Beer

What a great name for a village. Fishing boats and tackle are lined up on the shore in a very orderly way. They share the beach with holidaymakers and anglers. The café is great.

Sidmouth

Handsome hotels, many of them Regency and Victorian, and seafront buildings, line the roads and the esplanade. Peaceful gardens & clipped lawns lie at the eastern end.

Budleigh Salterton

This small town is sited where the River Otter reaches the sea. Its broad sweep of pink, pebbled beach is guarded by red sandstone cliffs.

Exmouth

Stylish and spacious, Exmouth has some grand gardens and parks. The cliffs that form the coast along here give way to miles of flat sandy beach.

Dawlish

The spine of this family resort is The Lawn, ornamental gardens through which Dawlish Water flows over a series of small weirs. The main Exeter to Plymouth railway line runs beside the sea on this stretch of coast and trains are frequently battered in winter storms. In Dawlish the sea can be reached by walking under the track. Turning left or right, a wide scenic footpath tops the sea wall beside the railway and above the deep-red shingle/sand beach.

Teignmouth

Like many of its neighbours, stone was shipped from here in the early 19^th century. Today ball clay from local quarries is exported and used to make crockery and bathroom fittings. The sea side consists of a long beach of dark red sand backed by a promenade. From the centre, the Grand Pier, opened in 1867, reaches out into Babbacombe Bay.

The River Teign flows out at the southern end of the beach and creates, on the land side, a shelter for pleasure craft and fishing vessels. Working sheds share the water’s edge with smart residential buildings.

The shore shelves steeply here and there can be treacherous currents. A passenger ferry crosses regularly over the estuary to Shaldon.

Seatown

Smuggling and fishing took place from this private, open shingle beach. Thatched cottages of honey-coloured stone line the river before reaching the holiday park. The Anchor Inn watches.

Charmouth

The beach is famous for its fossils, exposed during centuries of cliff erosion. For this reason, it is a popular resort although fossil-hunters should take care on the shingle/sands.

Lyme Regis

This delightful resort town has a long maritime history that covers sea battles, smugglers and sieges. In more modern times, it also hosted some major cricketing and recreational moments arising from the annual tour to the area by Greys Green Cricket Club. Many of these adventures centred on The Cobb, a long stone breakwater, built in 1824 to protect the harbour, where a few, rather forlorn vessels, balance on their keels at low tide.

It, along with the seafront of cafes, holiday lets & private homes in front of the cliff gardens, remains the focal point of the town with visitors enjoying the salty atmosphere of yachts and fishing boats. Lanes and narrow streets, lined with colour-washed houses, climb steeply away from the beach. The cliffs around Lyme Regis constantly crumble and slip into the sea, revealing fossils from 180 million years ago.

Axmouth

This sleepy village was once Roman Britain’s busiest port. Landslips have since choked the mouth of the River Axe and left the village itself a mile inland.

Seaton

This is a sedate resort with a mile-long beach of shingle/pebbles. The 13 trams of the Electric Tramway travel three miles inland, to & from Colyton.

Overcombe

The village of Overcombe guards the approach to Weymouth, two miles away along the Jurassic Coast. The shingle and sand beach has a different feel with very little development. It is a popular spot with local families as well as kite-surfers and kayakers. As the tide goes out the expanse of sand is exposed. The water is zoned to keep bathers separate from water sport enthusiasts. A long esplanade runs alongside part of the beach, and the South West Coast Path passes over the nearby cliffs. Behind the beach is a large grassy area, great for games & picnics and Loadmoor Nature Reserve is on the other side of the coastal road.

Weymouth

A long, wide, sandy beach is backed by a seafront of small hotels, boarding houses, some dating from Georgian times, and a mass of seaside amusements.

George III began to visit Weymouth for his health in 1789 and established it as a fashionable resort. The town has a long association with the sea dating back to the Middle Ages. In 1310 it was mentioned as a licenced wool port. Cross-channel ferries used to operate from here but these have now ceased. Stone Pier sticks out into the bay. It was built as a breakwater to protect the entrance to the harbour. The harbour side of the pier, and the two smaller ones that stretch out from the main pier, are excellent spots for a bit of fishing by locals & visitors alike.

Portland Bill

Commerce and maritime industries have taken the place of the old naval base. The cliffs around the island are pitted with quarries, many still producing stone once used in the construction of St Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.

Steps lead down from the heights to small coves of rough stone & rocky beaches lined with fishermen’s huts.

Fortuneswell

Fortuneswell guards the approach to the Isle of Purbeck at the head of Portland Beach Road where Chesil Beach connects the island to the mainland. It occupies the steepest land above sea level. The strategic significance of Portland was first realised by King Henry VIII, who built two castles to protect the approaches. It became a naval base in 1845 with the construction of Portland Harbour’s Breakwaters. Workers were needed and housing was required on the island as a whole and Fortuneswell in particular. A large number of terraces were built across the village area and crammed into any open space.

Chesil Beach

The beach is a geological phenomenon made up of billions of pebbles which are now The pebbles on Chesil Beach are graded in size from potato-sized near Portland to pea-sized at Bridport and are made up of mainly flint and chert. It is believed that smugglers landing on the beach at night could judge their position along the coast by the size of the shingle.

Part of the beach rises to a height of 14 metres and this protects a lagoon called The Fleet which forms a nature reserve. This can be reached from either end but there is no pedestrian access along the beach between May and August to prevent the disturbance of breeding birds. Abbotsbury Swannery is on the lagoon, a sanctuary for 600 mute swans on the site of an 11^th century monastery.

West Bexington

A single road through the village ends by a steeply shelving shingle beach backed by a a line of quite large, mostly white-washed beach huts and a car park used mostly by anglers.

Burton Bradstock

The village overlooks a fine shingle and sand beach. It is known locally as Hive Beach. From the car park there is a grassy picnic area and a track leading to the beach and eroded cliffs.

West Bay

West Bay is Bridport’s former harbour where ships were built until 1879. The man-made harbour is not a natural feature. It was required to export locally made ropes and nets. It has a long history of being silted up, blocked by shingle and damaged by storms. Today the town has a mixed economy of fishing and tourism, a resort, popular with families and sailors.

Studland

Studland lies across from Sandbank. A long sandy beach and sand dunes line the bay that runs southwards from the ferry across the entrance to Poole harbour. The beach and the dunes are owned and managed by the National Trust.  A short stretch of beach, just down from the chain link ferry, is reserved as a naturist beach. Behind the dunes is Studland Heath National Nature Reserve, an area of heath, woods, mudflats and open water with two waymarked trails.

The village of Studland is further south, set back a few hundred metres from the coast. Many of the houses are holiday homes, second homes, guest houses or hotels and the village’s population varies depending upon the season.

Swanage

Up to the early 19th Century, Swanage was a small fishing port. It developed as a seaside resort with the arrival of the railway. Sheltered within its wide bay, with a sandy beach and colourful public gardens, it is a popular holiday destination. Behind the Town Hall is a tiny lock-up, built in 1802, inscribed ‘For the Prevention of Vice and Immorality by the Friends of Religion and Good Order’.

The first pier was built in 1859/60, primarily for use by the local stone quarrying industry. It included a tramway which ran the length of the pier. A second pier was built in 1895/6 for use by passenger steamers. Today all that remains of the old pier are a line of timber piles.

Worth Matravers

This picturesque village is situated on the cliffs to the west of Swanage. It comprises limestone cottages and farm houses and is built around a pond.

Kimmeridge

Kimmeridge is a picture-perfect village as is its beach, with a natural waterfall and amazing views. However, the bay is only accessible via a £5 toll road, which includes parking.

Lulworth Cove

The small settlement at Lulworth Cove consists of a few buildings geared up for catering for the tens of thousands of visitors it receives each year. As well as visit this attractive cove they also use it as a starting point for the cliff walk, especially westwards to the famous rock formation known as Durdle Door.

Osmington Mills

The hamlet of Osmington Mills sits on the cliff top. A rough path leads down to a wild, rocky beach. The Smugglers Inn services visitors and the camp sites & caravan park.

Boscombe

This is to prove that this really is me, and yes, I have travelled from Berwick-upon-Tweed around the coast to Boscombe (and further) capturing images of every coastal settlements, from the beach or of the beach.

Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 Boscombe developed rapidly from a small village into a seaside resort alongside Bournemouth. The first pier opened in 1889.

The promenade has been transformed from a sleepy 1950s style seafront into the 21^st century home to numerous beach activities. Either side of Boscombe Pier, there is everything from sports courts and water sports to bouldering and slack lining. The land train runs along the promenade from the pier to its sister pier in the centre of Bournemouth. In town the Royal Arcade is a beautiful throwback to the Victorian era with a range of shops.

Bournemouth

Until the early 19th century, the area around Bournemouth was also just heathland where cattle grazed. In 1810, Lewis Tregonwell visited the beach with his wife. He purchased land and built a house with cottages for his butler and gardener. In 1836 a seaside resort was created, with villas to hire during the summer. The resort has been a popular destination since Victorian times with classic seaside amusements, grand hotels, glorious public gardens and a long, long promenade bordering a popular sandy beach. The iron pier, built to replace a previous wooden structure, opened in 1880, followed by extensions in 1894 and 1905.

Pine-clad valleys called ‘Chines’, used by smugglers, cut through the cliffs to the shore.

Sandbanks

The beach here is one of the best on the south coast. Sandbanks itself is a small peninsula, which contains some of the most expensive houses and land in the country. Some of the most exclusive houses boast direct access onto the beach.

The Sandbanks Chain Ferry first shuttled across the mouth of Poole harbour to Studland in 1923.

Friars Cliff

Along the coast from Barton-on-Sea is Highcliffe Castle. As its name suggests, the mansion and gardens are perched high up on the cliff. There is a clifftop walk through the Steamer Point Nature Reserve and the village of Friars Cliff. The beach is long and sandy with patches of shingle, reached by sloping tarmac paths at either end. It is backed by a promenade featuring some well-maintained beach huts where locals and visitors can while away a sunny hour or two.

Mudeford Quay

Mudeford Quay is the centre of the local fishing industry. Piles of lobster and crab pots, nets and buoys are littered at the end of the large car park. Salmon are still caught in nets using methods that have little changed in the last 200 years. A few old fishermen’s cottages remain along with the original Haven House Inn, the site of a battle between smugglers and the Royal Navy in the 17^th century. In the summer a passenger ferry crosses the narrow stretch of water, called the Run, which separates the Quay from the beach at the tip of Hengistbury Head.

Hengistbury Head is a narrow, finger of land comprising two miles of heath, woods, marsh and meadow that juts out into the English Channel. On its northern tip a strip of sand dunes reaches out across the entrance to Chicester Harbour to Mudeford Quay. The spit is home to over 300 privately-owned beach huts, which are amongst the UK’s most expensive. The beach can be reached by the ferry from the quay.  A small mock train used to run from Double Dykes, two defensive ditches that were built in Viking times, but this was stopped in 2018 following an accident with a cyclist.

Southbourne

Further up this long, soft-sandy beach, backed by grassed cliffs, is the charming village of Southbourne with its promenade and, in places, beach huts. It is a bustling and thriving coastal suburb of Bournemouth, with a whole range of eateries, buzzing bars & exciting retail opportunities. Fisherman’s Walk Nature Trail is a stunning walk along the cliff top through a narrow strip of wooded land and a nature trail with woodland flowers and shrubs and plenty of wildlife. There is a lovely walk down the zig zag path to the beach or you can take the cliff lift. Built in 1935, Fisherman’s Walk Cliff Lift operates every day between Easter and October. Two passenger cars move up and down, tied to the opposite ends of a single cable on this funicular railway.

Calshot

The pebbly beach with its lining of beach huts stretches out into the mouth of Southampton Water, a great place for ship, liner & ferry watching. Behind, there is a long open area for parking, picnics and games.

At the end of this exposed spit of land is Calshot Castle, an artillery fort built by Henry VIII in 1539 to defend the sea passage into Southampton. Three giant hangers and a conning tower, all still in use in either the aviation or shipping industry, are what remains of an important, wartime seaplane station.

Lepe

Lepe Country Park is on the coast proper. The Watch House was a boathouse. It is sited directly on the beach beneath the row of Coastguard Cottages. Looking older and hiding amongst its own personal clump of pines, the nearby lighthouse, built in 2000, peers out across The Solent to the Isle of Wight.

Keyhaven

Keyhaven is home to many yachts & sailing boats. Summer ferries leave here for Hurst Castle, another of Henry VIII’s defensive forts built at the end of a lonely spit on this marshy coastline.

Milford-on-Sea

The village has an extensive beach front, sandy at low tide. Nestled just behind its border of well-maintained beach huts are some wonderful cliff walks and a nature reserve.

Barton-on-Sea

It is situated in a scenic stretch of coastline with magnificent cliff walks, sweeping coastal views and a pebbly beach, sandy at low tide, stretching all the way to Hurst Castle.

Fort Blockhouse

Opposite Old Portsmouth at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour is Fort Blockhouse. It was built in the 1850/60s to protect the city, the harbour and the naval base against a French invasion. It is open to the public and is largely unaltered with the parade ground, gun ramps, moated keep, washrooms and armoury clearly seen.

Fort Monckton

A short distance along The Solent is Fort Monckton, an abandoned military fort built at the end of the 18th century.

Gosport

Gosport, on the west side of Portsmouth Harbour, was a major town associated with the defence and supply of the naval base opposite. Many of the old military installations have been closed and re-opened to the public as tourism & heritage sites. The town’s seafront is across country on The Solent at Alverstoke, facing the Isle of Wight. It has a long, open promenade with some very basic beach huts.

Lee-on-the-Solent

Lee is the next settlement along The Solent. A wide promenade runs along the shingle beach, protecting the car park, the road, and the blocks of 1980/90s’ apartments and guest houses from the weather and the sea.

Hill End

The village of Hill Head lies at the end of the beach

Hamble-le-Rice

Where the River Hamble enters Southampton Water is the quaint, picturesque village of Hamble-le-Rice, with stunning views, period cottages, pretty walks and a fine selection of local pubs and restaurants. A ferry crosses the river to Warsash.

Netley

In the Royal Victoria Country Park, further up the coast, are the remains of the UK’s first, purpose-built military hospital, opened in 1856. Southampton’s port buildings can be seen in the distance through the haze.

Ocean Village, Southampton

Much of the Southampton’s historical waterfront stretching back 1000s of years, has been redeveloped into glitzy tower blocks, residential apartments, recreational centres, offices, business centres and marinas. Ocean Village is a marina, residential, business and leisure development on the site of Southampton’s first working docks which originally opened in 1842. It was redeveloped in 1986 with a cinema, cafes, wine bars and restaurants. At the top of Southampton Sound, and before the bridge over the River Itchen, lies the Ocean Cruise Terminal and the Red Ferry Terminal for ferries to the Isle of Wight. The passenger ferry to and from Hythe also berths here.

The west bank is a mixture of industry and commerce, yacht clubs and marina berths for some very fine yachts and sailing boats and a mixture of residential developments. The water is a constant buzz of vessels of all descriptions.

Totton and Eling

Totton and Eling is a town on the west bank, where Bartley Water enters the main channel of the River Test, on the edge of a commercial/ industrial area of Southampton.

Hythe

On the western bank of Southampton Water, through the city, down through the industrial parks, the commercial areas, the warehouses and the dock yards, is the town of Hythe. A ferry has operated from here since the Middle Ages. Hythe’s pier opened in 1881 to carry passengers to the ferry that operated from the far end. A narrow-gauge railway was built in 1909 to replace the trucks that carried the luggage along the 640 metres to where the ferry pulls up. It was electrified in 1922. It is the oldest, continuously operating, public pier train in the world. Today the ferry carries bicycles and passengers and the crossing takes about 10 minutes.

The town has medieval and Georgian and a long seafront promenade from Victorian times. The 11^th century church of St Leonard is up on the hill. The chancel covers an ossuary, a bone store, lined with 2,000 skulls and 8,000 thigh bones. They date from the mediaeval period, probably having been stored after removal, to make way for new graves. From the centre, alleys lead up to the steeper parts of town. The pebble beach and promenade provide opportunities for long walks, flying kites and fishing. There are plenty of fish & chip shops and cafes.

Hayling Island

A long loop around Chichester Harbour gives vehicular access to Hayling Island, linked to the mainland by a single bridge at Langstone Quay. The islanders originally made a living from fishing, farming and salt production.

The marshes and wetlands of the Kench Nature Reserve are excellent spots for watching birdlife. Oyster beds were established here by the Romans and farmed extensively until the 1970s. They were restored in 1996, helping to turn the area into a wildlife haven. A railway to the island over the reclaimed mudflats, opened in 1867. Steam locomotives pulled carriages along the 8 km Hayling Line. Despite its popularity, the line was closed due to the prohibitive cost of repairing Langstone Bridge, eventually demolished in 1966. Now the Hayling Billy Leisure Trail is a three-mile walk/ride through the marshes and past the oyster beds along the route of the former railway line.

South Hayling

The natural coastline at South Hayling is predominantly sandy, but in recent years it has been mechanically topped with shingle dredged from the bed of the Solent in an effort to reduce beach erosion and reduce the potential of flooding to low-lying land. Since the 1930s it has become a popular seaside destination with its amusement park and holiday centres, as well as its miles of unspoilt beaches. Hayling Golf Club is situated on the western corner of the island, along the appropriately named Ferry Road. There are three yacht clubs along this southern edge with its easy access to the open sea.

Southsea

A part of the City of Portsmouth, Southsea maintains its own character as that of a traditional seaside resort. It has a long shingle beach with patches of sand exposed at low tide, two piers, one in a much better state than the other, a string of seaside attractions including a fairground, a D-Day Museum and a leisure centre. South Parade Pier marks the start of a wide, open esplanade backed by the Rose Gardens and a boating lake.

Southsea Castle was built by Henry VIII around 1544 to defend the Royal Dockyard at Portsmouth. Clarence Pier is very different in character. Looking rather tired, it is clustered on land near the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour with the hovercraft pad and terminal right beside it.

Portsmouth

A fortress town since the 15^th century, Portsmouth is the home of the Royal Dockyard, founded by Henry VIII in 1540. England’s most important naval base, it is also home to the Henry’s Mary Rose, Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory and HMS Warrior, all open to the public.

The 170 metre Spinnaker Tower soars over Gunwharf Quays with spectacular views from the top. It is still a working dockyard and home to many vessels in the modern navy. The Continental Ferry Port, Wightlink ferry & catamaran terminal and the hovercraft pads are all staging points for the many ferries that cross to Spain & France and to the Isle of Wight. Vessels chug past Old Portsmouth and Southsea to reach the sea.

Middleton-on-Sea

The village was mainly developed between the wars. Houses back directly onto the seafront. Access to the pebbles of the beach, sand is exposed at low-tide, is possible along several footpaths that run through the residential areas. There are a range of coastal defences along the shore such as offshore breakwaters, groynes on shingle beaches and rock walls to protect the properties from the risk of flooding & erosion.

Bognor Regis

One of the most popular resorts on the south coast, the town has sandy beaches at low tide, funfairs, amusements arcades, cafes, seaside stalls and a nightclub. Bognor was a small fishing village until the late 18^th century when it was developed as a resort by Sir Richard Hotham. It grew only slowly until the railway arrived in 1864 and from then on it proved to be popular seaside town to visit.

A year later the pier opened. It consisted of a basic jetty which was some 300 metres in length with a kiosk at the shore end where, for the sum of 1d, visitors could enter and stroll down to the end. In 1900 the first pavilion was built at the seaward end and a landing stage then added to allow paddle steamers to dock. In 1964/5 severe storms caused the this end to collapse. Billy Butlin arrived in Bognor with an entertainment venue called the Recreation Shelter. This was followed by a zoo in 1933 and in 1960, a holiday camp.

Pagham

Pagham Harbour was made up of three working ports. They were overrun by the sea in the 13^th century and the whole harbour, now set well back from the sea, eventually silted up and ceased to be navigable, except for small craft. Pagham Beach is an early 20^th century development of chalets, residential properties and low apartment blocks.

Selsey

Selsey is situated at the end of the Manhood Peninsula which is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour, to its east by Pagham Harbour. Its southern headland is known as Selsey Bill. Over the centuries, Selsey has derived an income from the sea, mainly fishing. In the eighteenth century, it was much more isolated than it is today and the sand spit extended farther out to sea. It was more of an island with only a causeway to connect it to the mainland, covered at high tide. This aided one of the other major enterprises – smuggling. The town is home to one of the few remaining fishing fleets on the south coast. Selsey crab & lobster are known as some of the best in the world. There is an ongoing and constant battle to protect the coastline and nature reserves from being taken by the sea.

Bracklesham, East Wittering and West Wittering

These villages lie on the coast of the Manhood Peninsula. Their main feature is the long beach, fringed with dunes at West Wittering. The village centres stand away from the sea and holiday homes and apartment fill the gap. Residential streets lead to the sea and there is a large car park and picnic area to the west. The sea is popular with wind and kite surfers and shallow lagoons are left at low tide for beach explorers.

Lancing

A narrow strip of rough grass stands between the coast road and a shingle beach trying unsuccessfully to fight off clumps of sedge. The land here was used for growing fruit or flowers but following WWII it was used for housing.

East Worthing

East Worthing has a vast area of grass for relaxing and playing games behind the stretch of beach huts that line its promenade.

Worthing

After 1798 the town of Worthing developed from a fishing hamlet into a fashionable resort when Princess Amelia, the delicate younger sister of the Prince Regent, visited for her health. The town boasts five miles of seafront, with a wide promenade, colourful public gardens and a traditional pier with amusement arcades, built in 1862. The beach is shingle with sand at low-tide.

Goring-by-Sea

There was not a lot here for quite a while. Intermittent residential development began in the 19th century. Much of old Goring was demolished until it became part of Worthing. Begun shortly before 1939, the Goring Hall estate was developed as a garden city, with concentric crescents near the seafront. Again, a wide expanse of open grass separates the residential area from the beach huts lining the long promenade.

Ferring

More a residential area than a resort, Ferring is an ordinary sort of place. The beach is easily accessible but the shingle and the clumps of rough grass are not conducive to relaxing by the sea. Close by are some weathered huts.

Rustington

Similarly, any part of the old village of Rustington, like its old flint-walled cottages or its medieval church of St Paul at Rustington, have been swamped and engulfed by relatively modern housing estates.

Littlehampton

Littlehampton started as a fishing port based around the River Arun, where it opens onto the English Channel. It expanded its port activities with the building of a wooden harbour in 1735 and a new river mouth was cut to alleviate the constant silting of the river. It then developed from a fishing community to a holiday destination. It still has a thriving harbour for thousands of leisure craft as well as a commercial port. The east side of the estuary has seaside activities with cafes and amusements and a small pier. On the other bank are the boatyards and wharves, the golf course and West Beach, backed by dunes.

Hastings

Although Hastings gives its name to the battle that took place in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy defeated King Harold and his Saxon Army at Battle, six miles further inland. He built a castle here of which only a ruin remains. In the grounds there is a daily audio-visual show which re-creates the battle. Hastings was a flourishing harbour town when William landed at Pevensey.

This close association with the sea is very apparent. Beside the small harbour arm, known as the Stade, fishermen winch their boats up onto the shingle. Close by tall, black-painted wooden sheds, known as ‘net shops’, were built for drying nets. Fish auctions still take place at the fish market. Weather boarded and half-timbered houses line the High Street and tiny lanes and stepped paths climb the two hillsides that dominate the town along with a funicular railway for each one. The traditional pier, built in 1872 stands a bit tired but very proud above the shingle beach where sand & rock pools are exposed at low tide.

Bexhill-on-Sea

Earl De La Warr decided to transform the small rural village of Bexhill into an exclusive seaside resort at the end of the 19^th century. He organised the building of the first sea wall and of the Kursaal, a pavilion for ‘refined entertainment and relaxation’. Today this quiet, elegant resort is dominated by the low lines and the sweeps of glass of another De La Warr Pavilion, built in 1935 and restored in 2005 as an arts venue. Bexhill was the first place in Britain to allow mixed bathing in 1901. The old town is half a mile inland away from the beach resort.

Pevensey Bay

The road from Bexhill meanders lazily across the flat grazing land of the Pevensey Levels. No paths cross it, but from the road there are good views of the bird life all year round. William the Conqueror landed with his army somewhere near here in 1066 but it is not clear exactly where as the coastline has changed so much over the centuries. Today the shingle beach is fringed with holiday chalets and small houses. The old village of Pevensey is a mile inland. It is dominated by Pevensey Castle, whose outer walls were built by the Romans as a defence against Saxon raiders. Within are the remains of a castle dating from the Norman occupation.

We are now approaching the peaceful countryside of Romney Marsh and the distinctive landscape of Dungeness National Nature Reserve.

Littlestone-on-Sea

This small coastal village was established, by the point of the lifeboat station, in the 1880s, as a resort for the gentry. It is a residential area with a few shops and holiday properties. The beach is predominantly shingle, with wooden groynes and backed with multi-coloured beach and fishermen’s huts.

Greatstone-on-Sea

The resort is part of a straggling stretch of seaside development. Low housing, mostly built after the war, and beach huts stare out over a rather scruffy beach, a mixture of tough grass and shingle.

Lydd-on-Sea

Lydd-on-Sea continues the same theme although the grass and beach is wider and more scruffy and there are no beach huts. The post war housing consists mostly of bungalows, built along the coastal road to Dungeness.

Lydd has memories for me as when I was a child, my parents would take my brother and I touring in France in our, I think – Austin 7 (or a maybe a Morris Minor, I can’t remember. What I can remember was that we took the car over in an aeroplane from Lydd Airport to Le Touquet. It was shaped like a tadpole. The belly would open up and there was room for a couple of cars and their passengers. Its two propellers had the power to raise the plane a few hundred feet into the air and, like a pigeon, it would then glide over the water to the other side. On one crossing my brother sat at an open door, exposed to the elements. Childhood memories.

Dungeness

Dungeness is unique. There are no boundaries here. It is a desolate landscape with wooden houses, power stations, lighthouses and expansive gravel pits. Yet it possesses a rich and diverse wildlife in one of the largest and best examples of a shingle beach in the world. The lighthouse stands tall amongst scattered shacks on this windswept promontory, each one unique in its construction and materials. Narrow rusty, rail tracks disappear across the shingle to tilting boats in the distance.

Camber Sands

The shingle beach gives way to a stretch of soft sand & high dunes at Camber Sands. Several Holiday Parks hide behind amongst the grass. The village of Camber & the ruin of one of Henry VIII’s castles lie further inland

Rye Harbour

The medieval hilltop town of Rye is a gem, with its narrow, cobbled streets & surrounded by water on three sides. Rye Harbour, further down the estuary, consists of a Martello tower, a cluster of cottages, a pub & a church.

Broadstairs

Broadstairs is full of character and history. In the 14^th century, a small fishing community had grown up at the base of the cliffs and a set of steps, hence broad stairs, led up the cliffs to a shrine on the cliff top. The town also became prosperous as a centre of shipbuilding. Holidaymakers and the prosperous middle classes were attracted to the town in Victorian times and direct rail line was established in 1863. Access had previously relied on coach links to other stations in the region.

It is now a family-friendly resort with numerous sandy beaches. The main town beach is a crescent of soft sand, backed by beach huts and tall cliffs. Along the top narrow gardens and a clifftop road are lined by small shops. Botany Bay has photogenic chalk stacks and Joss Bay has a surf school. There are fishermen’s cottages, clifftop walks and independent shops lining unspoilt streets, smart restaurants, quaint cafés and even a 1950s ice cream parlour.

Ramsgate

Ramsgate has long been both a resort and a working ferry port. Graceful early 19^th century terraces line the top roads that overlook the busy harbour. Known as the Royal Harbour after George IV embarked here in 1821, it holds not only the terminus of a ferry service to Ostend but it is also a crowded marina of yachts, sailing boats and pleasure craft. A coastal path follows the rolling white cliffs out of town. Slightly dated amusements and beach huts have spread to neighbouring coves. The main bathing beach is at Ramsgate Sands to the north. The UK’s largest complex of civilian wartime tunnels is here, as well as a row of smugglers’ caves is built into the cliffs of nearby Pegwell Bay.

Deal

Deal is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. It was a ‘limb port’ of the Cinque Ports in 1278 and grew into the busiest port in England. Today it is a quiet, seaside resort, its quaint streets and houses a reminder of its history along with many ancient buildings and monuments. Deal has a very attractive, rather elegant seafront with gleaming, pastel-painted buildings, held together with uniform clay-tiled roofs, which overlook the soft beiges and umbers of the pebbles in the beach and the dull blues/greens of the ocean. The current pier is the third to be built here. It is a simple structure, built in reinforced concrete, with little elaboration. It opened in 1957. Glazed wind shelters were built at intervals along its 300 metre length. In 2008 a new feature was added at the end – a glass-walled café/bar.

In the days of sail, naval fleets and merchant ships anchored in The Downs – the stretch of water between the town and the treacherous Goodwin Sands – waiting for favourable winds to help them on their journey. Deal Castle rests crab-like amongst the boats and fishing paraphernalia that litter the beach. Built by Henry VIII in the shape of a Tudor rose, it controls Deal against any foreign force.

Walmer

Walmer Castle was built by Henry VIII in 1540 when the sea came right up to its walls. The interior is panelled with portraits and relics of the Duke of Wellington who died here.

Kingsdown

A very narrow, winding lane takes the brave driver down to this hamlet of holiday homes and fishermen’s cottages and around a broad shingle beach dotted with boats and small huts.

Whitstable

I like Whitstable. There is a strong flavour of the sea throughout the town, with its rows of weather-boarded fishermen’s cottages, black-tarred boat sheds and tarpaulin-covered sailing dinghies squashed in between grasping groynes. The harbour, once the port of Canterbury, is busy with an active fishing fleet and is lined with sheds from where fresh fish can be purchased. ‘Native Oysters’ have been collected from beds beyond the low water mark from Roman times. These can be clearly seen at low tide. Oysters are now having a revival and is celebrated at the annual Whitstable Oyster Festival, which takes place during the summer.

One of the earliest passenger railway services from Canterbury opened to Whitstable in 1830. A few years later the company built a harbour and extended the line to handle coal and other bulk cargos for the City of Canterbury. It is now out of use and has been converted into a cycle path. Behind the sailing club, pubs and bars spill out onto the beach. Converted bathing huts and sheds, furnished and decorated by local artisans, and oyster stalls overlook the winding promenade. Twisting little side streets, with quaint names like Squeeze Gut Alley, host a range of small independent shops.

Herne Bay

Before the first pier was built in 1831 the town scarcely existed with the exception of a few fishermen’s huts. It was laid out as a resort in the 1830s. The pier is the third one here, designed for landing passengers from steamers. Work began in 1896. When it was finished ran 1.147 km out to sea. A small railway was used to carry the passengers and their luggage ashore. The pier got quite a bashing from the elements. So much so that it was declared unsafe and closed in 1968. In 1978, the pier’s neck collapsed in another storm. It was dismantled in 1980, leaving a stub with a sports centre at the landward end, and part of the landing stage isolated out at sea. The Pier Trust focussed on promoting and developing the landward part of the pier. In 2103 a beach hut village was created on the pier with local businesses selling their wares. More traditional seaside rides and activities are sited at the far end to enhance the pier experience.

Reculver

On the site of a Roman fort stood the towers of an ancient church which was demolished when the sea threatened to undermine them. The towers were bought by Trinity House in 1809 and restored to act as an essential aid to navigation.

Westgate-on-Sea

Red-brick Victorian and Edwardian houses, green open spaces, landscaped gardens & two beaches, one with huts, give the town a sedate feel and make it a popular resort.

Margate

My visit to Margate coincided with the arrival of a sand cloud originating in Morocco (yes, really!) – hence the rather orange hue to everything. The sands here have attracted Londoners since 1753 when Benjamin Beale, a Margate glovemaker, invented the covered bathing machine. The railway arrived in 1846 but before that visitors came by sea in special boats called Margate hoys which docked at a curved jetty built for this purpose. The storm of 1978 destroyed most of it and what was left was demolished.

Margate feels a bit tired as a resort although there are huge efforts going on to turn it around. Despite the flaking paint, the boarded windows and the For Sale signs, the hotels & guest houses and the pubs & restaurants in the streets behind the front, offer the potential of good food and comfortable accommodation. Margate is reinventing itself as the next trendy place to buy a home. Behind the Harbour Arm stone pier, the bland faces of the Turner Contemporary art gallery look over the sands, concealing rotating exhibitions. A sculpture by Anthony Gormley, ‘Another Time’, has been erected on the rocks opposite the gallery and is fully exposed at low tide.

Over the wide estuary of the River Thames, we enter the large bulge that is Kent and begin to travel around the south east stretch of the English coastline. Cross country past Rochester and Chatham, both having historic associations with the navy and the sea, although both sited on the large inlet that forms the estuary of the River Medway, we retrace the route back to the coast. Only one road leads onto the Isle of Sheppey over the fourth bridge on the site, built in 2006. In the past there were several ‘isles’ but over the years these channels became silted up, forming one continuous island.

Sheerness

The town began as a fort in the 16th century to protect the River Medway from foreign invasion. The tip of the Isle of Sheppey is hidden behind the high wall of the dockyard, constructed in the time of Charles II. Today, much of the town consists of Victorian housing built for the dockyard workers. Backing onto the sand/shingle beach is a promenade with views across to the Essex coast. Barton’s Point to the east of town is a recreational & picnic area.

Warden

This small holiday village dates from the time of Edward I. Warden Point is a popular site for collecting fossils. The eroding cliffs provide opportunities to find specimens. However it’s generally more productive to spend time on the beach exploring the foreshore and the wave-washed tip of collapsed cliff sections. Fresh fossils are constantly discovered – turtles, lobsters and crabs to sharks’ teeth, snakes, crocodiles, molluscs and plant remains.

Leysdown-on-Sea

This is a traditional seaside resort with seaside shops and amusement arcades, boasting a wide promenade with ramps that lead onto a shallow, sandy beaches. Small bungalows, caravans and chalets hug the coast. At low tide the sea can be seen way off and beyond, the turbines of a wind farm wave in unison to anyone staring out to sea. Fingers of groynes grasp the sands to hold in place.

Moving down the flat, marshy coast, past the muddy mouth of the River Blackwater, the Dengie National Nature Reserve, the inlets and creeks of the River Crouch which have spread over Foulness Island, the Thames Estuary lies ahead. There are several towns on the north bank before reaching the first vehicle crossing point, Elizabeth II Bridge and the Dartford Tunnel. But are they river of coast? They have ‘sea’ in their names and so I have included them in our trip around coastal settlements, and they are on a tidal stretch of the river.

Shoeburyness

The town is right on the mouth of the estuary where the Thames meets the North Sea. It has two beaches. East Beach is a sandy/pebbly beach with a grassy area behind it. Shoebury Common Beach has beach huts on both the beach itself and along the promenade.

Thorpe Bay

Originally called Thorpe, when the railway arrived it changed its name to signify that it was a seaside destination. Mostly built in the 1920s, the streets are arranged in a grid pattern.

Southend-on-Sea

Originally a village at the ‘south end’ of Prittlewell Priory, Southend developed as a seaside resort in the early 19th century. It boomed in Victorian times and spread to embrace surrounding villages. Cliff gardens and a tree-lined esplanade with a Victorian grandstand overlook a sand/shingle beach which turns to mud at the low tide mark. On the seafront there are fairground rides, a water theme park and countless bars, ice-cream parlours and cafes.

The pièce de résistance for visitors to the resort is the pier. At over two kilometres in length, it is the world’s longest pleasure pier. The shore at Southend consists largely of mudflats, so the sea is never very deep even at full tide and recedes 1.6 km from the beach at low tide. Large boats were unable to stop near to the beach and none at all at low tide. In 1830 a wooden pier was opened. The railway reached Southend in the 1850s and brought with it a great influx of visitors from east London so the wooden pier was replaced by an iron structure in 1887. The first pier used a horse tramway to convey goods & visitors to the pier head. On the new iron pier an electric tramway was installed and by 1891, tracks ran along the pier and trains were in use.

Westcliff-on-Sea

Moving up the estuary, the Western Esplanade passes Westcliff, a distinct suburb and part of Southend.

Leigh-on-Sea

At Leigh use one of two bridges to cross the main railway line and find time for the old times. A narrow street of cottages, shops and pubs oozes history. The cockle boats unload their catch at the quayside. The original cockle sheds are located along Cockle Shed Row. The shell fish are processed here and a pint of cockles, winkles, whelks, oysters or brown shrimps can be purchased for immediate consumption.

Clacton-on-Sea

This is a traditional seaside resort with a pier flanked by long, sandy beaches and well-tended flower gardens backing a wide promenade. Until the 1860s, Clacton consisted of two inland villages, Great Clacton and Little Clacton. It was only when the first pier, built in 1877 for goods and passengers, was rebuilt in the early 1890s, did the town flourish as a resort. Today the magnificent domed entrance pulls the visitor into a world of flashing neon, crashing coins, screaming rides & candy floss designed to help pass rainy days and grab coins out of your pockets.

Jaywick

Built in the 1930s as for Londoners, it provided low cost, affordable holiday homes for working-class families. Not designed for long-term residence many are in a state of disrepair.

Seawick

An endless seam of chalets and caravans shelter in the lee of the sturdy sea defences. Once over the road, up and over the steps or through the storm gates, the soft sands await. These merge into St Osyth Beach, a naturist beach, and then continue seamlessly to the small hamlet of Lee-over-Sands and up to Point Clear on Brightlingsea Creek.

Brightlingsea

The heart of the village is around the harbour. Sailing boats clutter the slipway outside the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club. Another sailing club shares the quay with the harbour master’s shed and other marine engineering type businesses. They look out over Brightlingsea Creek, very gooey and muddy at low tide. Down on the water itself a pontoon allows punters to take a ferry across to Point Clear. Looking out from the angled boats, laid out like drunks in the mud, past the modern apartments around the marina, the distant beach huts disguise the flow of the River Colne and fail in their attempt to hide Bateman’s Tower. The tower was built beside the promenade in 1883 by John Bateman which he used as a folly for his daughter to recuperate from consumption. However it may have been intended as a lighthouse as part of a failed plan to expand the port.

Mersea Island

Mersea Island is quite unique. It is reached by a causeway from the mainland which is cut off at a high spring tide. It is a place with two quite different faces. Amongst the creeks, marshes and farmland of East Mersea house boats provide alternative ways of living. Contrast this with West Mersea, with its shops, guesthouses and restaurants. Smart residential properties back onto a sandy/shingle beach with well maintained beach huts in places.  The island is firmly oyster territory and has a growing reputation for excellent food and restaurants. It is also a popular boating centre served by two yacht clubs, boatyards, chandlers & sailmakers.

Harwich

The old town just oozes maritime history dating back to 1340 when Edward III’s fleet assembled here at the start of the 100 Years War. Pleasure craft and small fishing boats share the quay with continental vehicle ferries.

On the far banks of the River Stour the large cranes of Felixstowe load and unload container ships which then head out to the open sea. Ha’penny Pier, named when its toll was a halfpenny, was the original departure point for steamers departing for Europe. Local ferries up & down the coast & river still operate from here.

Dovercourt

Dovercourt has a gently sloping sandy beach backed by a sea wall. A wide range of family activities are available along the promenade like a skate park, model yacht pond & boating lake. Two lines of beach huts stretch across the open grass. From 1863 a pair of lighthouses on stilts were used to guide vessels into the ports of Harwich and Felixstowe. They fell into disuse in 1917 and were renovated in the 1980s.

Walton-on-the-Naze

The town developed into a resort from around 1830. The present pier is the second on the site. A short pier was built in the 1870s. Due to problems of disembarking from vessels at low tide, it was rebuilt in 1898, re-opening almost 900m long with a single line electric tramway. Several renovations later there is now a large indoor amusement arcade, a ten-pin bowling alley, fairground rides and a rail-less train.

Frinton-on-Sea

Developed in the 1890s, this small town retains the air of a genteel Victorian resort. Redbrick houses flank wide, tree-lined roads that lead to a long esplanade and a broad stretch of clifftop grassland. Below the cliffs, a fine sandy beach runs the full length of the town. Beach huts line the promenade with steps & rails that lead down to the beach. At the end of town, the huts stand on stilts with their backs to the sea. Access to them is over narrow wooden bridges and access to the beach is down a series of concrete steps.

Holland-on-Sea

The presence of a row of beach huts and a well surfaced promenade is slightly deceptive as this is all that indicates that there is a sizable settlement close by, although it is not at all apparent.

Dunwich

The village flourished as a port until, in 1286, a huge storm threw sand/shingle across the harbour diverting the river and destroying trade. By 1677 the sea had reached the market place and Dunwich had become an estate village.

Sizewell

Sizewell itself is a small fishing village and a few small boats still operate from the beach. Two nuclear power stations have been built outside the village. Sizewell A is in the process of being decommissioned and Sizewell B is still in production. There are plans to build a third on the site, to start producing electricity in 2031. Offshore there are two platforms. These are no longer in use but were there to service the intake and discharge tunnels used to run sea water through the cooling system. The cold water inlet was the farthest platform and the hot water outlet was the nearest platform.

Thorpeness

This unique holiday village is centred on a shallow man-made lake. Built in the early 1900s houses vary in style, including Tudor, Jacobean & traditional 18th century East Anglian weatherboard. Shingle beaches stretch north and south.

Aldeburgh

A main street of Georgian houses and older cottages provides a historic backdrop to a wide shingle beach where fishing boats rest up in a long line and numerous fisherman’s huts sell the daily catch of fish and shellfish. By 1600 the town was a prosperous port and fishing centre and in the 19th century it became a popular resort. But things have changed over the years. The half-timbered Tudor Moot Hall, the Town Hall, is now almost on the shore and the three roads that originally separated it from the sea have been washed away over time.

Felixstowe

A sedate Edwardian resort stretches around a long, gently curving bay, rubbing shoulders with one of Europe’s busiest container ports.

In the resort part of town a paved promenade is backed by well-tended gardens. Beyond the Spa Pavilion beach huts take the place of the gardens and follow the sand and shingle shore. The pleasure pier opened in 1905, 800 metres in length, making it, at one time, the longest in the UK. It had its own station and steamers operated from the seaward end which was demolished after WWII. The shore end was rebuilt and re-opened in 2017.

Gorlestone-on-Sea

In days gone by, hundreds of fishing boats from the herring fleet would sail from Gorlestone’s harbour, watched by locals sheltering from the breeze in the cozies on the pier. This all ended in 1904 and the red brick lighthouse nowadays mainly guides gas rig supply vessels in and out. Located as it is, at one of the two entrances into the Broads, the town has become a popular tourist centre with its own huge bay and riverside and a stunning sandy beach stretching into the distance below cliff gardens and a grand promenade. Summer Sundays in Gorleston are a chilled-out affair, with bands playing in the bandstand surrounded by deckchairs, as visitors and passers-by watch the Sunday yacht race streaming past below in the bay.

From the cliffs there is a good view of the flat, sandy beach that extends in both directions. Slightly isolated on the long promenade, Jay’s Café proudly boasts of being in the UK’s Top 10 Cafes. Down from the town, families and couples, old & young, wander around the stalls & arcades. Children buzz about on scooters, dogs pull on leads and older men play with their remote-controlled boats in the small boating pool.

Lowestoft

The huge, concrete sea defences stand well above the caravans that clutter the coast at this point. Groynes & the remains of wooden piers jut out into the sea giving a reminder of a past closely linked to the sea. The town’s fortunes were founded on the trawling grounds of Dogger Bank where herring was caught & smoked & sent to London & the Midlands. The port is still important in supplying off-shore gas & oil operations. South of Lake Lothing, a narrow strip of water that divides the town, is South Beach Pier, erected to improve the harbour & dating from 1846.

Further south down the beach, Claremont Pier was built in 1902/3 as a mooring for Belle steamers.

Pakefield

South along the coast, the Pakefield Caravan Park spreads along the clifftop. Access to the beach is by steep steps down the cliff from the bungalows and chalets of Kirkley & Pakeland.

Kessingland

The shore is growing here and the sea receding. The long sand & shingle beach is backed by low cliffs. Cafes & a caravan park run along the seafront.

Southwold

This popular, small, seaside town still retains its charm. Redbrick & flint cottages and colour-washed houses cluster around numerous greens which were created after a fire devastated the town in 1659. Behind the brightly coloured beach huts that line the promenade, is the unique sight of the Victorian lighthouse which stands tall and proud amongst the seaside terraces that cluster around it in admiration of its curves & elegance. Along the pebbly beach the pier reaches out into the sea, providing a constant reminder to visitors of the town’s class and pedigree.

This stretch of coast has amazing variety – tidal creeks, salt marshes, dunes, shingle spits, harbours, rolling cliffs and huge expanses of unspoilt beach, all beneath big, big skies. But it is a constantly changing picture. Over the centuries, land has been lost to the sea, eroded away and beaten and drifted along the coast to new positions. With the help of numerous coastal defence schemes to protect the coast, villages still cling on to their historic sites. At the same time as this battle rages, holidaymakers capture the clifftops in cohorts of mobile homes, holiday camps, caravan parks and camp sites, for the time being anyway.

(from the Happisburgh village website)

Overstrand

This old clifftop crab-fishing village is now a popular holiday resort with some rather classy homes. It has a wide, sandy beach reached by steep steps or a long zigzag of a slipway.

Mundesley

This tranquil, family resort with a wide, sandy beach is backed by low cliffs. It dates back to the Domesday Book. The railway, which no longer exists, was built in 1889 to bring in visitors.

Keswick, Walcott, Ostend

The villages of Keswick, Walcott and Ostend, along with a number of holiday camps, stand behind a sturdy sea wall and a long beach of soft sand & groynes.

Happisburgh

What is going at Happisburgh is a good example of what is going on along this entire section of the coast. Although now a coastal village, Happisburgh was once some distance from the sea, parted from the coast by the parish of Whimpwell, long since eroded away. Historic records indicate that over 250 metres of land were lost between 1600 and 1850. Coastal defences have slowed down the rate of retreat. However, large sections are now in disrepair. Sea-level rise and climate change, including increased storminess, could also increase the rate of erosion. Agriculture and tourism contribute significantly to the local economy and this is threatened by the receding cliff line that, prior to the construction of a rock embankment at the northern end, has claimed at least one property per year plus significant quantities of agricultural land. Erosion is winning here. Homes & fences cling on as the cliff falls into the sea. The lighthouse, built in 1790, stands well back from the edge. Further south, there is little evidence of Eccles-on-Sea, an ancient fishing village that is now virtually all swept into the North Sea.

Sea Palling

This is a quiet village with a beach that is ideal for children with safe waters calmed by man-made coastal defence reefs. Sea Palling has a rich history dominated by sea flooding, ship wrecks and heroism on the waves. There have been several breaches of the dunes by the sea over the centuries causing death and damage. Only in the 20th century have real efforts been made to keep the sea back by extending the sea wall, building up huge dunes and constructing offshore barrier reefs to protect land & homes.

Winterton-on-Sea

Built between 1415 and 1430, the church’s soaring tower dominates the landscape and at 40 metres remains a landmark for sailors to this day. A carpark in the dunes provides access to the large sand/shingle beach and holds a cluster of wooden storage units at one end and Jane’s Café at the other.

Hemsby

The village itself is situated a distance from the beach surrounded by caravans, chalets and mobile homes and a strip of fairground rides, arcades, pubs, cafes, even a tattoo parlour. An entire 1960s holiday camp, boarded up and deserted, is for sale. The concrete remains of WWII defences lie scattered on the beach.

Scratby

Chalets and mobile homes now give way to permanent housing, spreading away from the clifftop. The streets of bungalows do look very similar. The empty beach lies below the cliffs.

California

Yes, this is the real deal. Along the cliff road stretch holiday park, bungalows and holiday homes, rows of chalets and caravans and more mobile homes. This is California! A steep path leads down to the empty beach.

Caistor-on-Sea

Once a thriving port, the village is now a holiday destination with a caravan park on the coast. Concrete sea defences and metal gates, guarded by stone lions, stand strong against any incursions by the sea.

Great Yarmouth

This medieval fishing village grew into a seaside resort from 1760. The Pleasure Beach, which opened in 1909, is a tangle of rails & ramps, of rides & amusements, of faces & slopes, of things that go up and things that go around & over & down & up again.The usual seaside attractions & amusements include donkey rides & deckchairs for hire. Two piers share the beach. Britannia Pier opened in 1858.

Wellington Pier opened in 1854.

Snettisham

The village of Snettisham looks across the square-mouthed estuary of the Wash. The Snettisham RSPB reserve lies on the coast some 3.2 km to the west of the village.

Heacham

Sturdy, stepped sea defences rise to protect beach huts and caravan parks from any incursion by the sea. The beach is long & flat and the water is shallow & sheltered and so popular with holidaymakers in the numerous holiday centres around here. The town itself is further inland. The Victorians came here in numbers when the railway from King’s Lynn was built in the 1860s. Heacham is at the heart of Norfolk’s lavender growing industry.

Hunstanton

The town was established in 1846 as a place where workers could relax by the sea. It is the only coastal town in East Anglia to face west. Horizontally striped cliffs, now partly eroded into a litter of boulders and stones on the sandy beach, stretch southwards. The grassy clifftop, 18 metres above the shore, is dominated by a disused lighthouse and the 13th century ruins of St Edmunds Chapel. Old Hunstanton with its bungalows & chalets and amusements & rides lies to the north.

Holkham Gap

Holkham Gap is a vast expanse of low-tide sands and mudflats. An avenue of trees, with carparking on either side, stretches seaward from the grand estate of Holkham Hall to a café, from where a boardwalk leads through pine trees and dunes to the beach.

Wells-next-the-Sea

Wells-next-the-Sea is an old port at the head of the East Fleet estuary. Once a manufacturing and fishing town, several crabbers and other angling vessels still operate from the quayside. The large granary building processed malt for sale to London & Dutch breweries and is now converted into apartments.

A path and a road run parallel to the sea defences along the estuary, down past the lifeboat station and the beach café, to an absolutely glorious beach of soft, golden, sand backed by dunes & pine trees. In front of the trees a long line of very classy, stilted beach huts keep an eye on the activities taking place below them.

Morston & Blakeney

Both settlements were thriving ports until the 16th century. Since then silting has left only narrow channels to the sea which can only be used by small craft at high tide. Paths and walkways lead through the saltwater marshes, home to numerous species of birds. Boats can be hired to observe basking seals out on Blakeney Point.

Cley next the Sea

Cley’s claim to fame is its 18th century windmill, now a guesthouse, which looks out to sea across the reed beds of the nature reserve . The narrow streets of the village itself are lined with small shops including a tea shop, a pub & a pottery.

Salthouse

This village of flint cottages, once a port, is now cut off from the sea. Narrow lanes lead across the marsh to the shingle beach, ideal for walking, spotting wildlife and fishing.

Weybourne

The village is home to pretty flint cottages. On the wild shingle beach a pair of rusting Track Marshalls remember better days when they led the sad collection of boats to the water’s edge.

Sheringham

Once a fishing village, this traditional seaside town boasts a Blue Flag beach. Along the back of the sea wall is a frieze telling the story of its long association with the sea.

Cromer

Cromer has called itself the ‘gem of the Norfolk coast’ since the 18th century. It stands on a low, crumbling cliff fronted by a long promenade with beach huts at each end. The town had grown up as a fishing station over the centuries. Boats still rest up at the top of the beach, each with their own ancient, blue tractor to reverse them into & out of the water. Crabs and lobsters are still landed in the summer and placed on the menu of local restaurants and fish shops. Tourism developed in the town during the Victorian period. Visitors are still attracted by its sandy beaches, its winding streets and old flint cottages around the 14th century church and the many small local independent shops and hotels.

There have been a number of piers here since the first, wooden jetty in 1391. The present structure was completed in 1902. The sea end consisted of glass-screened shelters and a bandstand. These were roofed over in 1905 to form a pavilion and the bandstand was later replaced with a stage. The pier is also home to Cromer Lifeboat Station.

Mablethorpe

This is an area of caravans, holiday parks & chalets and Mablethorpe does its best to provide entertainment for the many visitors. This takes the form of casinos, bingo halls, amusement arcades, tea rooms and fast food kiosks. At the entrance to the long, sandy beach four donkeys wait stoically for riders. Their keeper stands as bored as they are, checking his phone, at the lack of any punters.

Trusthorpe

Still surrounded by holiday parks with names like Seaside Holiday Park, Holiday Estates & Caravan Park, Leisure Park, the village itself has a line of rather glamorous, windowed beach huts running along the top of the concrete sea defences. The soft, sandy beach is divided in two by a large block of apartments and flats build on a low rocky outcrop. The ever-present arcades and seaside amusements shelter down below the raised promenade which provides protection from the weather and the tides.

Sutton on Sea

Like Miami Beach (yes, believe it!) to the south, this coastal village does not have funfairs or arcades, but it does have the attraction of a long, soft-sandy beach and a quiet, peaceful feel to it.

Anderby Creek

This is a peaceful, tranquil place, away from noise & distraction. A car park gives access to the beach through the dunes. There are a number of caravan parks in the immediate locality

Chapel St Leonards

Beach huts line the curve of Chapel Point which was part of major coastal defences during WWII. Renovations have taken place and it is now a bright, modern village of brick villas and chalets with a traditional seaside feel around the centre. The sandy beach stretches for miles in both directions. Along the coast, south of the village, are numerous holiday parks which are home to hundreds of static caravans.

Ingoldmells

Ingoldmells is a village, although you would never believe it, with a church that dates back to 1200. the village has the largest concentration of static caravans in Europe. In 1936 the UK’s first holiday camp was built here by Billy Butlin. A large Amusement Park opened up in 1995 to cater for the large numbers that came to holiday here and has since built up a variety of rides, attractions and entertainments. The Jubilee Odyssey, the world’s largest roller coaster of its type, dominates the area and can be seen from miles away. Acres of low caravans surround the goddess (female??) of holiday rides and her attendants, paying homage to the screams of excitement that emanate from this complex of amusements and stalls and holiday homes.

Skegness

Skegness was built on the end a long stretch of coast characterised by soft sandy beaches and sea-facing caravan parks which have spread over low, eroding cliffs. Sea defences have been built to protect this traditional seaside resort from the weather that bash it from the east. The ‘old Skegness’ was swallowed by the sea in the 1500s following storms and floods and has now been located about half a-mile out to sea. Only when the railway reached Skegness in 1873 did visitors begin to arrive in large numbers. They were the new day trippers from the working classes, but all there was for them were four hotels, two or three refreshment rooms, the sea and sands and several bathing machines. Work began to build wide, tree-lined streets, promenades and gardens, a park and a pier, as well as a new main shopping street, a church and lots of new houses. In the twenty years between the World Wars, basic amenities were built to establish the town as we see today.

Out to sea the flailing arms of 150 odd wind turbines warn off invaders and wave in welcome to any visitors approaching from that direction. On the land side a tangle of well-used rides, helters & skelters, arcades and neon provide satisfaction for the desire for amusement. Formal gardens with a boating lake line the seafront, which overlooks a 6 km stretch of firm, sandy beach. Each year this slowly increases in size as the sea continues to have an impact on the land.

Hornsea

This rather ordinary resort town expanded in Victorian times with the coming of the railways. Groynes are set along the beach which is separated from the road & terraces by a pleasant promenade.

Withernsea

An impressive castellated structure is the rather grand entrance to the town’s long, soft sandy beach. Peeping above the terraced houses that look onto the seafront is the lighthouse, now home to a museum.

Easington

This small village at the base of Spurn Head used to share the coastline with several other settlements. All of these have now been lost to the encroaching sea. Now a caravan park at the edge of the village, clings on to solid ground as the sea nibbles away at its feet.

The long, flat piece of sand which is Spurn Head Nature Reserve curves around across the mouth of the River Humber with the North Sea on one side and the river estuary on the other.

Barton-upon-Humber

The magnificent Humber Bridge, crosses the river a few miles upstream, hitting the south bank at Barton-upon-Humber. When it opened in 1981 it was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world. In 2020 it is the eleventh longest.

Along the both banks of the estuary, industry rules.

Grimsby

Grimsby has a proud history of being one of the greatest fishing ports in the world. Until the mid-1970s, 200 or so deep-sea trawlers sailed from here to northern waters. Whilst not as large as in the past, there is still a commercial life to the town. Fish is still landed here and sold in the dockside fish market. In amongst the disused factories and the modern yacht marinas, some of the old curing companies and fish packers still exist to process the catch. Empty factories and warehouses, window spaces gaping, are cluttered by small hills of bricks and tangles of metal.

Vehicles for export are collected in vast dockside carparks and await loading into the bowels of their mother ship. New industry, business initiatives and commercial centres back onto the sea, presenting their smart frontage to the town. A container port now operates from the quayside.

Cleethorpes

The town really became popular as a holiday resort with the coming of the railway in the late 19th century. Lined with amusements and arcades, the promenade runs along the beach for 4km or so. The town is full of fish & chip shops competing with each other for the accolade of ’the best in town’. One advertises a ‘Victorian experience’ matching the many buildings of the same era. The sea goes out almost a mile over the soft sands and visitors should take care as there are fast incoming tides. At dawn the beach is given a daily makeover, manicured, by a tractor-mounted rake. The result is a flat, even surface, gradually disturbed by the footprints of dogs and walkers.

The pier was first opened in 1873. A pier-head concert hall was built in 1888 but destroyed by fire in 1903. A new pavilion was built near the shore in 1905 with a cafe and shops on the site of the original building. During WWII, the council, who then owned it, demolished part of it and created a gap in the structure to act as a defence measure in the event of a German invasion. After the war the isolated seaward section was demolished and the pier now measured 100 metres compared to its original 365 metres.

I did not know which of two large Yorkshire resort towns to include in the title of this section as both Scarborough and Bridlington have their own charming and individual features. I chose Bridlington in the end because, being smaller, less well-known and less hectic, I picked up a warm, homely feel about the place that created images in my mind of happy, family holidays and hard-working fishermen battling the weather, casting their nets and laying their pots and landing their catch.

Scarborough

Scarborough originated from a 10th century Viking fishing settlement in the shelter of a craggy sandstone headland, where there had earlier been a Roman signal station. In the 12th century a Norman castle was built on the headland. Ruins of Henry II’s castle stand on a knob of land high above the town. It retains high, buttressed walls and an impressive keep. During the 17th century the town declined as a fortress town. With the improvement in transportation and with the advent of the railways in particular, Scarborough reinvented itself as a spa resort. Later sea bathing, which, it is said, first began here, contributed to the town’s growth as a fashionable 18th-century resort. Overlooking the bay, terraces of elegant building were built to cater for the new holiday makers of Georgian & Victorian times, with grand hotels dotted freely amongst them.

The resort has everything required for a traditional seaside holiday experience. Along the seafront are traditional amusement arcades, ice cream parlours, shellfish stalls, deckchair sheds and beach huts, even donkey rides on the beach. It is a tribute to the seaside splendour of yesteryear. Elements include South Cliff Italian Gardens, the derelict Sun Bathing Pavilion, the Vernacular Railway, tea and dancing in the Spa Centre, the splendour of the Grand Hotel and a small funfair on the quay between the two beaches. The glare from the glitter & the neon of the arcades & fairground hide the old alleys and steps that lead up into the old town and the castle. Shops selling gems and fossils compete for space with the bright shops selling sweet rock, candy floss or Kiss Me Quick hats. Fishing vessels berth in the inner harbour, with pleasure boats in the outer, are a reminder to visitors of the town’s long association with the sea.

Filey

Small amusements, Crazy Golf, a kiddies’ roundabout, a rock shop and a café with those square, aluminium tables and chairs outside, share the space with fishing paraphernalia – nets, pots, buoys, crates. A few fishing boats, along with their tractors, wait at the top of the cobbled slipway, poised for a Le Mans style dash to the beach and the sea.

North Landing

Two rusty tractors and 3/4 cobles are a reminder that, in the past, 50 or so boats used to go fishing for cod & crabs from this pretty cove. A track leads down to a small sand & pebble beach

Flamborough

The Old Tower lighthouse, built in 1674, is a reminder of a fishing tradition going back to the 9th century. The 1806 lighthouse is on the headland above steep steps leading to a chalk beach.

Bridlington

The town was originally two settlements that merged over time – the Old Town, with its fishermen’s cottages and narrow streets was about a mile inland and the Quay area was where the modern harbour now lies. In 1837, the old wooden piers of the port were replaced with two new stone ones to create the quay. Working boats still land their catch here, leaving nets, pots and crates on the quay. Bridlington is known for its shellfish. The Gansey Girl is a sculpture, situated on the North Pier, to bid farewell to fishermen as they leave the harbour and welcoming them back as they return. She depicts a young woman sitting on a plinth knitting a gansey, a traditional jumper that contains a rich pattern of symbolism passed down through generations of fishing families around the coast of Britain.

As well as landing fish, it was used to transport corn. The 1826 Corn Exchange can still be seen in the market place. There used to be mills in the town for grinding, which led to local breweries starting up, but like most industry, these petered out by the latter part of the 20th century.

Bridlington’s first hotel opened in 1805 and it soon became a popular holiday resort for industrial workers from the West Riding of Yorkshire. A new railway station was opened in 1846, between the Quay and the historic town and the two settlements merged together. The harbour divides North and South Parades, each with a mile-long, soft ,sandy beach. The two promenades run along the top of each beach with gift shops, tea & burger bars, seaside goods, spreading out onto the pavement.