Our experts reveal why the North East coast gives the South West a run for its money 15 May 2021 • 12:27pm There’s no avoiding Bamburgh Castle, which seems to fill the sky as it rises some 150ft on its volcanic outcrop Credit: Yin Sun/Visit Britain While others look to Devon and Cornwall when dreaming of the seaside, I look to the opposite end of England. As a fully paid-up member of the North East Coastal Appreciation Society, I scratch my head and ask myself: who needs the South West when you can take in beaches that stretch to a vanishing point, magnificently battered castles and market towns and villages that have yet to prostrate themselves for the sake of the tourist shilling? Yes, a dip in the North Sea turns me an interesting shade of orange, but that’s a reasonable trade-off for not having to queue 30 minutes for a pasty.