Holidays On Newton Beach

A Memory of Newton.

My Grandmother owned 2 bungalows on Newton Beach, one being a converted bus which was called "The Chalet" and the other was named "Duneside". She lived there between the months of April and October, and I spent all my school holidays with her. In the next bungalow lived a girl called Heather and we always played together, in fact I named my first daughter after her. There was no gas, electricity or running water, each resident had a pump behind the bungalows for drawing water, and eventually a tap was installed near the entrance to the beach. During the war a shelter was built near the sand dunes for all the residents to use and barbed wire was put in all along the beach. The bungalows were never used by the military! The bungalows were eventually demolished in or just after 1961. I did have the opportunity to stay there with my daughters as babies and toddlers. I lived in Cardiff and every year when visiting there we all make the pilgrimage to Newton to see the foundations and then go for fish and chips in Beales, Porthcawl who have been there forever!

Jean Hanson