Druridge Bay

Druridge Bay is an eleven-kilometre stretch of sandy shoreline on the North Sea in Northumberland. It runs between the small harbour town of Amble to the north and the village of Cresswell to the south. The middle section around the old farm at Druridge belongs to the National Trust. Country Park paths cross dunes and grassland beside the beach. Nature reserves occupy parts of the coastline, managed for wildlife. The bay carries traces of its wartime role. Pillboxes still overlook the beach where scaffolding barriers once blocked tanks. An anti-tank ditch and minefields ran behind the shore. Between Druridge and Cresswell anti-glider ditches cut across the fields. A brick-built decoy control building survives inland, used to mislead enemy aircraft. Birdwatchers visit for sightings of golden plover and purple sandpiper along the shore. In 1998 a slender-billed curlew was recorded here, though its identification remains disputed. Every September the North East Skinny Dip takes place on the beach to raise money for mental health charity MIND. The Divine Comedy’s 1994 album Promenade opens with waves recorded on this stretch of coast.