THE WONDERS OF seaside walks

A bracing beachside walk can blow away the cobwebs and clear your mind, and what’s more, striding across sand has bonus fitness benefits too, as our writer Katherine Watt explains...

MEMORIES OF THE SEASIDE always take me back to Norfolk, where my Nana was born and raised before retiring in Holt, near Cromer. Whenever we visited, we were guaranteed a trip to go crabbing in Cromer, or a brisk stroll along the Blakeney coast. Even after one of Nana’s famous Sunday lunches, an afternoon walk by the sea would help all sluggishness dissipate, clearing our heads and getting our blood pumping again before we had to drive back to the city.

The benefits of coastal walks have been the subject extensive research, including a Uk-wide survey by the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Exeter, which aimed to discover whether living by the sea boosts your health and wellbeing.

‘We looked at a census of 48 million people, their distance from the coastline and their self-reported health,’ says senior lecturer and environmental psychologist Dr Mathew White. ‘It showed that living closer to the sea made you healthier.

‘Three main reasons are that people relax more by the sea, which lowers blood pressure; they take more physical activity, strolling along the beach and coastal paths all year round; and they have more positive social interactions to boost brain health,’ he adds.

Wherever you live in the UK, you’re never more than 70 miles away from the coast – often much less – so read on to find out why it’s worth taking a trip to the seaside to walk along our rugged shores...