Beaches

[dulwichgirl2]

Where would you recommend? I am thinking post Olympics in case of traffic next week. Thank you.

[ClareC]

Camber Sands has to be one of the best.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Definitely Camber Sands!

[lucyA1308]

We went to Whitstable on Saturday. It is not the prettiest, but it is very close, and the kids were delighted. It had sea and sand, fish and chips, and lots of happy children.

Other years we have gone slightly further down to Broadstairs, which is very pretty, but about double the distance.

Have fun

[oimissus]

ahh, Camber Sands. Picture the scene. 2 little girls, aged about 5 and 7 (me and my sister), dresses tucked in knickers, paddling and pottering on the sand. Parents sitting higher up the beach, doubtless having a fag (this was the 70s). Tide is coming in. Unbeknownst to us, but perfectly visible to my parents, we are on a little rise in the sand, and the tide is coming in not just in front of us, but behind and all around us. Eventually we realise and have to wade through waist-deep water to get up the beach to get to parents who are p***ing themselves laughing. And then, we have to go and have lunch, sitting on a leatherette banquette in wet dresses and knickers. This was apparently our fault for not, as Ra's al Gul would say, minding our surroundings. 30-odd years later (I may be slightly underestimating this) it still rankles. And I bet my mum would still fall about laughing.

[scareyt]

I think 'benign neglect' was all the rage in 70s parenting but that does sound rather extreme! My mum certainly embraced it, and in fact whenever I feel a bit bad for ignoring my son while sorting out house/ messing about on phone, I console myself that I'm freeing him to discover his own inner resources and strength, just like a 70s kid....

[oimissus]

well, I daresay they wouldn't have actually let us drown . . .

lucy - I didn't know Whitstable had a sandy beach, I thought it was all shingle there? Good to know that there's sand closer than Margate.

[DaveR]

Botany Bay, between Margate and Broadstairs. Lovely sandy beach with chalk cliffs behind. It's not that far - a bit over an hour and a half by car.

For some reason I can't post a proper link, but you can cut and paste this:

http://www.stella-maris.org.uk/7bays.phtml

[dulwichgirl2]

Many thanks for all these ideas, everyone.

Is there anywhere easily reached by train? It occurs to me that might be fun too in a sort of 1950s way....

[Carbonara]

Whitstable has shingle and then gritty sand at low tide.

Try Minnis Bay?

[pommie]

we like dymchurch in kent. Nice beach and a kids area where you buy tokens for the rides

[EDmummy]

If going to Camber I would suggest you check out the local weather report before leaving London. We once drove all the way there to find that the wind was too strong to even sit on the beach (couldn't even get the wind break up), visibility was low and the kids couldn't open their eyes.