FabSwingers.com forum: Leysdown Beach

By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Google is (as always

) your friend ..

General

This 'official' naturist beach is located near Leysdown-on-Sea at the far eastern end of the Isle of Sheppey on the north Kent coast. The beach is half a mile beyond (south-east) of the main beach at Leysdown near to the place identified on maps as 'Shell Ness' and the beach is also known as Shellness.

Getting There

The Isle of Sheppey is reached via the A249 road from the A2 or junction 5 of the M2 near Sittingbourne. Follow signposts for Sheerness. Once over the Swale channel turn right on to the B2231 for to Leysdown-on-Sea.

Arriving at Leysdown, follow the road through the town and along the beach, for about one mile. The road veers away from the beach a bit then comes to a T-junction [of sorts] opposite the entrance to a caravan park. You follow the road (Shellness Road) round to the left here and the road ( in reality an unmade track) steadily deteriorates.

When you reach a gateway you can either park or carry on along the track to a parking area which is directly behind the naturist beach (just past some cottages). Park at Mile End Wall where the road meets the seawall. Walk south eastwards past some old wooden holiday chalets. The Shellness free beach starts one hundred metres from the chalets.

Description

This beach is a mixture of sand, shingle, shells and - in places - mud. A recent visitor described it as 'small (fairly) clean sandy(ish) beach, over some dunes'. The scenery is typical of the Thames estuary - there are good views of Whitstable and of shipping in the Thames. At low tide the sea can be a long way out. Beach walkers on their way to Shell Ness may pass the beach but there are no reported problems. 'Free Sun' reported that the beach was sometimes used by '750 bods' - more recent reports suggest regular use by 20-30 naturists, with up to 100 at busy weekends.

Facilities

No facilities are available on the beach, the nearest are to be found in Leysdown.

Water Quality

Water quality is affected by detritus from London and ship litter. Leysdown meets the minimal EEC standard.