Man buys beach for £1 then spends £100,000 to restore to childhood memory

Gordon, 59, was heartbroken when a load of concrete and metal debris was dumped there in the Eighties.

The cafe owner longed for the day when children could build sandcastles again and people would walk along the shore that he gazed at every day.

So the grandfather-of-five negotiated to buy the neglected beach at Swanbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales, from the Queen’s Crown Estate for the princely sum of £1.

But the runaway cost of his one-man clean-up soon hit home when he had to dip into his savings to find £30,000 for a mechanical digger and dumper truck – which used £700 of fuel a week.

The total cost is estimated at more than £100,000 but Gordon reckons it was worth every penny.

He said: “My 60th birthday is coming up and I told my family all I wanted is for the beach to be cleared up. I have done it for my grandchildren and all children. That’s where I will get my pleasure from.

"It’s great for the area and great to see people fishing and using the beach again.”

Debris from a demolished cement works was dumped on the beach in 1984 to strengthen a sea wall.

“It was ruined 30 years ago – my cafe overlooks the beach but it was an eyesore,” said Gordon.

His clean-up started two years ago when he sealed the Royal sale. Vale of Glamorgan Council removed some metal but said it could not remove more at taxpayers’ expense.

Gordon, owner of the Seashore Grill and Cafe, said: “It was one of those things – if you want something doing then do it yourself. We did it when the money was available.”

Villager Liz Sourlis said everyone thought Gordon should be honoured for his work. “I used to take my nieces and nephews. One moment we had a beautiful beach, and the next

moment they had dropped all this stuff over it,” she said.

“It is wonderful what Gordon has done. He deserves to be honoured.”