Hendon Beach

Hendon Beach sits just north of Peterlee on County Durham's often-overlooked coastline, and it's a proper working-class stretch of sand rather than a picture-postcard cove. What you get here is the real thing - rock pools, decent shells if you're patient, and the kind of beach where locals actually spend their summers instead of tourists clogging it up. The cliffs behind provide some shelter from the wind, which is more than can be said for some of the bleaker spots further up the coast.

It's the sort of place families with young kids genuinely enjoy. Rock pooling is legitimate fun here, the sand's firm enough for building, and there's space to breathe. If you're the kind of walker who likes a beach with actual geology - the rocks tell stories - you'll find it absorbing. Bring wellies though; the tide can be murky and the pools sit in mud as much as sand.

The beach is free to access and you can stay as long as you want. An hour's solid exploring works well; two if you're doing a longer coastal walk. Summer weekends pull crowds, but off-season or weekday mornings it's genuinely peaceful. If you're based at The Barn at Easington just six miles away, this makes a straightforward morning trip - nothing fancy, but honest seaside fun that doesn't demand much effort or money. Just realistic: it's not Instagram material. It's actual beach.