Coastlines
Headlands Make Their Own Wind, and It Is Stronger Than the Forecast
Air behaves like water when it meets an obstacle, which is why the walk around a point is always harder than the walk to it.
Coastlines
Stretches of coast worth the journey, and what each one is actually like.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Coastlines
A West-Facing Coast and an East-Facing Coast Are Two Different Trips
Which way a shoreline points decides its swell, its afternoon wind and the hour its light is worth walking in.
More in Coastlines
Coastlines
Fetch Explains the Waves Better Than the Wind You Can Feel
The distance of open water upwind of a beach does more to decide the surf than the breeze on your face.
Coastlines
A Coast Path Is Never the Flat Walk the Map Suggests
Every stream that reaches the sea has cut a valley through the cliff line, and the path drops into all of them.
Coastlines
Cliffs, Dunes and Why Two Neighbouring Coasts Look Nothing Alike
What a shoreline is made of decides whether the sea carves it, buries it or rearranges it every winter.
Coastlines
Coastal Erosion Is Not Slow When It Is Your Footpath
Retreat rates quoted in metres per year hide the fact that most of it happens in a handful of nights.
Coastlines
Why One Beach Is Sand and the Next Bay Is Shingle
Wave energy sorts material by size, so the stones on a beach are a readout of how hard the sea works there.
Coastlines
Groynes, Drift and the Reason One Side of the Beach Is Higher
Material moves along a coast rather than straight in and out, and the visible step at a wooden barrier proves it.
Coastlines
Drowned Valleys: Why Some Coasts Have Deep Water Far Inland
Rias and fjords exist because sea level rose into valleys that rivers and glaciers had already cut, and that history shapes the…
Coastlines
Barrier Islands and Lagoons Are Coastlines That Are Meant to Move
A low sandy strip with quiet water behind it is a temporary structure, and the places built on it live with that fact.
Coastlines
A River Mouth Changes the Sea for Miles in Every Direction
Fresh water arriving at a coast alters temperature, clarity, salinity and where the fish are, long past the last bridge.
Coastlines
How to Read a Coastline Off a Map Before You Ever See It
Contours, symbols and the placement of roads describe a shoreline accurately enough to plan a trip around.