32 OCEANS APART
species, including the sand lizard, the great
crested newt and the red squirrel. Formby and
Southport are well known destinations, but it’s RICHARDSON»
‘Croyde is one of the best year-round surfing Crosby we recommend you drive to.
PETERbeaches in the south west,’ explains Bell. ‘It’s also a Spaced across the sand on Crosby Beach,
fantastic place to go rock-pooling for starfish, green staring out towards the horizon, are 100 cast-iron,
IMAGES,shore crabs and shrimp. If you like a good walk, life-size fi gures – the silent stars of sculptor Antony
you can even hike up to the headland at Baggy Gormley’s Another Place. The artwork is an arresting GETTY
,Point. And if you don’t spot any sea-life, a Devon sight, particularly as it was supposed to travel to
VIEWcream tea should put a smile back on your face.’ New York in 2006. Instead, the Crosby community
ON
About 30 miles to the north, across the Bristol pleaded to keep the statues on their beach and the AIN
Channel, is the Gower Peninsula in south Wales, fi gures are now installed in permanent contemplation BRIT,
the fi rst place in Britain to be designated an of the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.
ALAMYarea of outstanding natural beauty way back in
1956. There are lots of fantastic beaches in Outstanding natural beauty
Gower, all easily reached via the A4118, but Bell After an outlook like that, the opposite side of the
recommends Rhossili. country has a lot to live up to. Thankfully for beach
‘Rhossili Sands is more than three miles long lovers, Britain’s eastern seaboard comes up with the
with excellent bathing and spectacular views of goods. The little-known Lunan Bay, just off the A92,
the Worms Head – a giant rocky headland that is a beautiful, award-winning beach that contradicts
dominates the southern end of the bay,’ says Bell. the assumption that Scotland’s loveliest scenery lies
‘You can spot basking sharks, grey seals and the mostly on the west coast. The beach boasts soaring
occasional bottlenose dolphin. But keep your eye sand dunes, good surfing waves and plenty of
on the incoming tide.’ wildlife – including nesting puffins. If you’re feeling
Another west-coast area that’s big on wildlife is adventurous, you can clamber up the grassy bluff
the Sefton Coast, surprisingly close to the city of to the ruins of the 12th-century Red Castle. Or try
Liverpool. Sefton Coast boasts 21 miles of stunning your luck at agate-hunting: these and other
sandy beaches, all easily reached by the A565, and semi-precious gemstones can be found in the sand
its sand dunes are particularly impressive. Get your after the waves retreat.
camera ready, as Sefton has the largest dune Moving south to the north east of England, it’s
system in England with some rare and endangered hard to beat the views from the A1 – especially
To plan the best route to the coast
visit
rac.co.uk/routeplanner
The traditional It’s not just us
fishing village humans that
of Clovelly enjoy the British
coastline
Pendine sands,
Carmarthen Bay,
Wales
RAC WORLD
30-33 Coasting V3 RAC8.indd 32 25/2/09 13:01:32
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52