Beautiful quiet British beaches

[teamsaint]

From my long experience of lovely Cornish beaches and coves, the answer invariably lies in acquiring an OS 1:25000 map of the area and studying it with curiosity, and a degree of chutzpah in the matter of navigating narrow lanes, sometimes with grass growing in the middle, to get to them. But I'm not naming any of them. Get your own OS map, I say.

But for an accessible south coast beach I've recently enjoyed the one at Highcliff near Christchurch. There's parking nearby, and a decent cafe surrounded by a nice park. The sandy beach has lovely views across to the Isle of Wight, and down the other way to the Isle of Purbeck.

KB...you have Lee on Solent on your doorstep..... what's not to love...they even have a hovercraft museum.

[kernelbogey]

KB...you have Lee on Solent on your doorstep..... what's not to love...they even have a hovercraft museum.

OK I'll give it another try. My memory - perhaps faulty - is of a lot of pebbles.

[kernelbogey]

I wouldn't dream of telling everyone where my favourite quiet beaches are! I could say they are mostly in East Anglia.

I recently camped with children near Holt, Norfolk. The beach at West Runton was perfect. Loads of sand, a very gentle gradient to the seabed, a shop with buckets spades and ice cream, and a friendly man running the carpark. We all had a great time.

Plenty of lovely pubs not far away, too, serving food and welcoming children.

[teamsaint]

OK I'll give it another try. My memory - perhaps faulty - is of a lot of pebbles.

er, KB, I would google some piccies first.....pebbles is right, your memory is just fine on this....you can see Fawley and the Spinnaker tower if you MUST look east.

Ok for a spin out on a slow day, but don't go specially !!

[Nick Armstrong]

I recently camped with children near Holt, Norfolk. The beach at West Runton was perfect. Loads of sand, a very gentle gradient to the seabed, a shop with buckets spades and ice cream, and a friendly man running the carpark. We all had a great time.

Plenty of lovely pubs not far away, too, serving food and welcoming children.

Oh yes, kernel, magical coastline.

I had a magic moment there not long ago.

Couple of years back I drove out to stay with friends who'd moved temporarily to Cley-next-the-Sea, just along from there... It was a long, traffic-delayed, tiring drive, and I arrived towards the end of the autumn afternoon, just in time to catch the last of the daylight with a beach walk for us and the dog... the nearest beach being along at Salthouse.

What I was really craving - really, really craving - was a strong coffee, the sort of heavy-duty 'flat white with extra shot' I'm poncily a bit addicted to in that metropolitan way people take the p*** out of

Everywhere was deserted, the chances of finding anything like that seemed zero. We turned off the Coast Road to take the little Beach Road to the tiny car park -



- when we got there, it was empty... save for a small van, which had its tail-gate up.

And as we went past it, we saw - like something mystical, a coffee-addict's mirage - sitting in the back of the van a large, shiny, silver double-barrelled Italian espresso machine, hissing and ready for action. This travelling coffee vendor was just thinking of packing up as the last visitors (he thought) had gone a few minutes before...

He made us the most delicious, strong, perfect tasting coffees, beautifully steamed milk... and like a dream come true, with the desired caffeine hit, we clambered onto the beach with the sun setting behind us, and enjoyed an unforgettable beach walk...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Great story, Cali. (as a wise man once said )



Let's see what Germoloid Jo has to say about that!

[amateur51]

Great story, Cali. (as a wise man once said )



Let's see what Germoloid Jo has to say about that!

Hoorah for Cali and his caffeine fix - as for Germoloid Jo I guess it's Preparation H for him

[Nick Armstrong]

[eighthobstruction]

Obviously needed extrasupercalicoffeedoses....

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

vanilla with monkey's blood .... as good in 2008 as in 1954! Cresswell Ices Northumberland

[eighthobstruction]

Anyone ever been to the Scilly Isles....the need to get a boat everyday to get to the outer islands makes for a different sort of holiday (the boats are so well organised that it is not a hassle at all)....though the weather has always been good when I have gone (been 4-5 times)....best holidays i have ever had....

[amateur51]

Anyone ever been to the Scilly Isles....the need to get a boat everyday to get to the outer islands makes for a different sort of holiday (the boats are so well organised that it is not a hassle at all)....though the weather has always been good when I have gone (been 4-5 times)....best holidays i have ever had....

Often thought of going, eighth - Harold & Mary Wilson were very keen, I recall.

Is nude sunbathing possible there? Or even compulsory?

[eighthobstruction]

Often thought of going, eighth - Harold & Mary Wilson were very keen, I recall.

Is nude sunbathing possible there? Or even compulsory?

Not very good for the lame Am51, as the main occupation is walking around the islands, hopping on and off the boats (stuff like that)....

[amateur51]

Not very good for the lame Am51, as the main occupation is walking around the islands, hopping on and off the boats (stuff like that)....

Walking is ok but I take your point about the hopping in & out of boats - very kind of you. Maybe I should hire a strapping mariner to assist my progress?

[aeolium]

Anyone ever been to the Scilly Isles....the need to get a boat everyday to get to the outer islands makes for a different sort of holiday (the boats are so well organised that it is not a hassle at all)....though the weather has always been good when I have gone (been 4-5 times)....best holidays i have ever had....

Yes, 8o, a wonderful place (but not cheap to get to or stay in). The helicopter service is no longer operational so the only ways of getting there are by plane or the Scillonian steamer aka the Stomach-pump. These only go to St Marys so if you are staying on any of the other islands you have to get connecting boat which can be a trial if you've just stepped off the Scillonian. The islands are great for walks and bird-watching though NOT for bathing - it has to be the coldest water in the UK. Last autumn we were almost stranded on St Marys by fog (and were told cheerfully that it looked like setting in for a week ) so we went back by Scillonian - fortunately it was calm and no-one suffered, but it was a hair-raising drive back to Gloucestershire at 8 pm through the fog.

I went on a cricket tour there in 1999 - great fun, with boats arranged to pick us up and take us back to St Marys from the islands. St Martins (my favourite of the islands) had glorious weather, but the rains came on Tresco and we had to dry off in the New Inn and go back to St Marys in the dark with waves crashing against the side of the boat.

Harold Wilson always used to holiday in the Scilly Isles (an interesting comparison with one or two later Labour PMs ) and I think may even be buried there.