The beach at Barry

Only a curmudgeon would be blind to the benefits of modern motorways but one of their failings is that they neutralise landscape. The surrounding countryside flashes by in a blur, leaving us oblivious to some wonderful mini-regions of the UK. One such is the Vale of Glamorgan. To many people it is little more than a piece of Welsh no-man’s-land on the M4 between the outskirts of Cardiff and Bridgend. Yet this vale seems likely to be a boom area in the next decade.

The flat, dairy farming countryside is very similar in appearance to parts of Devon in west England. It is sprinkled with villages such as Colwinston, St Nicholas and Bonvilston and, like Devon, it has a dramatic coastline. The poet Dannie Abse, who has owned a house in Ogmore for decades, has written frequently about its storm-tossed cliffs and the marvellous “chemical” sunsets. It is little wonder, then, that the Vale of Glamorgan has become a commuter belt for Cardiff’s high-fliers. This is where some of the principality’s media and sports stars live, including rugby player Ieuan Evans, former England cricket captain Tony Lewis and singer Charlotte Church. It is an area much sought after by returning expatriates and incomers from across the border in England. Estate agency Watts and Morgan, which has two offices in the vale, records that 24 per cent of its buyers came from outside Wales in 2007.

Of course the property market in the Vale of Glamorgan has suffered in line with the rest of the UK during the recession. According to the Council for Mortgage Lenders, house prices have dropped 16 per cent in the past year. There are, too, the familiar horror stories of individual homes plummeting in value. Gareth Davies, of Watts and Morgan, says: “I sold a substantial home in Dinas Powys for £1.75m in 2005. It is currently for sale again, this time for £1.15m, and the owners do not look like finding a buyer. Broadly speaking, prices are down to 2004 levels.”

Yet regeneration is in the air. At St Athan, subject to final planning permission being granted next month, the Ministry of Defence aims to build a £12bn Defence Technical College. This project is intended to meet the training requirements of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force and will be designed to equip young sailors, soldiers and airmen with the high-tech skills needed in today’s forces. It will have facilities for 2,000 students, most of whom will live on site, and for 700 training staff, who will largely need private housing.

Penarth’s marina

Next to the technical college, the MoD also plans to build a business park for aerospace companies, notably those that work in aircraft repairs. The location is ideal as companies will be able to carry out their tests at St Athan airstrip. Rob Quick, director of environmental and economic regeneration for the Vale of Glamorgan, says: “These two projects will be an enormous boost to the area. It will bring 1,500 construction jobs in the first place and then it will stimulate up-skilling of the employment pool as local people seek jobs with the new aerospace companies.

“In the long term there are bound to be spin-off benefits for the leisure and tourism industries. The students will have visitors; passing out [graduation] parades will be held; more people will be made aware of this part of the world. The aerospace park, meanwhile, will bring well qualified high-earners here.”

It is quite likely that two of the vale’s biggest towns, Penarth and Barry, will benefit significantly from this influx of people. Barry, which is unlike anywhere else in the vale, is a candy floss and chips, day-tripper resort, most famous for being the setting for the award-winning BBC television comedy Gavin & Stacey. It has some very good value property. Angela Fulgoni-Williams of estate agency Knights says: “You can rent a two-bedroom house for between £450 and £550 a month and we expect to see a lot of students and construction workers renting around here in the next few years.” A two-bedroom apartment overlooking the waterfront is for sale with Knights for £109,950.

There are some very attractive areas in Barry. Cold Knap beach is popular with windsurfers and Porthkerry Country Park is a world away from the town’s funfair and amusement arcades image. At Cold Knap, Water’s Edge is a block of 26 apartments, overlooking the pebble beach, which range in price from £115,000 to £400,000.

Penarth, despite being only seven miles away, is a different proposition. The centre has a sleepy, spa-town feel with a nucleus of independent shops. Then you walk down the hill past Alexandra Gardens, the town’s splendid old park, and you are at the esplanade. This is the Victorian seaside in miniature, from its stubby pier to its pocket-sized promenade with Italian restaurant, cafés and yacht club. The council has plans to rejuvenate the faded grandeur of this part of the town by the time the building at St Athan is projected to begin next year.

The market town of Cowbridge

When the anticipated newcomers arrive, however, it is likely that the most sought-after areas will be around the market town of Cowbridge and the villages that lead down to the coast at Southerndown. Cowbridge itself has a friendly buzzing main street lined with interesting, upmarket shops, traditional pubs and a prestigious, old-fashioned hotel, The Bear. Good-quality local schools are another attraction but none of this comes cheap. A grade II-listed former rectory at Llangan sold recently for £850,000, about the price you would pay for a similar property further east along the M4 in Wiltshire.

All this talk of a bright future for the Vale of Glamorgan is already drawing back Welsh exiles. Businesswoman Sandra Wright, 64, who was born and brought up in Barry, is about to move back to the area and create a new branch of her soft furnishings business, The Curtain Call Workshop, having run it until now in Torquay, Devon. “I think a business like mine, selling high-class, quite expensive goods, will do well from the incomers,” says Wright. “I am looking for a house with a sea view, somewhere between Barry and Ogmore. Even compared to Devon, this is a glorious piece of coastline.”

Estate agencies

Watts and Morgan, tel: +44 (0)1446773500; www.wattsandmorgan.co.uk
Knights, tel: (0)1446700222; www.knightsestateagents.co.uk