Category: Travel

Evening beach walks

Strolling the beach in the evening ❤️

Remember that the beach is not just for the day time.

When so many of us are cooped up in offices working all day it’s no wonder so may of us end up with anxiety or mental health issues. I know it’s easy to just go home, sort everything out and chill – for me it’s the dinner and getting myself and the children ready for the next day, then TV or book and bed. But I can assure you that sometimes pushing ourselves to go back out again is beneficial to our souls. This evening I dragged the family out to one of our many local beaches much to their annoyance, as you know they had been busy all day at home, been cycling and enjoyed their day and I was making them go out for a walk.

It was a beautiful evening, the water was lovely and warm on my feet and the sand was cool under foot.

Then on the way home a family discussion turned into them all giving me a history lesson about the world wars, there were some key things that I really had missed by not taking history in secondly school. I must read and watch a few more documentaries about the war, not normal ones though I would like to hear some real life stories from all over the world and understand it’s true impact on peoples every day lives.

So me and my family had an amazing couple of hours just being a family in the world in the moment.

Botany Bay is a small bay on the Thanet coast close to Broadstairs, parking in the evening is generally not too bad. There is a pub The Botany Bay, previously the Fayreness for food, drinks and rooms for the night if your not local.

Further information on Botany Bay

OS Map Location

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Sandwich Bay

Sandwich Bay Beach

For some going to Sandwich Bay is something they wouldn’t consider as there is a toll charge for getting to the main bay by car. The current charge is £7 and they state:

”Residential Areas and Beach closed 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise.”

For us this is more than adequate. The charge can be paid at the toll booth or on the sandwich bay website. There is no parking charge once you are at the beach and there is plenty of space to choose from – I doubt that you would be unable to find a space.

This shingle beach is vast and well over a mile long meaning that you will get a generous space for you and your family to settle in for the day. You will need to remember to bring your own food and drink as there are no shops or a cafe. However there are toilets, although these could be a fair walk depending on where you parked.

We had a a great couple of days swimming in the sea, playing rounders and relaxing.

Parking OS Maps Location

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Rhinog Fawr National Nature Reserve Wales

We often just look at a map, choose a location and set off to explore. I can highly recommend this way of exploring. We never know what we will find, how the landscape will look and generally it’s quiet. Recently we went to visit family in North Wales and took off to discover the beautiful country once again.

For this walk we ventured towards Dolgellau took the long single track road towards Rhinog Fawr National Nature Reserve (this is not sign posted). At the end of the road you pass through a metal gate into the car park. There is limited parking, I would suggest 6 cars – this is lovely as generally it would mean less walkers around.

There is a sign with details of walks and a clear marked route throughout the reserve however we used our Ordnance Survey Explorer Map OL 18 and the OS App.

Our walk took us mainly through the forest and slightly into the nature reserve. Terrain is good mainly laid path and there are steps up towards the waterfall. As we entered the nature reserve the path was narrower and it was less sturdy under foot but still not that challenging.

We did enjoy the waterfall, it’s small and the most challenging part was getting down and up – this could be slippery if it’s been raining. We walked the route after there had been a few weeks of hot weather and on a dry day – it was slightly slippery under foot but we just took it easy. One of the boys went for a dip in the water and whilst the water is clear the rocks are covered in a peat silt so are slippery and very dirty when disturbed. As always I recommend being really careful in and around water with everyone in your group.

Our route took about 2 hours and we covered just over 7km, this was at a relatively slow pace with a couple of stops to admire the view and have a drink/snack.

There is lots more to see and do in this location and we will be heading back to venture towards the Roman Steps.

Overall a pleasant walk, with lots of options of length and difficulty providing a good option for families.

Car Park Location

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