Not far from Margam, if you go there for one of its Ghost toursor events, if you turn left towards Pyle then follow the lower OgmoreValley, theres quite a hot spot of places practically stones throw away fron each other, Candleston, Ogmore Abbey, Ogmore Castle, Ewenny Priory, Monkash etc ……………

Not far from Margam, if you go there for one of its Ghost toursor events, if you turn left towards Pyle then follow the lower OgmoreValley, theres quite a hot spot of places practically stones throw away fron each other, Candleston, Ogmore Abbey, Ogmore Castle, Ewenny Priory, Monkash etc ……………

Even the Roads have their own sinister shades, that are spotted by motorists and passers by.

One such place is by Ewenny Dipping Bridge.

Beware of Cap Coch

Strange on how few if any knowabout some of local history.

Heres one, its true, its macabre its a bit nasty.
…
Between Porthcawl and Ogmore there is a sign which points to Merthr Mawr on the A48 just Before Ewenny.

Follow it down it takes you over the most stunning bridge
views over the Ogmore River.

Its a Quaint and picturesque hump back
bridge just enough for one vehicle to pass

In the summer months you see people bathing in the river, fishing or just chilling on the calm and peacefull banks of the river, horse riding is very popular here too.

But not far from here up the trail you will see a hollow the boundary is still there today,

There used to be an Inn here, its now gone.

It was called the New Inn.

Before the A48 this used to be the main road
to Bridgend, where Coaches used to stop.

The road at one time was Broken here.
So coaches could go no further than the west side of the river.

Passengers used to cross a little ford to the other side
and wait or meet up with another coach on the other side of the river that was bound for London, but from here a lot
of alighted passengers did carry on the journey by
other means such as by foot or horse back.

This was also THE MAIN MERCHANT ROUTE, a lot choose to carry overland than risk the dangers of sea piracy and perils of custome and excise if the cargo was in its self already successfully smuggled in, then ponies and pack horse trains were the way old trusted method.

Everyone asked what was main trade in wales would with out question say coal, but just as big and successfull was the wool trade, weavers could not get enough of it.

Stockings was madly sought after like Ipads, kindles and mobile phones today, there was big money in it.

On this dark and lonely Road where the river divided
it in half was the New inn, where travelers could
stop for the night, change clothes that got wet
on the river crossing, could get a meal or rest
from a suspension-less bumpy uncomfortable
over packed stuffy ride, full of coughing,
sneezing, sweaty, and travel sick comuters,

This inn was in a prime location because every coach stopped each way, it had too as the river cut the road off,
travellers was likely to get cold as they got soaking wet
as they crossed, it was dark,

Lonely miles from anywhere and it was the main route, and behold with lights eminating from its windows and cheer full laughter with the smell of a roast wafting

With tell tale signs its fireplace had a roaring fire in it, who would not betempted especially on a winters night,
or go on

Despite the biggest danger now in this area was losing your life in an horrendous manner by bandits and highway outlaws
on a sudden and unexpected merciless attack from the unseen shadows of countless ambush points, it would have been over before you realised you was dead..

The landlord was Known as Cap Coch, he always wore the red stockingnet freedom fighters headgear that was worn by the French revoloutionists.

He was of a very large build, expressionless,thug like and like his hat his head was red, had a very strong following of cut throat criminals and smugglers, anything that
was worth pillaging on route his gang of outlaws were very talented in highway robbery, but on the other side he knew any one he missed would stop the night at his inn.

Such he made the locality so fear driven that everyone stopped for fear of their safety and protection, this was the New Inns richest pickings, if they went missing it was so easy to say they must have fallen foul on their journey by highwaymen, or got them selves lost or boarded a ship off the coast.

It wasn’t until it was noticed that Cap Coch wealth as increasing proportional to the ready goods being sold at market in proportional to the bodies of merchants pack men found abundantly floatingaround the mouth of the river Ogmore that people started forming conjectures and suspicion started to follow the rather well
wealthy gang of outlaws.

Nothing was Proved, some say Cap Coch lived till 90, others say he was hanged for stealing sheep in Cowbridge.

When the inn was demolished a few decades ago and the garden cleared the evidence of what really went on emerged,
there was a hidden cave under the kitchen with some of the ill gotten gains still there and every where they dug in the garden they was unearthing skeleton after skeleton
some where there was 2 or 3 buried in the same plot,
some had half a dozen, and these bodies have also
been found in the nearby fields and woods,
there is a lot more out there that may not
have not been discovered yet.

Other Links:-
http://blog.southernwales.com/2010/9/7/merthyr-mawr.aspx