The Sunday Times have recently announced the Top 50 beaches in Britain, as voted for by their readers.
Whilst Woolacombe was Number 1 in 2021, this year, we were runners up to Weymouth.
Weymouth, as a town, has lots more facilities and amenities than our little village of Woolacombe ... but to us, that's its' charm!
Here's what reporter, Chris Haslam, had to say about Woolacombe ...
Woolacombe, Devon
The Times and Sunday Times Best UK Beach in 2021 not only remains popular, receiving 300 nominations, but is also a showcase for the benefits of a benign dictatorship. It all begins with the view, first apparent on the descent from the Fortescue Arms or from Mortehoe. You see the sea first: a piece of fallen sky with crests of breaking surf like the contrails of parallel jets. Then the beach, the colour of ripe barley, a stream running through it, backed by the green slopes of Woolacombe Down and stretching two miles into the Putsborough heat haze. “I cannot think of an English beach that is maintained to such a high standard,” Stephen Hayter from Somerset says. Woolacombe is an empire of sand ruled by a diminutive septuagenarian martinet called Sue Black. She makes sure that the privately owned beach is raked every day; that the loos, showers and beach huts are spotless; and that dog owners don’t stray from their authorised zone. She inspects the shops and cafés, nags the lifeguards and might even find you a parking space. When she’s not policing this magnificent beach you’ll find Black standing at the beach entrance with Buckie from Woolacombe Surf (lessons from £20 an hour; surfingwoolacombe.co.uk).
Loos, café, dog-friendly, lifeguards, accessible. Water quality: excellent
