Darren

There is a move away from storm pipes flowing into the sea, but it is a billion pound project. We no longer have sewerage flowing directly in to the sea. The reason that the blue flags where lost was because of the storms, not that the water is generally polluted.
Do not know about you but I do not tend to go swimming the day of a storm. Due to tides etc if the beaches where judged 2 days later they would of probably got there flags. No beach lost there flag due to litter from what I can find out.

Remember blue flag judge the beach on one day a year, and if it rains it is common for the beach to lose it status. Here in Norfolk the beaches are clean and generally well cared for, there is some litter but each year companies and councils get together to clean the beaches.

For those using the beaches, please use the bins….. This goes for anywhere not just beaches, it may only be the end of a chocolate bar wrapper, but if the 1000’s that used the beach, park etc. did the same we would all live in litter.

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That’s intriguing that the Blue Flag criteria includes ‘facilities’. The best beaches in my book have no facilities whatsoever and are naturally beautiful and wild.

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Hi Darren,

I agree with Nick above. We spend quite a bit of time photographing beaches or curating material from local UK experts and most of the time I’m genuinely staggered at the beauty and quality of much of our coastline. Try the ‘Beaches’ section here, for example, and I hope the picis convey at least some of the beauty I’m going on about.

From the beaches I’ve visited personally, I’d suggest that whoever runs them (no idea if government, NT etc) is doing a cracking job.

James

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I was just on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk last week – which was yesterday featured as No.1 in The Independent’s 50 Best Beaches

While I was there, on a blustery Saturday morning, me and the dog (sorry The Dog and I) came across an Environment Agency team – one bloke in chest-high waders taking water samples from the shallows, the other bloke on the beach fiddling with a clipboard. They said they were there for Blue Flag reasons, but refused to say whether that meant Hunstanton was in line or not.

I’d be surprised if it is, because it has absolutely no facilities whatsoever – or, at least, the bit I was on doesn”t – but as Caitlin points out, that’s exactly the attraction. I go to the beach to walk my dog – I want rocks with pools, scudding clouds, biting winds, cold foam and a total absence of deckchairs, sandcastles, windbreaks, icecream vans, donkey rides and all the other things that usually accompanies the beach experience.

In addition, most in-town or leisure beaches, with facilities to merit a Blue Flag, ban dogs. So my only option is to go specifically to a Non-Blue Flag (Red Flag?) beach. As long as there’s no sewage, they’re much nicer anyway. Blue Flag is a good system if you want to lie around on the sand. However, that strikes me as the worst way to enjoy a beach.

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Biting winds, LOL. My perfect beach is a white sand beach with clean water and waves on the edge of a national park on a clear blue sunny day with very few other people and no dogs. I have to go to home to Australia for that though.

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Less of a rant and more of a nod to Lyme Regis where I spent last weekend with my toddler – although it’s not exactly the Caribbean, there is sand (not common along the Jurassic coastline) and it’s clean!

I don’t think you can penalise a beach because it’s had storm damage but the local council should jump on the problem and get it sorted as soon as possible.

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Hi Darren,

Personally, I’m not that bothered if a beach has been given Blue Flag status or won an award. We have very young kids and I’ve always been happy for them to swim in the sea around England/Wales/Scotland. If it looks nice, we go.

On the 71 stat, it’s worth remembering that the UK has, from memory, 25 World Heritage Sites but there are thousands of heritage sites worth visiting IMO and hundreds of those are culturally very important. Also, I never quite understand why the Pembrokeshire coastline is National Park status but not the south and south west coast of Cornwall for example. Same applies to AONBs and NSAs in the UK. Stats help to filter choice for sure but sometimes it can all feel a bit arbitrary.

James

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