Two stunning Kent beaches ‘among best in UK’

Two picturesque Kent beaches have been named some of the country’s best.

Sandgate near Folkestone and Westbrook near Margate have been praised for excellent water quality in a comprehensive list of the UK’s top 50 shores.

The quieter coastal destinations fended off the likes of busier spots like Whitstable, Margate Main Sands, Viking Bay and Leysdown – which were not included in the list.

Chris Haslam, chief travel writer at The Times and Sunday Times, visited and inspected 543 beaches across the country over the past eight weeks to compile the work.

On Westbrook, he said: “‘The skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe,’ the artist JW Turner once remarked.

“Shame the same cannot be said for the bathing water quality: of the 13 designated bathing waters in the local authority district, only six are rated excellent and four have deteriorated since 2022.

“Westbrook, though, in Margate, is one of the good ones: vast at low tide, cove-like at high water and backed by a shanty of beach huts.

“The 18-hole adventure golf course above the eastern end — where four-time world crazy golf champion Marc Chapman plays — is seriously challenging and the sunsets are, well, Turneresque.”

Locations were evaluated through a rigorous 11-point inspection checklist, with criteria including water quality, cleanliness, accessibility, car parking facilities, lifeguard presence, hygiene levels at restrooms and showers, and dog-friendliness.

The 2024 guide only features those rated as ‘excellent’ for water quality by the national environment agencies and only covers mainland beaches.

Kent has long-been blighted by sewage releases along its coastline.

Southern Water was fined a record £90m in 2021 for deliberately dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea.

The company admitted 6,971 illegal spills from 17 sites in Kent, Hampshire, and West Sussex between 2010 and 2015.

On Sandgate, Chris Haslam said: “There is a cheerful nonchalance about Sandgate: the misleadingly named village just west of Folkestone.

“There is a lovely shingle beach running parallel to the high street but, apart from a new deck chair rental outlet, there has been little effort to monetise it.

“There is a castle too, which no one pays much attention to, and while Cap Gris-Nez in France is visible across the shipping lanes, it is rare to see anyone looking.

“It is like visiting an old couple so comfortable in each other’s company that they do not need to talk any more.”

Southbourne Beach in Dorset was the south of England’s beach of the year, while Hive beach, Man O’War and Middle beach in Dorset, as well as Birling Gap in East Sussex, were also on the list.

Last year, Stone Bay in Broadstairs and St Margaret’s Bay in Dover were praised for their white cliffs, clean water, and great facilities in the list.