Life’s a beach

BUYING a beach hut among the sand dunes on West Wittering beach in West Sussex seems an enticing idea – until you hear that last year one such des res sold for £47,000.

Perhaps it was purchased by Rolling Stone Keith Richards, a local resident who has, so we’re told, “been known to strum a tune or two from his beach hut haven on the beach”. Supermodel Kate Moss, too, is apparently a fan of this privatelyowned, Blue Flag beach.

Clearly, the property price crisis hasn’t percolated through to this stretch of sandy beach and nature reserve on the South Coast. But then, this is no ordinary beach.

The story goes back to 1951 when word reached residents in the small community of West Wittering that there were plans to turn the beach and coastal farming land into a holiday camp. The thought of all that hidi- hi merriment and the inevitable shattering of their peaceful life made locals very unhappy campers.

The Church Commissioners, which owned the area, was in talks with holiday camp king Billy Butlin and the National Union of Mineworkers, with a view to opening a leisure complex there.

Local people had other ideas, ones that would preserve the area as it was. They formed the West Wittering Preservation Trust to protect the land associated with the beach car park that had been running as a successful commercial venture since the early Twenties.

So, in 1951, a small group of residents raised just under £21,000 (20,546 pounds, 14 shillings and nine pence, including stamp duty and legal fees, if you want to be precise) to buy the area themselves. This followed Chichester District Council declining to help.

SOME 126 residents subscribed to the new company whose objectives, then and still now, are the preservation of the beach and waters adjoining the land “for the safe and peaceful enjoyment of the public, and the preservation of the rural and undeveloped nature of the company’s property and its surroundings”.

Worthy aims, making that company one of the first environmental protection groups in the country.

Today, the estate remains in the hands of more than 300 individuals, with shares snapped up – mostly by local householders – as they become available.

A day at the beach will cost you £7 (the price of admission to the car park) in high season, from July to mid-September. Its popularity may be judged by the fact that one day last summer, 4,700 cars were parked there.

The number of visitors can top 15,000 on particularly busy days, yet the wide opens spaces mean the place never seems crowded, unlike those pictures of other beaches on a bank holiday with people packed like sardines with barely room to breathe.

How different to the Second World War when the area was used as a dummy airfield and for training before the D-Day landings.

These days, you can arrive in a number of ways. You don’t have to drive; you can walk, cycle or bus to the beach, where activities other than lying around include water sports such as windsurfing, and exploring the adjoining East Head, owned by the National Trust and a haven for wildlife.

West Wittering’s sandy beach is lined with 150 colourfully-painted huts, each a very des res for those wanting somewhere to escape the sun or make themselves a cuppa.

Boardwalks have been laid around East Head, which forms the eastern side of the entrance to Chichester Harbour, to protect the landscape, and divert walkers from the fenced and roped-off areas.

What’s surprising is the variety of habitats offered in the fields and coastal pasture, the wetlands and reedbeds, the sand dunes, the salt marsh and the beach itself, backed by a tamarisk hedge.

The list of birds you might spot features waders such as curlew and oyster-catcher, brent geese, herons, terns and cormorant. Rabbits, fox, lizards, 14 species of butterflies, four of moths and two of dragonflies are on the list.

Come the winter, the area is a haven for migrating birds, with flocks of more than 1,000 Brent geese grazing on the fields. Cattle that graze on the saltmarsh are moved off during the nesting season.

West Wittering beach can seem like stepping back in time. It doesn’t lack essential facilities, such as toilets, showers and cafe, but any British seaside holiday camp feel has been successfully kept at bay. The large stretch of sand beaches and dunes, coupled with the natural habitat of East Head ensures there is plenty to do, but in a leisurely and peaceful way.

If you want to be organised, guided walks and family events are run by the National Trust and Chichester Harbour Conservancy. Details online at nationaltrust.org.uk ■ Information on West Wittering Beach from westwitteringbeach.co.uk