Semi-OT?: English Beach and Golf Towns

[Carl Nichols]

I've traveled to London a bunch for business, but have never visited an English beach town.  I was thinking it would be a fun experience  to take my family (three kids) over for a week or so -- but I'd also want to play a couple of rounds of golf while there.  Any recommendations for a quintessential English beach town that's also close to good golf?  Thx!

[Bob_Huntley]

The most depressing places in the world are English beach towns when it rains.... which it does with regularity.

Bob

[Carl Nichols]

Bob:
Isn't that part of the experience? Visiting and seeing what folks do when it rains?

[David_Tepper]

Carl -

You might want to visit Padstow, on the north coast of Cornwall. I would call it more of a harbor town than a beach town, as England does not have many of the wide sandy beaches you would find in Southern California or on Cape Cod. Two very good golf courses (St. Endoc and Trevose) are nearby.

A lot of the coastal towns in southwest England are built around harbors and coves, where fishing boats could tie up safely at night. There are beaches along the northern coast of Cornwall. There is even a surfing scene there. Perranporth and West Cornwall are two other links course worth playing in that region.

DT 

[Tom_Doak]

Noel Freeman had another one but I can't remember the name ... it was just a bit around the corner from Saunton.

As David suggests, the area around St. Enodoc would be my first choice, but it has attracted a LOT of new money over the past 10-15 years, so it's a bit different than it used to be.

[Kevin Pallier]

The NE of London (Norfolk) area was pretty good re: Hunstanton and Royal West Norfolk as an alternative to say Kent or Devon

[Dean Stokes]

Blackpool (west coast)is the obvious one to me.....Whitby/Scarborough (east coast)......Bournmouth (south coast). With Blackpool you have great golf, theme parks and you are not far from The Lake District which is really one of the nicest parts of England.

[Bill_McBride]

I don't know about the beaches of Kent, but loved the links courses!

[Matt Day]

I hear that Bognor Regis is the place to see

[Scott Warren]

Bournemouth has long sandy beaches and some very good golf nearby, though not links.

Padstow in Cornwall is fine and all, but St Ives is the place to go. Great beach, traditional "English village" atmosphere, a solid links course (West Cornwall, with Perranporth not too far up the road). I very, very nearly didn't leave.

As much as I love going down there to play golf, and the golf is great, I couldn't advise you to go for a beach holiday in Kent with a clear conscience!

[Mark Chaplin]

One of Britain's finest sandy beaches is Camber Sands which is an extension of Rye which as we know has a pretty special course.

For Kent seaside holidays look no further than Whitstable - sand, good seafood restaurants, a flat off road cycle to Canterbury, day trips to London and Royal Cinque Ports 30 mins away!!

I agree with Kevin about North Norfolk, Cromer is a nice seaside town with a decent beach, some attractions and the world class Holkham beach nearby by. Sherringham, Hunstanton & Brancaster (no access in August) are all very fine courses.

West Cornwall is lovely but unless you fly the Continental Bristol-Newark route a 5-6 hour drive from Heathrow is a time wasting slog.

Bill McBride - you didn't have a little pre-breakfast Buda skinny dip then??

[Jamie Barber]

I was born in Whitstable - I think "sand" is stretching it a bit Chappers! Mud and pebbles I'd give you but sand?

[Mark Chaplin]

Maybe I was wearing rose tinted glasses, some nice pictures here though.

http://www.seewhitstable.com/Whitstable_picture_gallery.html

[James Boon]

Carl,

A lot of English seaside towns developed off the back of the Industrial Revolution, especially in the Midlands and North, where anyone wanting a holiday from the mills and factories would go for a couple of weeks. This though does mean that even a hundred odd years later, most of these towns have a bit of a cheap feel and its all arcade machines, caravan sites, candyfloss and fish and chips. Its certainly an experience though, and while Blackpool does nothing for me at all, there are certainly some decent courses on the West Lancs coast...

I'm going to back up what a few others have said. If you ignore the "towns" element, then the north Norfolk coast is a good bet. Royal West Norfolk (Brancaster) and Hunstanton are great links courses, and while Hunstanton may have a touch of the feel of what I've described above, many of the smaller towns / larger villages along the coast are delightful, Burnham Market and Wells-next-the-Sea for instance, and the beaches at Brancaster and Holkham are excellent.

Cheers,

James

[Adam Lawrence]

Carl,

A lot of English seaside towns developed off the back of the Industrial Revolution, especially in the Midlands and North, where anyone wanting a holiday from the mills and factories would go for a couple of weeks. This though does mean that even a hundred odd years later, most of these towns have a bit of a cheap feel and its all arcade machines, caravan sites, candyfloss and fish and chips. Its certainly an experience though, and while Blackpool does nothing for me at all, there are certainly some decent courses on the West Lancs coast...

I'm going to back up what a few others have said. If you ignore the "towns" element, then the north Norfolk coast is a good bet. Royal West Norfolk (Brancaster) and Hunstanton are great links courses, and while Hunstanton may have a touch of the feel of what I've described above, many of the smaller towns / larger villages along the coast are delightful, Burnham Market and Wells-next-the-Sea for instance, and the beaches at Brancaster and Holkham are excellent.

Cheers,

James

Echo what James says. If I had to spend a week by the English seaside, I'd go to Southwold. Golf not as good as elsewhere, but the town is lovely, one of the few really nice places on the coast IMO. Rye town is very, very nice, but it's a few miles from the sea now - hard to see it as one of the medieval Cinque Ports.

[Scott Warren]

West Cornwall is lovely but unless you fly the Continental Bristol-Newark route a 5-6 hour drive from Heathrow is a time wasting slog.

Air Southwest flies London City > Newquay or Gatwick > Newquay in a touch over an hour for as little as £29.

[Adam Lawrence]

West Cornwall is lovely but unless you fly the Continental Bristol-Newark route a 5-6 hour drive from Heathrow is a time wasting slog.

Air Southwest flies London City > Newquay or Gatwick > Newquay in a touch over an hour for as little as £29.

The only problem with Cornwall in summer is that it's mostly full of the kind of people I'd drive five hours to avoid - booze-addled teenage surf bum types in Newquay, braying Hoorays in Rock, and families with kids called Tarquin and Camilla in much of the rest. Springtime is much nicer, and lots of the wonderful gardens are at their best then too. I strongly recommend Trebah (www.trebah.com), a beautiful valley garden on the Helford river, with a memorial at the bottom to the commandos who practised for D-Day on the beach there. Very good oysters from the Helford too, for those who like that sort of thing (I do; sadly they don't like me).

Adam

[Carl Nichols]

Thanks for all of the comments/recommendations.  Sounds like many places are somewhat like Portrush was this past summer -- nice town, but a cheap feel with "arcade machines, caravan sites, candyfloss and fish and chips."  Maybe the thing to do if find a quaint village and forget about the golf.  Or maybe just forget the entire idea.   

[Tony_Muldoon]

Thanks for all of the comments/recommendations.  Sounds like many places are somewhat like Portrush was this past summer -- nice town, but a cheap feel with "arcade machines, caravan sites, candyfloss and fish and chips."  Maybe the thing to do if find a quaint village and forget about the golf.  Or maybe just forget the entire idea.   

Carl in truth that is the position of many GB&I seaside towns.  As a child in the 60's and 70's I spent a month every summer at Portstewart but it like all the others it was already in decline. The reasons are clear
- railway lines that had made the resorts were cutback severely by the early 60's
- cheap foreign holidays where the weather was better, hotels newer and prices cheaper
- a taste for something new.

Still I love the place and it had everything this Kid could want.  I don't remember rain, cold or poor food, just happy times.


As Adam Lawrence has said above there are some places that have bucked the trend but they’ve mostly  got too chi chi and mostly lost it.


Still I would  hapily revist  (some from list above)

Whitstable
St Ives
Padstow
Poole
Exmouth/Exeter
Wells next the sea

Just hard to think of seaside towns where the Golf is as important as

St Andrews
North Berwick
Dornoch
Lahinch
Biarritz (well it’s been a few months. )

[Bob_Huntley]

I hear that Bognor Regis is the place to see

Matt,

King George V was a catankerous SOB and when Queen Alexandra suggested a vacation to Bognor Regis, he snapped back with his customary vigor, saying, "Bugger Bognor."


Bob

[Sean_A]

St Ives and Padstow immediately come to mind for a combo of good golf, good beaches, good walking country and good restaurants all in a homely, attractive environment.  That said, both are swamped in summer most especially on bank holiday weekends and weekends in general. 

As someone mentioned, the Norfolk coast has a charm all its own.  The area doen't centre around one town, but a string of villages/towns starting at Hunstanton and arching east around Norwich for miles.  I can recall staying at an old staid hotel in Old Hunstanton which was a dune walk to the beach.  Hunstanton itself is quite Victorian, but VERY TIDY.  It seems the town doesn't put up with riff raff.  There are several very attractive villages with lots of good restaurants along this coast.  Time seems to have stood still along this coast and I like the area a load.  However, it doesn't have the visual razzle dazzle that kids seem to love so unless the kids are very young or it is short beach break I am not convinced this area can touch Cornwall.  That said, the crowds are much less than Cornwall, but that in a way is indicative of its fewer attractions. I would certainly go back to this area as there is nothing like it in England.

Southwold which is essentially at the bottom of the arch, but just in Suffolk, is also very attractive.  I am told Aldburgh is a very course, but I haven't played it. 

Rye is a lovely town if a bit twee.  The town itself is marooned and I don't know of a good hotel which gives easy access (depite Chappers pleas) to the average beach.  Rye (don't forget the wonderful Winchelsea) is more of an adult place imo. 

Ciao

[Brent Hutto]

It's not English but what about Llandudno in Wales. Isn't Conwy near there?

[Carl Nichols]

Sean:
The Norfolk coast, and Hunstanton in particular, are really what I was thinking of.  What is the golf like?

[Scott Warren]

The golf is very, very good, Carl.

Royal West Norfolk (Brancaster): http://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/england/royal-west-norfolk
Hunstanton: http://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/england/brancaster1

When I posted as a newcomer to both England and GCA.com and asked where I should pop my Links Golf Cherry, Tom Doak's suggestion was Hunstanton and Brancaster, with the downland offerings of Sheringham and Cromer nearby and Woodhall Spa an hour or so away inland towards Lincoln.

[Mark Chaplin]

Sean - time to take the blinkers off:-

Camber has 7 miles of Blue Flag award winning beach. It has the only sand dune system in East Sussex and is a valuable habitat for many different animals and plants.

Carry On Follow That Camel was shot on location here during the early months of 1967 when Camber Sands doubled for the Sahara Desert although filming had to be stopped several times because the dunes were covered in snow!

The Place at the Beach in Camber won best UK rural hotel in Sunday Times Travel Magazine awards in 2009.

Saltcote Palce B&B is Rye is rated number 3 in Europe on Tripadvisor.

Rye golf course isn't bad either!