Wondering why the stretch of coast you’re visiting looks oh-so-familiar? The UK is full of beaches that have featured on film – here travel journalist BEN LERWILL recommends ten with particularly strong claims to on-screen fame.
Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire
Freshwater West – picture credit: Visit Pembrokeshire
Popular with surfers and – in times gone by – smugglers, the atmospheric windswept sands of Freshwater West in southwest Wales have enticed a number of big-name movies. Several scenes in Ridley Scott’s 2010 version of Robin Hood were filmed here, with Russell Crowe in the title role, and it also provided a setting for events in the final two Harry Potter films, including the scene that saw the demise of Dobby the house-elf.
Penbryn Beach, West Wales
Penbryn Beach – picture credit: Crown copyright 2014, Visit Wales
Another beautiful Welsh beach with silver-screen credentials, the National Trust-owned Penbryn featured in the 2002 Bond movie Die Another Day, starring Pierce Brosnan. However, you’d be forgiven for not recognising it immediately – when it appeared on film, captions suggested that 007 was in fact embarking on a mission along the coastline of North Korea. In addition to this moment in the cinematic limelight, the beach is also renowned for its stargazing potential.
West Bay Beach, Dorset
West Beach – picture credit: Visit Dorset
The imposing wall of sandstone cliffs that overlooks West Bay made the Dorset beach a suitably moody spot to star in critically acclaimed crime drama Broadchurch, in which David Tennant and Olivia Colman join forces to solve a mysterious death. Also known as Bridport Harbour, the beach appeared too in the 70s TV adaptation The Rise & Fall of Reginald Perrin, as the spot where Leonard Rossiter abandons his clothes and swims out to sea.
Rhossili Bay, Gower Peninsula
Rhossili Bay – picture credit: City and County of Swansea 2014
The spectacular three-mile sweep of Rhossili Bay has featured as a backdrop in a number of filmed productions. Perhaps most memorably, it was the beach on which a youth choir – singing a live a cappella rendition of Bread of Heaven – began the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. Previously voted the best beach in the UK, it also starred as New Earth in Doctor Who and was used too in spin-off series Torchwood: Miracle Day.
Watergate Bay, Cornwall
Watergate Bay – picture credit: Adam Gibbard | VisitCornwall
The Atlantic-facing Watergate Bay is just two miles from the popular Cornish resort of Newquay, making it not just a natural base for surfing and other watersports but a tried-and-tested option for beach-based filming. Productions include Plunge, a little-heralded surf film from the mid-90s featuring Kate Winslet, and the 12-part TV series Echo Beach, which starred Jason Donovan and Martine McCutcheon.
Saunton Sands, North Devon
Saunton Sands – picture credit: Visit North Devon
As the backdrop to Robbie Williams’ video for Angels and the location for more than one Pink Floyd shoot, Saunton Sands draws music fans as well as – thanks to its wide, expansive sands – large numbers of longboard surfers. The beach also appeared in 1978 horror film The Shout, in addition to the romantic fantasy movie A Matter of Life and Death, which saw David Niven in his 1940s heyday.
Studland, Isle of Purbeck
Studland Beach – picture credit: Vist Dorset
Studland isn’t short on talking points. It’s the most popular naturist beach in the country, backs onto wildlife-rich heathland and helped provide the inspiration for Toytown in Enid Blyton’s Noddy. And on screen? It’s the beach on which Michael Palin staggers out of the sea at the beginning of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and was also the setting for the video of Coldplay’s breakthrough hit, Yellow. It’s even appeared in an episode of Only Fools & Horses.
West Wittering Beach, West Sussex
West Wittering – picture credit: David Hughes
A Blue Flag beach on Sussex’s Manhood Peninsula, West Wittering’s sandy expanse has featured in everything from episodes of Top Gear to photo shoots for Vogue. It’s also featured in films such as When Did You Last See Your Father? with Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent, and 2008 drama Incendiary with Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams. It’s a great spot for bird-lovers too, with a good distribution of waders and other water birds.
Holkham Gap & West Beach, Norfolk
Chosen as the setting for Gwyneth Paltrow’s closing scenes in Shakespeare In Love, this Norfolk beach has also been used for war movies (including The Eagle Has Landed with Michael Caine), music videos (it was chosen for the song Pure Shores by All Saints) and TV dramas (scenes for cult 60s series The Avengers were shot here).
West Sands, St Andrews
The famous opening scene of Chariots of Fire, in which Britain’s Olympic hopefuls splash along the shoreline to Vangelis’ now iconic musical score, was shot on West Sands Beach at St Andrews. The same stretch of beach was used to re-enact the scene during the torch relay for the London 2012 Olympics. The sands also back onto one of the destination’s famous links golf courses.
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