Beach holidays near East Midlands.....any advice?

[inneedofbreak]

Hello,
Can anyone suggest any places to stay near the East Midlands for a beach/childrens holiday please.
I'm guessing Skegness is the obvious answer, but just wondering if anyone has any secret haven (that thet'd like to share!!!).
Obviously we're looking for a child friendly place (dd is 2y 3m) that is very clean and (dare I say) not too shabby.
Any advice would be much appreciated!

bump

anyone been to butlins in skegness?

Malbethorpe is much nicer than Skegness.
Chapel is also lovely.

I cannot help with location as when we go to Mablethorpe we stay in DH's caravan (a lot of his family live there). Some of the caravan sites are nice if that suits you. Mablethorpe beaches are nicer, and it isn't too far from Skegness if you wanted to take a day trip to their fair.

Where abouts are you?

The Norfolk coastline is lovely too, about 2 hours from emids. Was pg when I went so obviously now I can't remember the name of the place we stayed!!!

Yes, Norfolk coastline is much nicer but it depends what you are after (given that you mentioned Butlins, perhaps not the Norfolk Coast!!)
If you are after the nicest beach in the vicinity of Skegness, root out Anderby Creek - you don't get the crowds and it is very pleasant. One shop only though (as I recall - we always went off season as we were into power-kiting) so take a picnic and all your supplies.

We've just come back from a week's break in Southwold on the Suffolk coast - we rented a cottage though which perhaps isn't what you were looking for? - not cheap but the town is lovely.

hi thank you for your replies
sorry i didn't respond earlier - had probs with computer!
Your suggestions sound great ! the reason we chose skeggy is because we didn't know of anywhere else! Basically what we're looking for are:

1. nice beaches - not too busy and clean!!
2. close to home (Leicester)so we're not travelling for too long
3. nice accomadtion - not too cheap but reasonable - we've been used to nice places in the past but this year need to count the pennies abit!!!!

Nearby - what is Sutton-on-Sea like these days?
Otherwise, Hunstanton is on the Leics end of the Norfolk coast, a small seaside town, nice beach, a sealife centre - probably has a caravan park or chalet park for cheaper accomodation?

Further along the Norfolk coast is Wells next-the-Sea - lovely little seaside / fishing town, wonderful beach, (huge expanses of sand, you can always find an uncrowded bit, also pinewoods, play areas, but not over-developed or (dare i say it? ) Butlins-y. Holiday accommodation at Pinewoods caravan and chalet park - or else s/c flint cottages in the town.

The sea allong the N Norfolk coast is very clean and unpolluted. But it generally is not as developed as traditional resorts - a walk through pine woods to the beach - or a drive from a village to the beaach car park. Brilliant beaches at Brancaster, Holkham and Wells.

Or Sheringham / Cromer? Both charming with sandy bits of beach at low tide - especially at cromer.

Wow Blu - you know your stuff.....now my dilemma is which one!! I'm spoilt for choice!!! Thank you so much every one xx

Well, you do seem like a good contender for the Norfolk Coast then. If you are going by car you can visit all of the places Blu has mentioned if you station yourself well(although she forgot to mention Blakeney where you can go crab fishing off the harbour and take a small boat out to see the seals).
If you are watching the pennies then it would be far far preferable than the east midlands coastline, where there is nothing to do unless you are spending money doing it. And it's bloody awful! In Norfolk you can spend all day doing stuff for free if you want.
But you have to visit one of the cockle stalls on the front as they are yummy!
In my opinion, none of the places are big enough to say "I spent all week there". Well, not without going mad anyway! Get yourself somewhere central and spend a day at each.

I left out Blakeney as a centre to stay as hol cottages there can be v expensive, and innoab would prefer to save cash if she can 9who wouldn't!!) But it is defintitely a place to visit!

And the reason i know my stuff? My Mum lives in Blakenny!

There is also a caravan / holildy park at Kelling - It's lovely, but I didn't include it as it has less immediate access to the beach than hol / caravan parks closer to Cromer etc. BUT it has a sort of rural woodland park, and the steam train which travels between Sheringham and Holt makes a special stop in the field at the bottom of the hol park!

I - and several other N Norfolk fans - have contributed to several threads about what to do in N Norfolk on the UK hol board - scroll down and read up on them!

Anderby Creek is lovely, very rural and no touristy bits.

Skegness and Sutton on sea are dreadful.

ahhh - that's sad. I shall preserve Sutton-on-sea in my memory as the sweet little place it was when I was a small child.

Is Sutton bad now?

Blu - were you one of the cool kids from my youth, fishing for crabs off the pier then?

Winestein - I guess I was fishing for crabs ('ghillies') every summer from Blakeney Quay from about 1967 - 1977, and then hanging out drinking in the pub and rowing a dinghy about. I am ancient, in MN terms - we used to move to Blakeney in a rented house for 6 weeks every summer and my dad used to make a living there painting. Then they moved up there - but not until after I left school.

Blu, you old crone (You're only early 40's aren't you?)

Wouldn't have been you then as we didn't start going til the late 70's, possibly early 80's, but at your holidays. We used to stay in a cottage in Corpusty for a week. One year we booked it for 2 weeks and my mum got too homesick so we had to leave early . The garden of the cottage where we stayed backed on to the River Bure (the narrowest part!) so my brother and I used to row our dinghy up and down there. Good times

hmmm - would have to admit to 'mid forties'

I know Corpusty.

Was still holidaying there in the 80s, walking across 'the pit' to blakeney point and sunbathing there all day, taking the family's crab boat out on the high tide, bliss!

at your Mum wanyting to go home!

So, what IS the matter with Sutton on Sea? It was small, good prom, donkeys, boating and paddling pool, chalets? I used to stay in a caravan with freinds at Hutoft and Chapel St leonards. Or a B&B or the weekend opposite the paddling pool in Sutton. Or we would drive down fr the day, have a picnic against the nbreakwaters and take part in sandcastel competitions. My Mum won once, having made a reproductoin of the cadbury's dairy Milk logo of the pouring milk into the bar of choc, out of shells and seweed etc!

Lol What about 30 plus VAT?

I remember my dad would stop at the pub in Corpusty on the way home and we would sit outside on the benches drinking fizzy orange in glass bottles through straws with a bag of crisps each.
(If Mumsnet was around then, someone would have started a thread saying "I saw these two kids waiting outside a pub for thie parents who had probably been in their since lunchtime dring FIZZY ORANGE!!!")

sutton on sea still looks ok according to this, but I suppose it's not going to say "Come to Sutton - it's shit!".
The website reminded me, a friend has asked me to join her and her DCs for a couple of nights in Trusthorpe at the end of July so I will report back on Sutton

Winestein - I remember sitting outside pubs with a bottle of coke and a bag of crisps waiting for my Dad to have a quick half!!!!

Winestein - can i ask...Where is Snottingham?!!!!
I saw on your profile that's where your from!!!!! Is it supposed to be Nottingham?!!!!

sutton on sea is a lovely beach and further along to sandylands or somthing like that. The town thing isnt up to much though. SKeggie is hrorid

Yes, it's my way of saying I don't like Nottingham very much. It is also it's original name! The S got dropped quite some time ago though.... can't think why!

winestein - what area in Nottingham are you? I'm Carlton. Its not that bad - been to worse places!!!