UK Shore Blog

Top 5 Coastal Breaks

Sykes Cottages — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:47:58 +0000

5 FANTASTIC COASTAL BREAKS

With thousands of miles of wonderfully wiggly shoreline, the UK simply begs to be explored and offers all kinds of coastal breaks. Read on for a few ideas to get you in the mood…

DIVING IN NORTHUMBERLAND

Pull on a wetsuit and head for the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast. Enjoy close encounters with plump, grey seals affectionately known as ‘inquisitive locals’ – though clumsy on land, they transform into svelte-like creatures underwater. Wreck diving is also popular and numerous wrecks litter the seabed including the 6,810-ton Somali. Do also look out for deep-water anemone, dead men’s fingers and all sorts of crustaceans.

What else? A stunning coastline with AONB status from top to bottom – explore it on foot, by bike or horseback. Golden sand beaches stretching as far as the eye can see, crowned with iconic castles.

FAMILY FUN ON THE YORKSHIRE COAST

Where rolling hills and windswept moors meet rugged cliffs and sea, welcome to a coastline that has it all, including wonderful family resorts with award-winning beaches.

For donkey rides, ice-creams, brightly-painted beach huts and lots to see and do, Scarborough hits the spot, a traditional Victorian resort with a contemporary twist. For spine-tingling vampire fun, Whitby has oodles of Gothic charm, winding, cobbled streets, an imposing abbey and handsome harbour. Or check out charming Filey, with its historic promenade, sea shanty inns and seemingly never-ending sands.

What else? Gorgeous villages like Robin Hood’s Bay, Staithes and Runswick Bay. Mind-boggling scenery and bird life at Flamborough Head. Sensational fish and chips!

WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ALONG THE JURASSIC COAST

Did you know that The Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon sits alongside other show-stopping natural creations like the Grand Canyon and Great Barrier Reef and is England’s first natural World Heritage Site?

Experience this extraordinary Jurassic journey on foot and step back 185 million years as you ramble across the cliff-tops, looking out for dinosaur footprints and many other fascinating fossils like bones, teeth and shells.

Length of coast: 95 miles
Recommended starting point: Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre – guided fossil walks available
Scenic highlights: The perfect horseshoe shaped Lulworth Cove and striking limestone arch of Durdle Door

WHALE WATCHING ON THE ISLE OF SKYE

Connected to the mainland by bridge, this island gem is home to miles and miles of stunning coast and an array of wonderful wildlife, with specially designed tours on offer. Think porpoises, dolphins, seals, all sorts of sea birds, even whales – watching these mighty creatures frolicking offshore is a magical experience.

Other boat trips include scenic and heritage tours, picnics on tiny, remote beaches and activity-based trips combining adventures on land and sea.

Staying on Skye in summer means delightfully long evenings (imagine reading outside until midnight!) and the chance to witness the Northern Lights, when dazzling displays of shimmering light beam across the sky.

Best time to whale watch: June to September

WALKING ON THE GOWER PENINSULA

At 19 miles long and 7 wide, the glorious Gower Peninsula is just the right size to explore on foot. Expect wild flowers and mesmerising views as you follow the coastal path. Not to mention a plethora of pristine beaches, many with Blue Flag status. Don’t miss the magnificent three-miles of sweeping sands at Rhossili – great for families and exercising dogs. Other hotspots include the tidal island of Worm’s Head and Three Cliffs Bay. Or head inland and trek east to west along the Gower Way, with archaeological sites en route.

What else? Learn how to surf at Llangennith. Find fascinating flora and fauna at Llanrhidian Marsh and Whitford Burrows.

Best of all…the National Trust protects much of the peninsula, so The Gower will remain unspoilt and ruggedly beautiful for many years to come!

WHERE TO STAY

For quality, choice and value-for-money you can’t beat a self-catering holiday cottage break. Sykes Cottages offers a great selection of coastal holiday cottages to rent in all of these fantastic areas. Simply decide what you want to do and then find your perfect home-from-home.

BBC Nature – video collections website

admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:48:41 +0000

The Nature section of the BBC website has a great collection of video clips of the amazing UK coastal wildlife. A range of habitats are shown including; coastal, estuaries, intertidal zones, shallow seas, reefs and rockpools.

The page is located here.

Two Welsh coastguard centres to remain open, Swansea to close

admin — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:15:07 +0000

Milford Haven and Holyhead stations coastguard centres which were threatened with closure have won a reprieve, but Swansea, which was to be downgraded under the original plans, is now to close by 2015. The two reprieved stations were to shut, with Swansea reduced to operating only during daylight hours. But the strong local protests, including lobbying the chief executive of the coastguard service when he visited Milford Haven in February, sparked the policy change.

The Welsh Government said UK ministers would have to “account for any consequences” for sea safety.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said the UK government should perform a “U-turn” on its Swansea decision as it had done on the one for Holyhead and Milford Haven. Campaigns to save Milford Haven and Holyhead stations saw a 20,000 name petition go to Downing Street.

Eleven centres will remain open across the UK.

Source: BBC News

BBC Secret Britain programme – Langdon Bay revisited

admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:01:07 +0000

The BBC’s recent Secret Britain programme has re-ignited interest in Langdon Bay, a fascinating part of the Dover coastline. The programme as it’s name suggests, highlights some of the lesser known gems of the British landscape, and includes visits to Cornwall’s ‘secret’ coves, the ‘Cornish Alps’, and Dartmoor amongst other locations.

Of particular interest to us was their visit to Langdon Bay, as we already had a number of images in our Fan Bay/Langdon Bay/Crab Bay page. We also have 360 degree panoramas of the SS Falcon shipwreck and Langdon Bay searchlight positions.

One of our site visitors Mike Verrall has made a visit to the wreck in the past few weeks and one of his images is shown here.

‘Castle to Castle’ swimmers help raise money for RNLI life

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:32:43 +0000

Around 230 swimmers including Television star Steve McFadden led raced across the River Fal on Sunday (6th June) to raising over £10,000 in support of the RNLI’s South West Lifeguard Appeal. Entrants were sent on their way by former Olympic swimmer, Sharron Davies and Laurence Reed from BBC Radio Cornwall.

Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell in the BBC’s EastEnders) said after finishing the swim:

‘It was tough, definitely harder than last year. I pushed it a bit too early and it was very choppy for the whole swim. The sense of achievement when you finish is amazing and I feel great. The RNLI is the most fantastic charity in the world, there’s nothing else like it. I thank all the lifeboat crew and lifeguards for what they do.’

The Castle-to-Castle swim began at Pendennis Point, Falmouth and ended on the St Mawes side of the river. The first man home on the one mile swim was John Parker (Cleveland, Bristol) in a time of 27 minutes and the first female back was 15 year old Nicky Russell (Truro, Cornwall).

Safety cover for the event was provided by the RNLI lifeguard team and the volunteer crews of the Falmouth all weather and inshore lifeboats.

Source: RNLI website – news releases

Increase in ‘excellent’ graded UK beaches

admin — Mon, 31 May 2010 09:56:56 +0000

Nearly every beach in England and Wales has met Europe’s highest cleanliness standards this year according to Environment Agency tests.

The tests reveal the quality of water in 97% of bathing sites is of a sufficient standard to be classified as “excellent”.

But the agency says the results were based on early season sampling and could change over the coming months. It says the recent spell of good weather and action to reduce pollution from farms and sewer overflows are responsible for the improved test results.

The Environment Agency tests show a rise in the number it classifies as excellent of almost a fifth, from 76% 10 years ago to the current 97%. Inspectors take weekly water samples at 494 sites to measure pollution levels between May and September each year.

Last week the Marine Conservation Society rated 421 of 769 UK beaches as excellent – 33 more than 2009, but below the 505 rated highly in 2006. Its annual Good Beach Guide revealed more beaches have excellent water quality than last year, but pollution has worsened since 2006.

Source: BBC News website

National Trust Spring bonus

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:59:05 +0000

The National Trust’s parks, historic houses, buildings and gardens are opening for free for a weekend in March to give the British public a “spring bonus”.

National Trust properties will be open to the public free of charge on March 20th and 21st this year. People will also be able to park for free at all of the car parks giving access to miles of coastline and thousands of acres of countryside.

Members of the public will be able to download a voucher from the National Trust’s website, giving them free access to sites and car parks, while existing members will be able to take advantage of a special offer over the weekend. To download the voucher visit: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bonus

Source: Yorkshire Evening Post

Guillemots return early at Bempton Cliffs

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:09:06 +0000

Visitors to the Bempton Cliffs RSPB site are enjoying the early return of guillemots. Hundreds of the distinctive black and white birds have reappeared at the site.

The birds, which would not normally be expected at the site for several weeks yet, are however only providing fleeting glimpses, however ahead of the usual arrival in spring and summer. Up to 60,000 adult guillemots and their chicks can be seen along the 400ft chalk cliffs in spring and summer.

Bempton Cliffs Site manager Ian Kendall said: “It almost feels as though they are playing a game with us, but the truth is they probably leave the cliffs as the weather changes.”

“When it gets round to the breeding season proper they’ll stay exactly where they are, looking after their chicks whatever the weather.”

“It’s unclear what has brought about this early return. It may be that there is plenty of food in the wild wintry seas off Bempton or the constantly changing weather could be the reason.”

“Whatever it is that drives them to do this, we think these occasional early visits in large numbers somehow help bond the colony together and it certainly makes a for a fantastic wildlife spectacle.”

It was announced last year that the Bempton Cliffs site will be upgraded to become the national seabird centre for England, and more than one million pounds will be spent by the RSPB over the coming five years to further develop the site which currently attracts up to 45,000 visitors a year.

Source: Yorkshire Post

RSPB Bempton Cliffs website

Orfordness lighthouse closure proposed

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:55:22 +0000

The Orfordness lighthouse has been a landmark on the Suffolk coast for over 210 years, but has now been recommended for closure following the latest five-year review by Trinity House, who manage all lighthouses around the coastlines of England, Wales and the Channel Islands.

It plans to discontinue all navigational aids at Orfordness, and instead proposes increasing the range of the Southwold lighthouse to compensate. Trinity House asserts that as navigational technology continues to advance the reliance on the traditional system of lighthouses around the coast has diminished.

Keith Seaman, the current Orfordness lighthouse keeper, said it would be a sad loss.

“Obviously there will be some objection from people used to looking at the Orford skyline and seeing what has become an iconic tower standing there. It would be a tremendous blow if it disappeared.

“For me it would be a sad loss having worked there since 1994. It has become a part of me and I have enjoyed showing visitors round. If the lighthouse goes then I will no longer be required.

“It’s inevitable that at some stage the tower will cease to exist because of severe erosion but that may now be hastened.”

The recommended closure of the lighthouse has been made somewhat inevitable by the local coastal erosion, and the lighthouse may be lost to the sea anyway within five years, unless it was moved inland or coastal defences in the immediate area were strengthened.

Objection to the proposed closure is already being sounded by members of the The Alde and Ore Association, and the Public consultation pediod will continue until January 29th 2010. Responses should be sent to Navigation Directorate, Trinity House, Tower Hill, London, EC3N 4DH (email navigation.directorate@thls.org).

Source: EADT24.

Marine and Coastal Access Bill enters final stages

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:35:02 +0000

The long awaited Marine and Coastal Access Bill is set to become law. It will establish a set of marine conservation zones around the coast of England and Wales. The Bill also includes plans to create a footpath stretching along the entire coastline of England and Wales, and the creation of a government body to be named the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

The Bill is currently in its final stages in the Lords before receiving Royal Assent and becoming law.

Critics of the Bill say the measures, which will ban fishing in certain coastal areas, will not offer enough protection to endangered marine species.

The Marine Management Organisation will be tasked with marine-related issues, such as plans for offshore wind farms, and would become a centre of marine expertise.

Source: BBC News website