What’s your favourite variety of beach? I like mine empty but laughter-filled and wild with waves. Perhaps you like yours sporty or comfortable — or what about one with a tropical twist or deck-chair stripes and pebble dash?

In Britain, we’re spoilt for beaches — and what we lack in guaranteed sunshine we make up for with miles and miles of coast. So why neglect our spits and coves in favour of their brasher foreign cousins?

As more of us travel at home and look at our own country afresh, it’s time to find those beaches, enjoy them and treasure them. The number-crunchers at Visit England put last year’s seaside stays at 19 per cent of all overnight stays — that’s 18 million trips to you and me — so the “Secluded” section of our Top 50 Best British Beaches might well come in handy.

This week the coast has been calling us all as we watch the mercury creep past 30C (86F). The Met Office summer forecast has just been revised and it’s set to be even more of a scorcher. I paraphrase of course, but for a body that sticks resolutely to its averages, the Met has just given Britain its first heatwave warning in three years.

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So, stock up on high-factor sun cream — and pick the best spot. Our Top 50 ranges from the isolated to the dramatic, and pits “boutique” trendy against “Kiss-me-Quick” traditional. Why not spot the golden orioles of Guernsey, tread the pink sands on the northwest tip of Scotland or walk the longest pier — 1.3 miles of it in Southend-on-Sea? And if building sandcastles, kite-flying and foraging for food sound a little too strenuous, try taking it easy on the Isles of Scilly, pictured on our cover, where your children can run around in safety while you smile smugly to yourself about tropical gardens and clear blue waters that few people reach.

If you’re worried about water quality, use the Marine Conservation Society’s tests on nearly 800 British beaches to weed out the murkier areas (www.goodbeachguide.co.uk). And it works both ways: once you’ve done the basics of policing your own litter and respecting nature, you could even adopt your local beach. Preservation and pleasure can go hand in hand, particularly when it brings in those all-important tourist pounds. But scientific measurements aside, what’s the favourite beach of the man behind the Good Beach Guide? Woolacombe Bay in Devon, says Tom Bell, for size, cleanliness and his personal passion, surfing.

Our guide takes us not just into the water, but on to the shore, into seaside towns, and those impractical but glorious piers that jut out bravely into the sea in the pursuit of pleasure. Finally, for all the wave fanatics, we include the top ten surfing spots — and no, they are not all in Cornwall.

Kathleen Wyatt is Travel Editor of The Times

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