Original article from Childrens BBC
A yearly study of Britain’s beaches have has found that they’re much grubbier than they used to be.
According to Beachwatch 2008 there is one piece of rubbish for every single metre of British beaches.
So what are the beaches like near you? Are they covered in rubbish and mess, or are they lovely to lounge on?
And are you heading to British beaches this year instead of a trip abroad, or are they just too cold and boring for your family?
Your comments
“I went to a beach in Brighton and it was a little dirty.”
Hinna, 12, Surrey, England
“The beaches where I live are a total mess! One part of the beach is really disgusting and then you have to step on the sewer tunnel to get onto the beach. The beaches here are really terrible!!!”
Rhiannon, 10, Scotland
“Most of the beaches that I’ve been to are just really nice and sandy or very pebbly. But once I did go on holiday to Somerset and the beach was really yucky and muddy.”
Laura, 11, Northampton, England
“I’m not sure, I have only been to beaches in Spain but if they ARE dirty I advise you not to go there.”
Tanya, 8, Birmingham, England
“The beach I went some time ago was okay. It did have litter but not as much as other beaches!!!”
Faeqa, 11, London, England
“From my experiences, beaches are full of not only rubbish, but poop as well. The problem won’t be solved until dogs are banned from beaches.”
Ashley, 10, Birmingham, England
“Our beach is beautiful and spotless!!”
Renee, 11, Essex, England
“The beach I go to has little bits of glass everywhere but I still have fun.”
Mia, 10, Hertfordshire, England
“Our regular beach is somewhat clean. There are a few beaches around us that aren’t.”
Natasha, 12, Dorset, England
“Yes! In Southend, there is litter and glass on the sand, black bags in the sea and no-one dares go in – they don’t know what they will find! Although Southend is a beautiful and fun place, it could be even better if it was cleaner.”
Lucy, 12, London, England
“I think that Blackpool beach needs a clean-up.”
Griff, 10, Preston, England
“All the beaches near me are always dirty. They have dog poo and rubbish chucked all over the beach.”
Catherine, 12, Lincolnshire, England
“I agree – the beaches are far too dirty, I went to the beach two days ago and I was walking around with no shoes and I stood on a bottle top.”
Gabby, 11, London, England
“Beaches are wonderful. But when rubbish is everywhere , it spoils the fun of going to the beach. Also wild animals can get hurt!”
Isi, 9, England
“I live in Dorset and the picture above is where we go to the beach! When I go to the beach it is very clean! There is always someone cleaning up rubbish.”
Ella, 12, Dorset, England
“I don’t think it’s fair on the people who don’t litter and it’s extremely dangerous for the animals.”
Alexandria, 10, London, England
“Beaches in Poole are lovely and clear, except for all the jagged rocks!”
Charlie, 12, Nottingham, England
“I think that it is a good that people are volunteering to clean up all of the dirty beaches all over England.”
Luke, 9, Lancashire, England
“That’s not a problem here in Japan, because everyone takes home their rubbish. But in the UK, when I lived there, the beach that I went to was really clean!”
Miyako, 11, Tokyo, Japan
“All the beaches that I have gone to are always full of rubbish if children are playing around there. They could get cut by glass or have a serious injury and then the beach might get shut down!”
Caitlin, 12, Derbyshire, England
“I can’t really remember most UK beaches, even though I lived there for eight years and was born there. But now I live in Canada and I know that most beaches here aren’t all that dirty. They’re just not pure white sand – they’re mostly made of pebbles.”
Jana, 13, Vancouver, Canada
“The beaches in Dover are quite dirty due to all the ships leaving from there. But if you go to some around Dover there are lovely beaches.”
Ben, 12, Kent, England
“The beach near my home is so dirty and pebbly that it’s horrible to even look at! We should look after our beaches but nobody can see that we are destroying our precious beaches!”
Hollie, 11, England
“Blackpool beach is really dirty. Once I dropped some litter on it but Mummy made me pick it up to do my bit.”
Andrei, 7, Blackpool, England
“Some beaches are clean, some are not. It’s basically the same thing around the world depending on how good the local authorities are at keeping their beaches clean.”
Matthew, 14, London, England
“I’ve never been to one in Britain, but the beaches in Ireland are really clean. The only thing that lets them down is rain.”
Aoibh, 9, Derry, Northern Ireland
“In Spain and France the beaches are lovely. When I go to the beach over here I always end up with some kind of small injury, because of rubbish or glass.”
Chloe, 11, Northern Ireland
“Some beaches are covered in litter. Some people, when having a picnic, just leave the rubbish there and don’t put it in the bin and when the tide comes in it could sweep most of the litter into the sea. I think people should be much more careful about what they do with their rubbish.”
Ruth, 10, Northern Ireland
“I went to a beach in England and it was covered in litter. It was disgusting – I fell on a broken glass bottle and it really hurt.”
Marina, 12, Scotland
“The beaches near me are not too bad. There are a few bits of litter, but people should be more worried on the state of the streets.”
Andrew, 12, Yorkshire, England
“I went to a beach a few months ago and it was really clean because there were monitors checking it for litter.”
Rachel, 12, Manchester, England
“I went to one and it was practically covered in glass.”
Zayn, 11, Manchester, England
“I hate all the litter on the beach. When I go on holiday to the beach rubbish litters the shoreline around the rocks. Last year a piece of plastic got stuck in my foot and I had to go into hospital. I think people should think before they litter.”
Anna, 10, Ledbury, England
“There are two beaches where I live and they are both quite clean. One day during the holidays my friends and I picked up all of the litter on Blacksands.”
Mheilane, 13, Scotland
“They aren’t just dirty – they’re really dirty! The ones in Dubai are much better. They are not as dirty and the water is clear and blue, not dirty!”
Anisah, 10, Edinburgh, Scotland
“The one I go to is clean.”
Bob, 12, Slough, England
“Beaches are filthy – I went to one and dogs just chase you around. (beaches are boring!)”
Sarah, 9, UK
“Some beaches are horrid but some are lovely, such as Felixstowe.”
Sarah, 9, Cambridgeshire, England
“Most of the beaches I have been to are normally quite dirty because people leave all their rubbish lying all over the place.”
Claire, 12, Bolton, England
“I know some beaches in the UK are not very clean, but there are lots which are looked after really well. Anyway I’ve been to many other countries which have very dirty beaches, it is not just a problem in the UK.”
Tom, 13, London, England
“I used to live in Brunei, and there was a bit of litter on the beaches, but the beaches were lovely and sandy, with lots of shells.”
Rae, 13, Canada
“I have never been to a beach in England. But I have been to beaches in Turkey and Dubai and they are amazing, they’re not dirty.”
Marium, 14, Worcestershire, England
“The closest beach to us is Skegness and the sea is really dirty and there’s dog poo on the beach. The ones in Greece are the best.”
Charlotte, 14, Leicestershire, England
“One I recently went to was much dirtier than it has been in previous years and I was very disappointed. My sister stood on some glass, but luckily, it wasn’t too deep a cut.”
Emily, 11, UK
“Some beaches are good but others are horrible -people dump sewage in them (not nice at all)!”
Georgia, 13, Dubai, UAE
“I think some beaches are disgusting but others are actually quite clean so it’s 50/50 .”
Amber, 10, Manchester, England
“Most beaches I go to are clean but we don’t have very many where I live.”
Megan, 12, Essex, England
“Yes, I live right by the beach and it’s FILTHY! It is so disgusting, though I feel sorry for holiday makers who come expecting nice clean sand and they find a grimy beach.”
Celia, 13, Wales
“My beach is alright compared to some beaches. But you do find the odd rubbish here and there!”
Catherine, 11, Ireland
“My beach is in the most horrible condition!! I don’t go anymore.”
Emily, 10, Liverpool, England
“On some you find cigarettes and litter all over the place but on others I find just the odd cigarette or crisp packet.”
Felicia, 10, Cheshire, England
“It is disgusting that people can be so rude! It takes just as long to put it in a bin or in your pocket than to throw it on the ground. So people should think twice when they come to a beach.”
Megan, 12, Scotland
“Yes it’s disgusting! That’s the bad thing about beaches.”
Isaac, 7, Hertfordshire, England
“I hate all the rubbish on beaches. In places like Lyme Regis it’s ok, but in other places it’s disgusting!”
Ella, 11, Surrey, England
“Our beaches are perfectly clean. I go there every day and no-one has hurt themselves. But English beaches suck.”
Charley, 13, Los Angeles, USA
“Well once I went to a beach and it was covered with glass bottles and take-away packaging. I never went there again.”
Jane, 12, London, England
“The beach I go to is really dirty. I think that people should help clean it up.”
Ellie, 8, Preston, England
“Some beaches are clean like Hastings or Dymchurch, but some others are just really dirty!”
Georgia, 10, Kent, England
“The local beach is so dirty, this has caused a few rats to stop by, it’s horrible. I hate going to the beach.”
Bethany, 12, Wirral, England
“I never go to beaches in England. I always go to beaches abroad where it is really clean and the water is clear blue.”
Suzanne, 13, Hertfordshire, England
“Sometimes on holiday I go to beaches and yes – the rubbish was well rubbish so the next day we came back and did a litter pick we also did a litter pick in our local woods.”
Rosie, 10, Lincoln, England
“I think UK beaches are really grubby because nobody cleans up after themselves!!! Last time I went to the beach was in Malaysia and it was beautiful compared to England.”
Zainab, 13, London, England
“It’s horrible that people drop litter on beaches. It ruins them and makes people think twice about going to them.”
Richard, 10, Kent, England
“Our beaches are mostly crystal clear!”
Grace, 10, Norfolk, England
“Well, I went to one and it was full of litter and dirt!!!”
Megan, 9, Cheshire, England
“Some beaches near me are quite good but some are rubbish, messy and boring with nothing to do.”
Verona, 10, London, England
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