there are a number of fish and chip shops in the area as well as Kebab Houses, and for the burger fanatic there’s also a few McDonald’s and a Wimpy.

For the sports fan there’s a large Recreation Centre that draws people from far and wide to use it’s numerous sporting facilities. The ‘Rec’ Centre has also been known to hold rock concerts for youth and disenchanted, middle-aged squash players hoping to regain their lost youth, alike. I could write an entire book on sporting facilities in the area but the I’m sure the kind people at the ‘Rec’ will point you in the right direction. The county borough is also home to various top class Rugby Clubs, Bridgend, Maesteg, Tondu, South Wales Police, to name but a few.