Coast Magazine names Grange in top towns

9:59am Thursday 1st May 2008

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Coast magazine has named Britain's top ten towns by the sea for 2008, with Christchurch in Dorset topping the list. Drawing on a range of sources from Ofsted and regional police statistics to data on life expectancy, employment and beach quality, Coast has profiled ten of the best locations for those aspiring to live by the sea.

Falmouth in Cornwall appears in second place and is praised by Coast for its low crime rate and active shipping and yachting industries. Brighton scooped bronze and earned the title of the 'British San Francisco' for its vibrancy and buzzing city atmosphere. Grange-on-Sands in Cumbria (no.5 in the list), was heralded as the best shoreline town for jobs, with an unemployment rate of just 0.4%, compared to the 5.4% national average. And whilst Salcome in South Devon (no.6) has the highest property prices, it also boasts the lowest crime rate of the UK's coastal towns.

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Clare Gogerty, Editor, Coast magazine, says: 'Many of us dream of moving to the coast but don't know where to look.

Seaside towns, whether they are Regency resorts or small fishing villages have an irresistible pull. But which offer the best standard of living? We trawled banks of official data* to come up with the top ten best coastal towns, rating them in terms of best schools, quality of coastline and employment. The results are not only helpful but surprising.' Coast had this to say about Grange: GRANGE-OVER-SANDS, CUMBRIA The Lake District has long overshadowed the coast in the north west of England, but pretty Grange, on Morecambe Bay, is having a comeback. A late-Victorian resort, Grange grew around its railway, when the rich mill-owners built big homes here. It's still got that genteel charm,' says Jennifer Rushton of the Grange Hotel. Grange station is said to be the prettiest station in the UK, and we've got some lovely, one-off shops.' Cartmel Priory C of E school is a small, well-regarded secondary and a technology specialist. Crime and unemployment are low, and property relatively high in value, indicating Grange's attractiveness as a retirement town: three-bed homes start at about £305,000, four-beds from £400,000. The town has a genteel promenade, the Victorian Ornamental Gardens and is said to be the warmest part of the North West, the Lakeland Riviera'. Then there are the long sands. But take local advice - they can be treacherous.