The secrets behind Britain's best beaches

Hidden coastal treasures

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The UK is home to an incredible array of beaches, from family-friendly affairs to secluded expanses of sand. But there's more to a coastal day out than ice cream and sandcastles. From military history to wildlife spotting, there's a whole lot going on behind the scenes.

Holkham, Norfolk

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Holkham beach in Norfolk is one of the UK's most pristine stretches of sand, but once a year it becomes quite the spectacle...

Holkham, Norfolk

MoD

Each summer you can spot the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment galloping across beautiful Holkham beach as they decamp to Norfolk for three weeks of training.

Holkham, Norfolk

Sergeant Steve Blake RLC/MoD

Some of the younger horses have never seen the sea, so they can be a challenge to control.

Holkham, Norfolk

MoD

The training culminates in an open day for the public, after which the Cavalry returns to Hyde Park Barracks in London.

Charmouth, Dorset

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It looks like just another beach, but the clue is in the name: Dorset's Jurassic Coast is peppered with fossils.

Charmouth, Dorset

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The best place to find historical treasures such as ammonites (pictured) is Charmouth, and while you can fossil-hunt alone, a guided walk with the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre or Lyme Regis Museum will show you how to collect them responsibly.

Portmeirion, North Wales

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This flamboyant Welsh village, designed and built between the 1920s and 1970s, is based on on the Italian Riviera resort of Portofino. Fans of 1960s TV show The Prisoner might recognise its fountains, piazzas and neo-classical flourishes as the programme's backdrop.

Portmeirion, North Wales

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It's perched on the coastline overlooking the estuary of the River Dwyryd and, at low tide, a vast sandy beach.

Physgill, Dumfries and Galloway

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This quiet Scottish beach, just south of Whithorn Abbey, might seem an unlikely destination for a religious pilgrimage, but the secluded St Ninian's Cave has attracted the devout for centuries.

Physgill, Dumfries and Galloway

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According to local legend, St Ninian used the cave as a place of solitude, and today pilgrims still follow in his footsteps. Keep an eye out for religious symbols carved into the rock.

Orford Ness, Suffolk

National Trust

With only a limited number of visitors allowed each day, this spit of land off the Suffolk coast not only has a blissfully quiet shingle beach, but it's dotted with remnants from its time as as a military testing zone, throughout most of the 20th century.

Orford Ness, Suffolk

National Trust

You can see control rooms, towers and laboratories where weapons were developed, and certain areas still remain off-limits in case of unexploded bombs.

Orford Ness, Suffolk

National Trust

Perhaps surprisingly, it's also a National Trust National Nature Reserve, and is particularly popular with bird-watchers.

Aldeburgh, Suffolk

Landmark Trust

Just down the coast from Orford, the seaside town of Aldeburgh is home to another slice of military history, albeit an earlier one. The Martello Tower is the largest and most northerly of a chain of towers built to keep Napoleon at bay in the early 19th century.

Aldeburgh, Suffolk

Landmark Trust

Today, it's managed by the Landmark Trust as a four-bed holiday home, right on the beach.

Beadnell Bay, Northumberland

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The UK may not be top of the list of diving destinations, but just off the coast of Beadnell beach you'll find a colony of seals that will happily share the water with you.

Beadnell Bay, Northumberland

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You can spot them soaking up the sun from your boat on a trip around the Farne Islands, which are also home to large numbers of puffins.

Porthcurno, Cornwall

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Just above the photogenic curve of Porthcurno (one of the many locations where BBC One's Poldark was filmed) is a real coastal curiosity – an open-air theatre carved into the cliffs, which wouldn't look out of place in ancient Greece.

Porthcurno, Cornwall

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Minack Theatre hosts a programme of professional and amateur performances each summer, though it's open to visitors year round.

Shanklin, Isle of Wight

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One of the Isle of Wight's best-known stretches of sand, Shanklin is a bucket-and-spade beach with a difference.

Shanklin, Isle of Wight

Visit Isle of Wight

Just off the Esplanade, with its arcades and cafés, you can reach Shanklin Chine, a natural gorge with paths and walkways leading you between trees and waterfalls and over streams.

Shanklin, Isle of Wight

Visit Isle of Wight

On summer nights the gorge is illuminated for the annual Chine Lumière light show.

Barra, Outer Hebrides

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There's no chance you'll miss the beach if you fly into this remote Scottish island – planes land right on it.

Barra, Outer Hebrides

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Barra airport is the only one in the world with a beach runway for scheduled flights.

Barra, Outer Hebrides

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There are just two flights a day, though, so you'll still have plenty of time to enjoy the blissful silence.

Mudeford, Dorset

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Many of Britain's beaches are lined with beach huts that serve as a place to get changed, make a snack or shelter from the sun. And while usually you're not allowed to stay in them overnight, Mudeford is a rare exception.

Mudeford, Dorset

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Many of the huts here can be rented out; some have solar power, and there are communal shower blocks and toilets, so you can go to sleep with the sound of waves crashing just metres away.

Crosby, Merseyside

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You'll have some interesting company at Crosby – 100 cast-iron figures staring out to sea, spread along an almost two-mile stretch.

Crosby, Merseyside

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They are life-size replicas of Antony Gormley's own body; his art installation, Another Place, has been here since 2005.

Kingsgate Bay, Kent

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This stretch of Kent coastline is home to a series of beautiful little bays; among them Kingsgate, with its sandy beach and soaring white cliffs.

Kingsgate Bay, Kent

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It's also home to some of the country's best sea caves, some of which are said to have been used by smugglers in centuries past, most notoriously Joss Snelling and his gang, who plied the waters around here in the late 18th century.