The River Ogmore ( cy, Afon Ogwr) is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
in
South Wales that is popular with
anglers. It runs generally from north to south from the Ogmore Vale and Gilfach Goch, past
Bridgend
Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...
and
Ogmore. The River Ogmore rises at Craig Ogwr (527 m) in the
Ogmore Valley
Ogmore Valley ( cy, Cwm Ogwr) is a community in the Bridgend County Borough, Mid Glamorgan, Wales. Made up of the villages of Nantymoel, Ogmore Vale, Price Town and Wyndham, its population at the time of the 2001 census was 7,800, increasing to ...
as the Ogwr Fawr before it links with the Ogwr Fach at
Blackmill. The River Llynfi, the River Garw and finally the River Ewenny in its
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
are all
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...
of the Ogmore which flows into the sea between
Ogmore-by-Sea and the
Merthyr Mawr
Merthyr Mawr is a village and community in Bridgend, Wales. The village is about 2½ miles from the centre of Bridgend town. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 267. The community occupies the area west of the Ewenny River, be ...
sand-dunes.
Geology and geography
The Ogmore has two major branches in its headwaters: the which flows south through
Nantymoel,
Ogmore Vale and
Lewistown; and joining it from the east the which flows through . After the confluence with the , they join to form the at
Blackmill.
Most of the headwaters flow over
Carboniferous coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
measures overlain by
glacial drift and
fluvial gravels. The valleys are reasonably broad for a small river, and many of the tributaries meandered through their valleys in the past. The considerable urbanisation, especially in the 19th century, confined most rivers to rather narrow artificial channels, bordered in places such as
Bridgend
Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...
with concrete flood protection walls.
Major tributaries
River Llynfi
The
River Llynfi
The River Llynfi, cy, Afon Llynfi, is one of three main tributaries of the River Ogmore ( cy, Afon Ogwr).
It runs for around 10 miles from its source north of Maesteg and flows generally southwards through the Llynfi Valley to the confluence ...
( cy, Afon Llynfi), runs for around 10 miles from its source north of
Maesteg
Maesteg is a town and community (Wales), community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English ...
and flows generally southwards through the Llynfi Valley to the
confluence with the River Ogmore at
Aberkenfig
Aberkenfig ( cy, Abercynffig, meaning "mouth of the Kenfig" (stream)) is a village located in the County Borough of Bridgend, Wales to the north of Bridgend town. It is in the community of Newcastle Higher.
Location
Aberkenfig is located in Sou ...
.
River Garw
The
River Garw flows broadly north-south and runs through
Pontycymer to its confluence with the Ogmore (Ogwr) at
Brynmenyn
Brynmenyn is a small village located at the confluence of the Garw and Ogmore rivers in south Wales, around 4 miles north of Bridgend, and it also in the Bridgend County Borough council area. The village has its own primary school.
Transport
T ...
.
River Ewenny
The
Ewenny River ( cy, Afon Ewenni) rises to the north-east of
Bridgend
Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...
town and flows through
Pencoed and
Coychurch before entering the River Ogmore
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
just below
Ogmore Castle.
Environment
The industrialisation of the valley of the Ogmore by mining and heavy industry severely damaged much of the natural environment of the river. However, there has been an improvement in recent years and it supports a healthy population of aquatic invertebrates. The river does still have some problems though, including its proximity to major industrial plants, insensitive development and invasive weeds.
Estuary
Until some years ago, the adjacent sewage works discharged effluents into the estuary, but the water outlets have since been treated with ultraviolet light and do not flow frequently into the river. However, in periods of heavy rain, emergency outfalls pour into the river, releasing some sewage.
Fishery
In its industrial heyday, the Ogmore had no
salmonid fish along much of its length, although brown trout survived in many of the smaller tributaries.
From the 1980s onwards,
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
and
sea-trout started returning to the main river and the River Garw in ever-increasing numbers, but continued to avoid the chronically polluted Llynfi. However, even on the Llynfi, native brown trout numbers increased upstream of Tondu, and these were occasionally supplemented by stocked
rainbow trout. In all parts of the river, trout can now be found, with salmon and sea trout almost everywhere. In addition
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s remain common, and
millers thumb,
gudgeon,
stone loach and
minnow
Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genera of the families Cyprinidae and Leuciscidae. They are also known in Ireland as pinkeens.
Smaller fish in the subfamily Leusciscidae are c ...
are found throughout.
References
External links
www.geograph.co.uk : photos of the River Ogmorewww.geograph.co.uk : photos of the River Ewenny and surrounding area
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogmore
Rivers of Bridgend County Borough
Rivers of the Vale of Glamorgan