The Beach
Backed by low dunes, the top of the beach comprises about 80m of dry, very loose sand, making it very popular with families. Lower down it is hard-packed. The beach slopes gently, and therefore the sea is shallow for quite a long way out. Even at high tide there is plenty of soft sand exposed.
On the eastern side of the dunes, erosion has formed sand cliffs over 4 metres (13 feet) high. New dunes are now building up close to the access boardwalk.
When the tide is fully out, the flats at the far south-eastern end extend for nearly a mile and almost reach Gwbert on the other side. However, due to the estuary there are unpredictable currents at this end of the beach.
At the north-western end of the beach there are rock pools which support a myriad of sea-life.
The area is a gathering spot for surfers and boogie-boarders. As such, daily surf reports are issued. The hard sand below the high tide line also attracts power-kiting, land-boarding and buggying.
The beach is dog-friendly. Although some restrictions apply in the summer months, there is nevertheless a large area set aside for dog-walkers. The beach and the estuary flats are popular with dog-walkers all year round.
For fishermen the beach offers good catches of flounder, cod and whiting in winter, and mullet can be caught near the river mouth. Salmon and sea trout run the river from March to October (an Environment Agency rod licence is necessary if trying for sea trout on the incoming tide).
Local photographer Michael Jackson spent a considerable amount of time between 2007 and 2012 photographing Poppit Sands beach, from above and at dusk. His work won numerous awards, including 3 Hasselblad Masters Finalist places (in 2008, 2009 & 2010). The work has been exhibited in the UK, Hong Kong, Copenhagen and New York, and has also been published in a book entitled "Poppit Sands Moonscapes".
Read more about this topic: Poppit Sands
Famous quotes containing the word beach:
“The seashore is a sort of neutral ground, a most advantageous point from which to contemplate this world. It is even a trivial place. The waves forever rolling to the land are too far-traveled and untamable to be familiar. Creeping along the endless beach amid the sun-squall and the foam, it occurs to us that we, too, are the product of sea-slime.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If Los Angeles has been called “the capital of crackpots” and “the metropolis of isms,” the native Angeleno can not fairly attribute all of the city’s idiosyncrasies to the newcomer—at least not so long as he consults the crystal ball for guidance in his business dealings and his wife goes shopping downtown in beach pajamas.”
—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)