Not having it ... Norfolk/suffolk has 3 blue flag beaches. I am annoyed that they didn't have one on the top 10. We have amazing beaches around this area
Brighton is all pebbles. Btw, only basking sharks (plankton eaters) off the west coast of Scotland. The water is usually cold - wet suit required if you are not a child, in my opinion.
I'm always surprised that people are surprised that a large island has beaches. (Yes is the 9th largest island in the world) at least some of the beaches are bound to be nice 😅😅
@@hammalamiri12seriously, this July has ruined my beach time. Here's hoping August makes up for it. Need to jump off the wall in Clovelly at some point.
Agreed our July weather has been nothing short of appalling - so pleased that I managed a week in Ibiza, though will be going to the South coast this weekend and Canterbury, Rochester etc. 😊
Yes, in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly we have loads of palm trees, not just at the Eden Project you know! It's because we've got the warm waters that flow right around us so just right for sub tropical plants and gardens. Yes we get Basking sharks, grey seals, dolphins, whales etc, once in a blue moon we see blue fin tuna and the odd great white...... But ever any problems.
Strangely, there are major omissions. Why aren't they featuring the wonderful beaches of the North-East Coast? I have blissfully happy memories of Bridlington beach - I think 13 miles long. Then there are beaches at Filey, Scarborough, and Whitby. ( Lewis Carroll's poem The Walrus and the Carpenter mentions ' quantities of sand'; that's Whitby.) Then there are Northumberland beaches, Norfolk beaches, and some on the North- West, like Formby. The greatest UK beaches - which wouldn't qualify for this - are in North and West Scotland. They look like the Caribbean.
That was a pretty bad top 10 English beaches tbh. Two of them were technically not English (Scilly isles and Jersey). How the hell did Bournemouth get top spot?
I live on Walney Island Cumbria U.K. which is next to Barrow-in-Furness and has beautiful sandy beeches next to sand dunes and the Irish Sea with the Southern most point of the Lake District mountains in view .The Isle of Man is visible on a clear day ,Walney also has two nature reserves one North and one South of the Island.
Many years ago I worked a summer season in Newquay, Cornwall and would walk along Fistral Beach on my way to work in the mornings. It was beautiful and it was on Fistral that I learned to surf. I still regard that year as my summer of love. Blackpool was my home for many years. There's something for everyone there from thrill rides to the historic tower with it's ballroom and it's spring-loaded dance floor and which once housed a circus. There's also the historic Victorian trams which used to run along the prom and on up to Fleetwood. They have recently been replaced my a modern tramway system but the historic trams are preserved and can be booked for tours. It is like stepping back in time and the sunsets are beautiful also.
Devon is on the English Channel and Bristol Channel (an arm of the Irish Sea). Those trees were "Torquay Palms", aka cabbage trees - not strictly palms (more closely related to lilies!), but looking similar. They're native to New Zealand but were introduced to the UK during WWI. One nitpick - St Brelade's Bay is NOT in England - it's on the island of Jersey!
Fistral & Little Fistral beach Newquay!...the building at the top of the cliff is the Headland Hotel, I took my Mrs there 16 years ago for our first holiday. As you mentioned earlier in the vid yes you do get sharks around Newquay/Cornwall
I'm stunned there's no Northumberland beaches on the list (no wait... we're always forgotten). The majority of the coast is made of long, wide sandy beaches here where even in the middle of summer you can get away from people as they're so big. Mind, the temperature isn't as high and the North Sea isn't as warm to swim in as down on the south west coast.
A lot of southern coastal resorts market beaches that are actually just pebbles and shingle and some have sand lorried in for summer. Not nice on the feet.
I came to the comments specifically to see if anyone mentioned Northumberland. I love Bamburgh beach. The long sandy beach with the view of the castle. All nice beaches in this video, but none of them had a castle!
Absolutely agree ... the beaches in Northumberland are terrific. I had a great holiday at Bamburgh, the beach was fabulous, we had the beach entirely to ourselves some days... during June.
I have been ro many of these beaches but just around the coast from Bournemouth beach is my favourite local beach, Studland beach. From Studland beach you can see across to Bournemouth beach. Studland has extensive dunes and wildlife walks through the wetlands behind the beach and part of the beach is a naturist beach. As a naturist myself I often go to Studland beach with a good book to read and a towel, something eat and drink and some suncream and nothing else, no need for swimming shorts on a naturist beach. It's great to just strip off and enjoy the water and sun as nature intended and has the added advantage of having no sandy, damp swimming gear messing up the boot of your car.
If you want a peaceful swim and glorious beach with dolphins, try the West Coast of Scotland....Isle of Mull has an amazing and empty beach called Calgary....yes - the name was taken to Alberta! Many empty beaches in amazing jade sea colours and hardly any people. Late May and especially early September glorious.
I agree with this...some time ago in mid May we stayed at Port Henderson in Wester Ross, we were swimming in the sea , 81 degrees and the mist glorious scenery, fantastic.
The only sharks that will bother you at Porthcurno are basking sharks, very gentle giants indeed. And yes, both Cornwall and the Scillies have palm trees, mainly of the cordyline variety, but the Scillies is sub tropical. It's a strange and special part of the world, but I'm glad I don't live there anymore - it's very remote and the A30 (the only road out!) is a bugger from Easter to October! Woolacombe is on the Atlantic side of Devon; the other side is the English channel/La Manche. The sea is cold everywhere around here; it only looks like the Caribbean :)
Yay I live in Bournemouth about a 15 min drive from the beach but we only usually go there in the winter when we can walk our dogs,and yes we have palm trees in our gardens in the area I live in 🌴
Came to make the same comment. 10:27 in the video. Like you the cranes caught my eyes at first as I wondered when did Brighton become a port but an instant later realised they had clipped a shot of New Brighton beach (nearly 285 miles North of Brighton for anyone who doesn't know) by mistake. 😊
Our waters are already warm enough for great whites and have been for a long time, they can tolerate cold water well. It’s a bit of a mystery why they don’t really come here 🦈 🤔
Not many dangerous sharks in UK waters. Lots of huge but mostly harmless basking sharks. There are palm trees in Britain, it's not unheard of. I remember seeing them on the island of Jersey.
@@AirstripOne-nd4du I've read that it's actually a mystery to marine biologists why there aren't great white sharks in UK waters, as the water temperatures should be fine for them, especially in the summer.
your missing something as England in this region was a part of South America a few million years ago, the soil is red in some places. the region is magical and most Americans never see this area of our country
Someone's getting very confused here. At 11:31 is a view of the beach at NEW Brighton which is on the south side of the River Mersey (on the north side are the red cranes of Seaforth docks). Upstream is Liverpool. This is a long way from Brighton on the south coast!
If you like a wide beach have a look at Southport beach ive been on the odd day out and never seen the sea. My mother used it as a regular place to visit she only seen the sea once, i wouldn't go looking for either you'd probably hit quick sand afore you reach the waters edge!
As a native Devonian with Kernewek heritage, my dad was Cornish, I'm now living in West Sussex, UK. People here rave about their beaches, how fantastic it is, best beaches in the world etc. West Wittering beach is a stone's throw from me. I'd rate it as okay, not bad, average. So it depends what you're used to, where you're from. I would say , as someone who's travelled all around the UK that Devon and Cornwall are the best, Devon with its two coasts, Cornwall, the longest coastline, something for everyone. Then followed by the Isles of Scilly, then Norfolk. Some Scottish beaches look fantastic. The point is wherever you are or from, that'll always be your choice, "the best".
I’ve seen Palm Trees in Plockton on the shores of Loch Carron about 6 miles from the Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland, and the open sea. The effects of the waters from the Mexican Gulf reach this far. It helps stop the extremes of temperature, both hot and cold, that you may get in the USA
There is a palm tree outside the church in Ingoldmells, near Skegness in Lincolnshire on the east coast. Not too hot in Summer, not too cold in winter.
There is a beach in northern Scotland that won an award for being the most beautiful in the world a year or two ago, it beat out beaches in more tropical locations. The water is crystal clear and looks like your in the Bahamas or something.
There are basking sharks off the West Coast of Scotland - very large plankton eaters which do not come near the shore. Inverewe Gardens on the north-west coast of Scotland benefit from the North Atlantic Drift (extension of the Gulf Stream). However, apart from the extreme south-west of England in late summer, the sea will require a wetsuit to swim in (in my opinion). Also, be aware that Cornwall has an Organisation called 'Surfers Against Sewage'.
Like most of the animals in the UK, it's rare to find a dangerous one. In Cornwall we get small sharks that rarely are a problem. However, we also get Basking Sharks - the second biggest after the Whale Shark, but they just eat plankton. Sometimes they will come into beaches (including the ones in the video) and swim around the people in the water.
Yes - they are palm trees. West Cornwall and Scilly are warm enough for palm trees to grow. We are warmed by the Gulf Stream - air (and sea) currents that flow from the Gulf of Mexico. It can be very cloudy and rainy here, but it rarely goes below freezing.
That may be true but there's no way that was the Scilly Isles. That was some tropical island. If it was indeed the Scilly Isles, why would they be featuring the rubbish (comparitively) little beach they did instead of that glorious one!?
It is a shame the commentator didn't say St Brelades was in Jersey, he made it sound like it was part of the main land. I love both Jersey and Guernsey. We used to go for family holidays 😊
There are some gorgeous beaches in Scotland. Some beaches in other parts of England are lovely. I never understand the big deal people make about Brighton beach.
If you like the wide beaches with sand dunes and woods. Check out Holkham along the Norfolk coast. The stags at the hall are beautiful and owned by the Earl of Leicester. It’s also where the Royal household cavalry have their play date.
There are dozens of nice sea bathing beaches along the English South and South Western Coast, often with pleasant enough little seaside resort towns, though many of them have declined somewhat since the 1960s when foreign holidays became affordable and popular, especially in Spain. We have quite high tidal ranges here, with currents in places, and some beaches are best for swimming at high tide, with water temperatures getting up to about 18C (65F) in high Summer, so you can get in without screaming and turning red from the cold! The East Coast resorts are a bit cooler. Water quality can be a bit variable, with recent increases in pollution, but it is monitored and information is usually publicly available often on a sign on the beach, updated daily. No sharks here of any note, but watch out for the jellyfish sometimes! Some of the beaches are shingle (rounded pebbles), rather than sand, which some people don't like - but at least you don't get sand in your sandwiches and the water can be clearer and deeper for swimming, tho' as the video notes, you'll need something to sit on. To which I'd add, wear something on your feet to get in an out of the water.
We have Great Whites but they dont come into our waters that often. They are mostly heading for the Mediterranean where the waters are warmer. We have Palm Trees, but they are not a natural to our country they were planred here. In the back gardens around my flat in London, people have Palm Trees. Its a tree that can survive our winters. I have a cactus tree that I am growing on my balcony and it stays outside during the winters. The only place around the UK that gets tropical weather are the Scilly Isle and the Channel Islands. But the Channel Islands also get snow in the winter. Best of both worlds in the Channel Islands. If you want to know about Scottish beaches look up Billy Connolly joke about them. Scotlands beaches are more for people who want to explore and watch the wildlife.
My Aunt lived in Poole and I would go and visit for a few weeks in the summer. We'd go to the beach amongst other places. The best beach I have ever been to is in Wales. Black Rock Sands. The water is crystal clear and warm.
I used to live in Devon and they only have basking sharks, they swim with their mouth open to catch fish in their path but aren't dangerous to humans as far as i know. Devon/Cornish beaches are beautiful plus they get the warm gulf stream hence the palm trees and beautiful water. Blackpool was great fun too but much cooler (in temp!)
YES. We have palm trees in the UK ! Especially on the South coast. Blackpool. Or CESSPOOL as it's also known ! The rest of England and also the rest of the UK has stunning beaches as well.
If you want to combine seaside and museums, then Portsmouth is a good bet! It's a shingle beach so no sand to relax in, but Portsmouth Historic Dockyard would keep you entertained for a couple of days, then you also have the D Day Museum, the Submarine Museum, the City museum, Charles Dickens' birthplace museum, Southsea Castle, The Royal Garrison Church ruins, Portsmouth Cathedral, Portchester Castle, the Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson, the other forts, Lord Palmerston's Follies/sea forts visible from the shore, Hilsea Lines, and so much else. Can't move for sea air and museums here, some on the actual coastline, others in walking distance, and plenty more within a 30min drive. One to add to your list!
Not everywhere, and you can find out if there have been any recent sewage discharges where you are going. A good beach is a good beach, and isn't likely to have a sewage problem.
At 13:24 The narrator says 'Blink and you might just think you're in the tropics' while showing footage that is actually from the tropics. This video is full of misleading sequences. Sure, the Isles of Scilly have palm trees - but they're subtropical species like date palms and Chusan fan-palms - not tropical coconut palms as shown in one of the sequences accompanying the narration about the islands. Coconut palms can't survive temperatures below around 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius) even for short periods. I don't get why so many RU-vid channels attempt to gaslight their viewers in this way - it's so annoying!
I was saying Woolacombe, Portcurno and Bournemouth before I saw this food. Devon is sandwiched between Cornwall to the west, and Dorset and Somerset to the east. The south coast faces the English Channel, a branch of the Atlantic Ocean. Re North Devon, I think the eastern part of that is on the Bristol Channel, another branch of the Atlantic Ocean, but at Morte Point ,where the coast heading towards Cornwall starts to have a south- north orientation as opposed to the previous east-west orientation, leads me to think that Devon faces the Atlantic Ocean from around Woolacombe and to the south and west of there . Perhaps this borne out by the fact that the consecutive beaches of Woolacombe, Croyde Bay, and Saunton Sands are among the most popular surfing beaches in England. Regarding the Isles of Scilly, yes they ARE palm trees. I think this is because the islands have relatively mild winters due to its southern location, but even more, the effects of the fact that the surrounding Atlantic Ocean gives more moderate weather year round compared to the mainland. Frost are rare there, but I remember being it frosty at least twice , and even snowy at least once in the last 5-10 winters. For a combination of rocky coast interspersed with occasional sandy beaches, it's hard to beat the north coasts of Devon and Cornwall. South Cornwall, South Devon and Dorset are a bit more sheltered and generally less rugged, but still plenty of sandy beaches. 👍👍👍
There seems to be a southern bias in the choice of beaches. Blackpool ? Tacky. Runswick Bay near Whitby and North Landing at Flamborough Head are hidden gems that could easily be on this list. (Don't tell anyone about them, it's a secret)
You would love St Michaels mount in Marazion in Cornwall. Walk up a million steps to get to the castle lol. Once you have walked the walkway when the tide is out. I’ve just done a week in Cornwall. Going back in September. My favourite place to be. Always visiting there.
Scilly Isles...sub tropical, we have palm trees in Eastbourne on South Coast near Brighton which has historic Brighton Pavilion (museum)built by George IV in 1787.
I live in Cornwall. Porthcurno is my local beach and l have palm trees in my garden. We’re an island. We have beaches galore. Cornwall and the Scilly Isles are subtropical.
The reason why there are palm trees along the western half of the south coast, and all the way up the Welsh, Irish and Scottish coasts is all due to the gulf stream, it brings warmer waters to the UK which subsequently brings palm trees and other tropical flowers etc, if it wasn't for the gulf stream then no matter how beautiful our beaches can be, nobody would be on them or in the sea because it would be way too cold. I am not at all surprised that Bournemouth beach is number one, it is unrivalled as far as I'm concerned, but being a local, I am biased lol
The Scilly Isles are around 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall, and they do indeed have palm trees. I went their about 30 years ago and it was very hot, unlike the sea, which never seems to warm up. As far as I could tell, you wouldn't want to go in without a wetsuit.
It's very hard to say which beaches are the best. Scarborough has 3 beaches and more kinds of surfing waves than anywhere else. But put St.Ives, Walton-on-the-Naze, Bognor Regis, Harlech, and Edinburgh on the list too.
I didn't know Harlech and Edinburgh were in England? St Ives? Yes I suppose there are a few sandy bits on the river. Unless you're on about the small St Ives in the west?
Cornwall beaches are definitely the best. Both Fistral beach and Porthcurno are great. Porthcurno is definitely the best for sunbathing/swimming and you won't find any sharks :)
Naaaahhhh there's way better beaches up in the Highlands of Scotland. Especially on the west coast of the Highlands where the gulf stream brings warm waters.
The "torbay palm" is also known as cabbage palm and it's from New Zealand, place with a similar climate to the UK. So they are super happy growing here not problem.
My advice is come over and visit the UK there a few beaches that are not shown. And the countryside is very beautiful too. So are certain towns and cities so much to see. In the UK welcome.
I personally wouldn’t include Blackpool and Brighton. They look grim to me. Bournemouth is a good beach for a city but I wouldn’t make it number 1. So many much nicer beaches in UK. Being from Devon, I’m glad we have some featured but north Devon and the Jurassic coast needed a mention. Northumberland, South wales and Dorset also needed a bit more of a mention, and it’s shocking that the stunning beaches of Scotland aren’t included - they look like something out of a dream. Btw the video says “the scilly isles” but it’s “the Isles of Scilly”. Yes they were palm trees. There’s many in the south west of England, especially in Cornwall. The Gulf Stream means they are quite happy here. My parents have one in their garden.
The helter skelter is an old fair ground ride in the UK. The Beatles wrote a song about it and Charles Manson took it to mean something else. Well so I read.
Spent my childhood in the 1960s & 1970s going to Bournemouth Beach - which was around 40 mins from home. Absolutely wonderful. When I got married in the 1990s we took our kids to Bournemouth Beach. We all spent many happy hours at Bournemouth Beach & Boscombe Beach a little further East. What we especially love to do now is to drive down to Boscombe & walk, from the Pier, along the promenade towards Bournemouth Pier. As the sun goes down its blissful. Sadly this summer a couple of kids lost their lives in the water around Bournemouth Pier - which is still being investigated & the water companies have been Dumping raw sewerage into rivers along the South & this has affected all the South's Beaches including Bournemouth & Boscombe. An extremely unpleasant odor alerts visitors to its presence. Overall though my memories, over the last 60 years have been good ones. Thank you for your videos, I always enjoy them...
Just came back from Woolacombe Beach. Spectacular. Felt like being a castaway in the caribbean. we caught shrimp, starfish and crabs and found little private alcoves.
My favourite Beaches are Pendower and Porthcurnick both on the Roseland Peninsula West Cornwall south coast (yes Cornwall has a north coast as well), beautiful quarts sand. There are no verified sightings of Great White Sharks of the coast of the UK. Saying that there are large Seal Colonies and the Gulf Stream hits the coast so in theory there should be as they are found off the coast of northern Spain and northwestern France. There are plenty of others Portbeagle, Blue, Short fin Mako, Common Thresher and the majestic Basking Shark, around 40 different species.
Palm Trees do really well along the south coast (and actually even further north) because of the Gulf Stream. My garden is loaded with palms, they love it. I live near Bournemouth and unsurprisingly that isn’t the best beach but we keep the good ones hidden. 😅
Devon has its south coast on the English channel and its north coast on the Atlantic Ocean, the irish sea is further north, between ireland and wales. Yes, they were palm trees on the Scilly isles, they have a subtropical climate.
Devon borders the English channel to the south and Celtic Sea/ Severn Estuary to the north. Cornwall has the Celtic Sea and Atlantic. The Scilly Isles certainly does have palm trees, but that section of film wasn't of the Isles of Scilly.
I've often thought one of the best jobs going must be the parking attendant at woolacombe....standing there all day in the sun, as a steady stream of cars drives by handing over large sums of cash as they go. 😅 Not only a nice sandy beach, but has loads of rocks for exploring rock pools and scrambling about at one end.
I'm from st Ives in Cornwall can confirm we do not have man eater sharks hear and the palm trees thing is because we have a tropical micro climate in Cornwall hence why so many come hear in summer
I beleive there were five fatal shark attacks attacks in all history, none in the last one hundrerd years, Most other smaller incidents were by people fishing for sharks.
It wasn't the Grand it was the Grand Albion Hotel, I live by Brighton Racecourse, it was windy and the stench of burning plastic was in the air. I think the fire started up again a couple of days later. The flipping traffic is choc a Block and will be for a while I think. Thankfully as far as I know nobody was hurt.
