Where was the default beach for where you grew up?

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random_username_96@reddit

Grew up just outside York and for beach days we would go to Bridlington, occasionally Scarborough. About an hours drive to each.

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Atarisrocks@reddit

From Peterborough so we would go to Hunstanton and on occasion Wells for day trips and Skegness for weekend as we would go to Butlins.

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Adventurous-Let-7907@reddit

Barmouth and Harlech, and I'm from near Birmingham.

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bluejackmovedagain@reddit

As an adult I struggle to understand why my parents always took us to Breen instead of Barmouth, when they're a similar distance from Birmingham and Barmouth is much nicer.

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KrozJr_UK@reddit

Depending on how old you are, and if you drove, perhaps it’s because Brean would be straight down the M5 whereas Barmouth would involve wiggly Welsh single-carriageways all the way from Shrewsbury?

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bluejackmovedagain@reddit

Good point, I'm not sure my parents' marriage would have survived that trip with one of them driving while the other gave directions using the A to Z, the M5 was bad enough.

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buzzfrightyears@reddit

Highcliffe. Within walking distance from family home and got married in the rebuilt castle on the clifftop. Magical

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hocfutuis@reddit

I spent a big chunk of my life in Scarborough, so the beaches there.

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nishikah@reddit

South Shields - 10 minute walk away! Then moved and it was a 15 minute metro stop away

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Salt-Trade-5210@reddit

Me too! Live on the Woodbine estate and was always on the beach 😁

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kouyanet@reddit

Ryhope Beach was a thirty minute walk from home and Roker about an hour. As teenagers we walked everywhere with our dogs.

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Specialist-Web7854@reddit

Any beach between Sheringham and Lowestoft, all roughly the same distance away.

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Motor-Platform295@reddit

West London outer suburbs so Bognor was our nearest

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Queasy-Ad-18706@reddit

Filey, Scarborough, Bridlington in order of niceness and playability.

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beneyh@reddit

Seagrove bay, Isle of Wight. Family from there, had a holiday home there etc

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Inevitable-Debt4312@reddit

Bridlington. We went from Otley, north of Leeds, to the east coast, or up to the Lakes.

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smushs88@reddit

About a 20 minute walk away.

Close enough to be local but far enough to not have to worry about the sand when it was proper blowy.

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Cleethorpes Beach. It was about a 40 min drive away. If we were fancy then Skegness or Mablethorpe which were farther. I thought Skegness was best because there was a kids softplay there called Panda's Palace.

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c-e-r-y-s@reddit

I was about to say Cleethorpes, unfortunately 😂.

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kylehyde84@reddit

Also about 40 mins away from Cleggy, went to Skeg on special occasions. Weirdly never Mablethorpe

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elhazelenby@reddit

Leysdown on the sea, grew up in Gillingham (Kent).

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prustage@reddit

Lived 7 miles east of Manchester and our default beach was in Llandudno, North Wales. Blackpool, Southport and Morecombe are all nearer but Llandudno was so much nicer it was worth the effort.

And it was an effort. Today the journey takes 1 hour 39 mins. Then it could take 4-5 hours with hold ups at Chester and St Asaph that lasted well over an hour each.

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pixelunicorns@reddit

Whilst I didn't grow up in Kent that's where most of my family lived so beach days where saved for when we were visiting them. We would go to Margate or Folkstone, either way the drive was around 30 mins from my grandparents houses.

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Vaxtez@reddit

South Gloucestershire - Weston Super Mare or Minehead

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Llywela@reddit

I grew up in Cardiff. Barry Island was the default beach for us. Or Penarth if we wanted somewhere closer and didn't mind pebbles instead of sand.

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i_see_frogs@reddit

From Surrey, and it was always West Wittering

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TylerDarkness@reddit

I grew up in Littlehampton in West Sussex so that was the beach.

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5minute_daft@reddit

Sandbanks in Bournemouth. It was about a 30 min drive for us but took as long to find parking as it did to get there (always parked miles away so we didn't have to pay extortionate prices).

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Kirstemis@reddit

Blackpool or Scarborough. My gran liked Scarborough because she thought it was posh. The rest of us liked Blackpool.

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Original_Bad_3416@reddit

Camber Sands

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Pyschospherex@reddit

Im in Manchester so it was Blackpool beach, Southport beach and Morecambe beach.

Used to spend summer with an uncle and aunt in Plymouth though so would visit Bovisand beach quite a bit.

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bumblestum1960@reddit

Outer edge of SW London, Brighton or Littlehampton.

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Kim_catiko@reddit

South West London too, as a child, and Brighton or Hastings were always the go to beach destination for my parents. It was like heaven the first time I stepped on a sandy beach.

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Plaisteach@reddit

SW London too but it was Brighton and Bognor for us.

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DrPuftington@reddit

same for us, but I always preferred Bognor over Brighton for some reason. Seemed to be more amusement arcades which is important when you're seven!

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Particular_Tune7990@reddit

I grew up in Bedford, which is a contender for about as far from the sea as you can get. Options were Skegness, Great Yarmouth - those were the most default options. More sophisticated - maybe Hunstanton (ha ha - sophisticated he says).

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KingPing43@reddit

Leeds is the same, not really near any beach

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bennettbuzz@reddit

Being from Notts I can relate, pretty much as far away from any decent coastline as you can get. The Lincolnshire coastline is shite and takes as long to get there from my house than just driving up to Whitby.

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Time-Mode-9@reddit

Oxford boy here: we had friends in Bexhill, so would go there. We had some family holidays in Isle of White and West Wales

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Rabbit-1989@reddit

Port Beach. North Gong was closer but mum liked port better because the waves were usually smaller.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed when I first laid eyes on a pebbly, brown and grey British "beach".

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MagMadPad@reddit

Boring Goring

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Braveasalion@reddit

Rhyl when I lived with my dad (pretty much every weekend at the fair and chips parked up on the front) then either Wirral Country Park or Llandudno West Shore after I moved to my mum's. The Wirral was most often and the grandkids and now great grandkids get days out on the Wirral. Continuing the tradition.

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jilljd38@reddit

Rhyl or blackpool we had family caravans in rhyl and cala gran so neither very from Manchester

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godtierjerker@reddit

Warrington to Wirral (Moreton or New Brighton) or north Wales.

Then Manchester to Lytham St Annes.

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cold_tap_hot_brew@reddit

I’ve never lived in a house that can’t see the sea. Closest I’ve ever lived was a roads width away from high tide. Had shutters on the windows for days where the swall got so big it chucked stones (and even a few seals) at our house.

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Danglyweed@reddit

Our backgarden was the seawall, so out the back of a wee street in the East Neuk of Fife. Otherwise it was west sands in St Andrews or Tentsmuir just before Tayport.

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BillyJoeDubuluw@reddit

Blackpool and Bamburgh were the most regular seaside day trips.

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L00ny-T00n@reddit

Druridge Bay, going back next month as well

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Historical_Project86@reddit

I'm from Newport, so for day trips it had to be Barry Island (not an island), or sometimes Ogmore. The problem with these is the tide, though Ogmore is great for rock pools. You have to go to Swansea before you get to somewhere you could call a fully-functioning seaside.

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EntirelyRandom1590@reddit

Just skipped past Porthcawl??

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Historical_Project86@reddit

We went there as well, come to think of it. I think we were Ogmore people most of the time.

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LavenderAndHoneybees@reddit

Grew up on the Wirral, so West Kirby beach

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kernowgringo@reddit

I grew up in Bude, I prefered Summerleaze Beach over Crooklets

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Bigbadgergnocchi@reddit

Grew up in Southend. Chalkwell was our preferred end of the beach, but we actually spent more time on the beach on Towan Beach near St Mawes in Cornwall.

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EntirelyRandom1590@reddit

Aberavon.

Big, flat beach. Easy parking. Accessible to everyone.

Right next to a massive council estate, rundown hotels and steelworks. It was awesome.

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trin6948@reddit

I traveled out of my house, over a single track road and on to the beach. I was very lucky. Now it's a day's journey and it sucks.

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InkedDoll1@reddit

Blackpool, Southport or Morecambe were all about half an hour's drive away - i remember going to them all as a kid. My grandparents used to go on a week's holiday to Blackpool!

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discoveredunknown@reddit

Woolacombe.

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Rude_Chemist_3090@reddit

The best beach ever. WESTON SUPER MARE

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Immediate-Platform59@reddit

Camber Sands, from SW London

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Spare-Egg24@reddit

Same here. Great memories

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OrganizationFun2140@reddit

Lived in Berkshire and spent a lot of time on Frinton beach as a very small child (one set of grandparents lived there). We also had a caravan on a seasonal pitch in the New Forest during the summer but rarely went to nearby beaches. I still prefer forests to beaches, despite being able to see the sea from home these days, and would far rather swim in a pool than the sea as I loathe digging sand out of every crevice for days afterwards. That said, I will take my dogs for a run on the beach out of season.

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Warfieldarcher@reddit

Grew up in Cardiff and Barry Island was the place to go. That was back in the day the train scrapyard was still there

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Asleep-Software-4160@reddit

Clacton or Southend, or Great Yarmouth for a bigger holiday.

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Mr_Bumcrest@reddit

West Wittering

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Jacks_Journey@reddit

From Sheffield and we always went to Bridlington

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bopeepsheep@reddit

Weymouth or Bournemouth - heading south from Oxfotdshire.

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Romeo_Jordan@reddit

Lived in West Norfolk so Old Hunstanton, Wells or Sheringham for us

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mrskristmas@reddit

We went to Weymouth a few times, which is about a 2 hours drive. Also used to visit family in New Brighton every summer which is a 4 hour drive. Have lots of great memories of the arcades there and walking along the beach in the evening.

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Bore_Da_Pawb@reddit

Beer, in Devon. Pebbly but no sand in your sarnies 👍

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EUskeptik@reddit

Ainsdale, near Southport.

-oo-

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ddraig1980@reddit

Barry island "gavin and Stacey" beach. Easily accessible by train from all south wales valleys.

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flobobunny@reddit

Same, porthcawl as well

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Artistic_Train9725@reddit

Many a time I've left there looking like raw bacon, I don't think parents knew what sunscreen was in the 70s. Cheers Mam.

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PurplePlodder1945@reddit

Same!! Now as adults my husband and I take the dogs. Walk round to Jackson bay in the summer so they can go on the beach

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dobber72@reddit

Saltburn-by-the-sea, 11 miles away.

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tricks_23@reddit

From a proper beach, 15 min walk; from a tidal sands area with gulleys and washed up boats, 2 minute walk. I'm lucky to have some fantastic scenery around too with a further 2 beaches nearby (10 min Drive), with views of the Isle of Man and the mountains in the Lake District, and then my parents live across the road from the beach, literally 10 metres.

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firthy@reddit

Brighton, I guess, but it’s a bit shit, so West Wittering was much better for sandcastles.

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mhoulden@reddit

Blackpool was the closest but it was an hour and a half each way by train, so we'd find a river with a pool instead.

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Aromatic_Pea_4249@reddit

Clacton or Walton-on-the-Naze. Sometimes Frinton.

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Spiklething@reddit

Mine was a just over a minutes walk from my home.

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indigo263@reddit

Didn't have to travel very far, lived just five minutes walk away from the beach in my hometown (still live there so shan't name it lol) but fortunate enough to live within driving distance of many beautiful beaches so every now and then we'd go further afield for a 'day out' - usually to Spittal (north of England) or Bamburgh.

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Tattycakes@reddit

A trip on the train to clacton! Followed by humming the song when walking down portobello road

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mattcannon2@reddit

Cleethorpes, it was easy to get the train there

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ceb1995@reddit

It was a 10 minute walk for the village I grew up in in North Wales, not rhyl 😂

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HarlequinKing1406@reddit

In the East of England, it was Frinton.

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signol_@reddit

From a village in Norfolk, technically Yarmouth was probably closest but Lowestoft was easier to get to

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ThreeFiddy2203@reddit

Maroubra

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Al89nut@reddit

100 yards

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JLaws23@reddit

I grew up in Hertfordshire. So Spain.

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L-0-T-H-0-S@reddit

183 miles - Chelmsley Wood to Trearddur bay, Anglesey. My dad was a keen amateur diver, he picked up a caravan cheap from one of his diving mates and that became where we went every year from about the age of 9 upwards through until my late teens/early 20's.

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BlackJackKetchum@reddit

A 40 min drive for my folks to Maldon - Essex coast - but being estuarine, it was more mud than sand. Nice tho’.

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Scottie99@reddit

Westgate, Kent.

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bluejackmovedagain@reddit

Breen Sands (by Weston-super-Mare). The other option was Barmouth. Both are about two and a half hours away.

We never just went to the beach for a day trip, we'd only go if we were away on holiday.

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PhysTech9@reddit

If we were doing a day on the beach with a picnic lunch and maybe an ice cream in the afternoon, usually Gorleston, just south of Gt Yarmouth. If we were flush enough for amusements / arcades, we'd go to Yarmouth

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v_clandestine@reddit

Was lucky enough to grow up in a seaside town (one of the houses we lived in was actually beachfront) I won’t name it on here as it’s a tiny town lol but in East Anglia!

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ZippyLondon@reddit

Dover. Shithole then, shithole now.

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Harlzter@reddit

Derbyshire so most common beach for us is Skeggy

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mrs_peep@reddit

Notts too

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Wide-Challenge-4874@reddit

Skeggy was our holiday beach too

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Jazzlike-Basil1355@reddit

Eastbourne

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Throwaway91847817@reddit

Redcar and Saltburn. 35-50 minutes on the train maybe?

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Aggravating_Cloud657@reddit

The one I lived near.

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Keepingongoing@reddit

Barmouth N Wales from Berkshire. Any holiday not spent on that beach seemed a day wasted to us as kids

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Overdress_n_stress@reddit

We were a 10 minute walk away from the beach, once I moved out, I was about 200 meter walk away. I can’t imagine not living on the coast!

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Key_Plum_99a@reddit

I grew up in Birmingham, all the seaside was 3.5 hours drive away, either in Aberdovey, Cardigan or Somerset!

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flobobunny@reddit

Porthcawl or Barry

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Swordfish1929@reddit

Roughly 200m away from our door

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MelodicAd2213@reddit

For first 6 years was spoilt rotten, Weymouth. Lived on Portland

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SilentScream4685@reddit

Cape McLear in Malawi after an all day drive.

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Crookfur@reddit

Troon, so maybe 25-30 minutes in the car (faster these days due to the M77).

Unless we were staying with my Auntie and Uncle in which case it was Culzean.

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