Monthly Archives: September 2014

Newgale Sands

Season: autumn Sitting in the Pembrokeshire National Coastal Park, Newgale Sands enjoys over two miles of unbroken sand, making it a haven for water sports enthusiasts.  It’s one of West Wales’ best known beaches, attracting kitesurfers, windsurfers and swimmers to this part of St Brides Bay.  All the facilities you might need can been found […]

Trebarwith Strand

Season: autumn This was a great surprise, after an aborted trip to Tintagel.  I caught Trebarwith Strand at high tide in the sunshine, with a stark and dramatic distinction between the black rocks and white surf crashing in on clean sets of waves.  It was a relentless and mesmerising experience to witness, as you can […]

Castle beach

Season: spring With a welcome return to high pressure, blue skies and sunshine was the order of the day at Castle beach in Falmouth.  It was early morning, with Pendennis Castle backlit on its headland and the sun bathing Castle and Gyllyngvase beaches. The tide was rising.  This is a wonderful natural resource for the […]

Looe beach

Season: spring I encountered a sharp, clear dawn during this early spring visit to Looe.  The tide was high and there was a fine view back to the beach and town from the end of the Banjo Pier, with occasional waves breaking over its surface.  As the town started to wake up, the fish processors, […]

Coll Sands

Season: spring The beach at Coll (Traigh Chuil) is generally known as Coll Sands.  It sits on the east side of Lewis, between Tolsta and Stornoway.  This is a relatively long beach and on a clear day you can look across to the mountains on the Scottish mainland.  As a touring base it is ideal, handy […]

Roome Bay

Season: winter Roome Bay and its sandy beach lie just east of Crail and its little harbour.  You can easily walk there from Crail, dropping down to the beach from the grassy park behind.  The bay lies on the Coastal Path and the beach is ideal for swimming, rockpooling and fishing.  The geology here is […]

Bournemouth Central beach

Season: spring A bright morning coincided with a low tide at Bournemouth Central beach.  As people used the promenade as a route to work, others like interviewee Pauline were taking their morning exercise.  A view from above the beach put it into context among a string of fine beaches, which stretch from Hengistbury Head to […]

Porthluney beach

Season: spring A bright morning combined with a rising tide at Porthluney beach.  The sea shimmered silver between the beach and Gull Rock, enticing people into the water where three kayaks already surfed the waves.  The steep sides to the beach belie a deceptively wide expanse of sand.  There is safe th clean bathing water […]

Boscastle

Season: summer This morning Boscastle’s harbour was cloaked in shades of grey on a full tide.  Contrast was offered by the bright white of the breaking waves against the black rock walls of the natural harbour entrance, as the sea is turned right by the rugged geology.  Further up the channel, calm water provided a […]

Perranporth beach

Season: winter The frosted sand crunched under my feet on an icy visit to Perranporth in February.  The sky was azure blue and the tide was out, showcasing this fine beach, with small, clean breakers at the water’s edge.  Although it was cold, the air was still and I enjoyed a chat with two horse […]

Chesil Beach

Season: spring This is a spectacular setting in any weather, but on this occasion the full length of the beach, including the fleets, was laid out in front of me as I descended by road towards the Abbotsbury end of Chesil Beach.  A beach clean was being organised by interviewee John for Dorset County Council […]

Covehithe beach

Season: autumn Covehithe is shrinking in the face of a relentless onslaught from the North Sea, being gradually eroded away.  However, the cliff exposure attracts geologists and fossil-hunters.  As well as evidence of the geological formation Norwich Crag, enthusiasts have found echinoids and corals here.  There’s a long beach below the cliffs and an elemental feel […]