St Athan Boys' Village
The buildings included a dining hall, dormitories, a gym, swimming pool, workshops and a church. There was also a full-sized cricket pitch, putting green, tennis courts, football and rugby grounds and a pavilion. A War Memorial in the centre of the complex commemorated men from the coalfields who had lost their lives in the two World Wars
The camp was requisitioned in 1940 for military use but returned to civilian use in 1946. In 1962, the centre was refurbished and a youth hostel opened on site as well as facilities for teaching work-related skills such as mechanical engineering.
Use of the village declined with the growth of cheap holidays abroad and the decline in coal mining in the Welsh valleys. In 1990, the Boys' Clubs of Wales, the organisation responsible for running the camp, went into administration, forcing the site's closure.
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