| RE: Brighton beach and beaches near Bournemouth
Brighton nudist beach is about 1-2 miles east of the town centre. It
is pebbles, with a bit of sand at low tide. The pebbles are HARD, so take
something to lie on! The beach population is mainly male, with a few couples
and families. At the weekends when the weather is good [which is only for a
few days during the middle of the summer generally! :-) ], the beach can get
very crowded (the CO section is not that big, and marked off from the
rest of the beach by a pebble 'dune' along the back of the beach and
a couple of marker posts with notices on). There tend to be quite a lot of
clothed male beach walkers just happen to be passing through that part of the
beach at frequent intervals, especially where there are female sunbathers,
whether with a partner or not.
If you're going with a partner to that area, I would suggest Fairlight Glen,
near Hastings (which is about 40 or so miles east of Brighton). This also
has a mainly shingle beach, but there are mainly couples and families there,
and the beach is much larger, and more secluded. If anyone is interested,
I can give further directions to Fairlight Glen (I won't just now, cos it
would be quite a long explanation, and not answering the original question)
Back to beaches near Bournemouth, I would STRONGLY recommend the beach at
Studland bay, near Poole (just west along the coast from Bournemouth).
Studland bay is part of a nature reserve run by the National Trust, and is
a VERY large bay, several miles long, with a wide sandy beach and a large
expanse of dunes at the back of the beach, going back to fields and lakes.
In the bay there are generally lots of boats, and various water sports, not
CO unfortunately though.
The CO area is marked, and consists of about a mile long section of the bay,
to the east of the main National Trust car park area. CO is permitted on the
beach and in the sand dunes behind, and there is a refreshment van sited in
the CO part of the beach most days. On sunny weekends, the beach can get very
busy, with several hundred couples, families and singles there. Part of the
dunes area tends to be predominantly gay males, but they keep to themselves
back in the dunes and don't offend anyone. The sand is quite fine, and
has a tendency to like sun-tan lotion, so I would suggest a spare towel to
get the sand off, and a mat to put your towel on. The wind can blow inland
off the sea at times, and the dunes provide excellent shelter.
The only problem with the beach is the access roads. These get VERY congested
in the afternoon on the way home, but as there are a limited number of roads,
and these are all small lanes, there is nothing to do but wait. (It has taken
me over an hour to travel 5 miles!). I would suggest leaving no earlier than
6pm, and following the return route below in order to avoid this.
To get there, follow the A3049 and A35 from Bournemouth towards Poole,
and Dorchester. Having passed Poole, upon reaching the end of the
dual-carriageway section, turn left at the roundabout onto the A351
towards Wareham. Keep following the A351 past Wareham towards Swanage.
On reaching Corfe Castle on a hill above to the right of the road,
turn left into the road opposite, towards Studland bay. Follow this
road through the village of Studland, until you pass a hotel on the left.
Shortly after this is the National Trust car park that I mentioned earlier
on the right (you will have to pay for this - 1.50 I think). From the car park,
walk east along the beach or through the dunes for about a half mile/mile to
the CO area. Don't forget, the car park closes at 8pm (they will look after
your car for the night for you!)
ALTERNATIVELY, keep following the road past the car park and through
the toll (50p) until you reach a strecth of road where there will be
many cars parked on the side of the road. Park here! (If you reach the
ferry terminal, you've gone too far!). On the right, there is a path
through the woodland across the dunes to the center of the CO area
(this is the short-cut!)
TO RETURN AND MISS A LOT OF THE TRAFFIC:
Follow the road back past the hotel, and follow the signs for Swanage. Go
through Swanage, and join the road north heading for Wareham (the A351).
You re-join the road you came in on at Corfe Castle (a very picturesque
catle on top of a hill, by the way), so missing out on getting held up for
an hour or so at the T-junction.
There is also a ferry service between Poole and Studland bay, across
Poole harbour, however I've never been that way.
Hope this helps,
If you need further info, mail me.
Happy sunbathing (nude of course)
Rob.
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| re: .4
Thanks for all those directions. It turned out that Studland Bay was
fairly near my itinerary, so I spent some very nice time there. The
beach is long and clean, the sun was warm and bright, and the people
there were very pleasant. And the access roads there and back were not
crowded at all (I arrived very early in the morning).
two footnotes: 1) the charge to park at the National Trust car park is
now 2 pounds Sterling;
2) when you reach the beach, instead of turning right
(toward the rising sun, which I assumed was in the east), turn LEFT,
even though you start out hiking a little west of north, because along
this direction, the beach gradually curves to the east (toward Poole).
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