Coney Beach Pleasure Park

Old-fashioned funfair behind Sandy Bay, in operation since 1918

Coney Beach Pleasure Park is the old-fashioned funfair behind Sandy Bay — a tangle of roller coasters, dodgems, arcades, candy floss, and roundabouts that has been part of Porthcawl since 1918. Its closure has been announced and postponed several times; check before a special trip, but as of writing it is open seasonally from spring to early November.

The park is best in the long summer evenings when the lights come on. It is small by modern theme-park standards and not particularly thrilling for teenagers used to bigger parks, but it is genuine seaside entertainment of the kind that has almost disappeared elsewhere in Britain. Free entry, pay per ride.

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Coney Beach opened in 1918 as a tribute to American soldiers returning home from World War One via the South Wales coast — the name borrowed deliberately from Coney Island, New York. It is one of the last traditional seaside amusement parks still operating in the UK, with a mix of vintage rides, modern roller coasters, and a perpetual question mark over its future.