Latest news with #near-London
Time Out
24-05-2025
- Time Out
Britain's happiest places to live have been revealed – and two are near London
Last week the Guardian published a list of the happiest places to live in the UK right now. Taking into account factors like access to green spaces and culture, a sense of community and the availability of public services, the newspaper's ranking intended to reveal Britain's most joyous roads, villages, towns and cities in 2025. In the overall list – which you can find out more about here – a total of five places in London made the cut. The Ridgeway (Enfield), Surbiton North, Clapham Junction, Bounds Green and Bromley were the only areas of the capital to feature. But that wasn't all. Several places near – but not in – London featured in the Guardian 's wider list. These are places within easy reach of the city, where you get to enjoy the best of London life without some of the less-good bits. So what are these two cheery places within easy distance of the capital? Let's dive into it. Lewes Lewes is just an hour by train from London Victoria, and the Guardian praised the East Sussex town for its food options (like its Friday Food Market), cultural attractions (such as Glyndebourne opera house and the legendary annual Bonfire Night traditions) and access to nature. Often named among the nation's prettiest towns, Lewes is inside South Downs National Park and just a short drive from the seaside. Gastronomy, culture and nature aside, the Guardian also picked out Lewes' range of vintage, boutique and outdoors shops as making the place more joyful. Aylesbury The other near-London spot in the Guardian 's list was Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, which is about an hour's train from Marylebone. The newspapers said that from the train 'you can see chalk hills, wooded valleys, big fields with traces of medieval farming and flowering hawthorn hedges'. The Guardian continued to argue that Aylesbury boasts 'a strong sense of community, a mixed population, and great countryside', and says that the town's house prices are 'slightly more affordable' than elsewhere in the southeast. Beyond an hour's commute Further afield than Lewes and Aylesbury, the Guardian 's list features several other locations that are sort of near the capital – they're not as commutable, but they're easy enough to visit. Chichester in West Sussex was included (around an hour and a half from London), as was Evesham in Worcestershire (within a couple of hours of the capital by train), which came second overall. Devizes in Wiltshire, Newport on the Isle of Wight and Cirencester in the Cotswolds made the list, too. You can find the Guardian here.
Time Out
18-05-2025
- Time Out
It's official: 6 of the UK's dirtiest beaches for water quality are near London
Within London 's city limits there are plenty of excellent places to go for an alfresco swim. While we wouldn't dream of even dipping our toes in the Thames (though there are plans to make the river swimmable by 2034), London has more than its fair share of lidos and outdoor pools – and you can find Time Out's guide to the best ones here. If you're up for leaving London's boundaries, there are even more opportunities for outdoor swimming, from rivers, lakes and pools to beaches. Next time you're choosing where to head off for a swim, however, here's something to bear in mind. A recent study has just revealed England's worst beaches for water quality right now, and several are near London. The report was by Holiday Park Guru, and it made use of Environment Agency data to hand out 'Brown Flag Awards'. The full study featured 19 stretches of coast up and down the nation, all of which were deemed particularly contaminated with faecal matter from things like sewage, livestock, wildlife, birds and road drainage. The water quality readings were taken last year between May and September. Of those 19 'Brown Flag' beaches, six were near London. We're defining 'close' to the capital as in a Home County or within a couple of hours' travel by car or train. Kent had three beaches named among the UK's filthiest, with Deal Castle, Dymchurch and Littlestone featuring, while Sussex 's Aldwich and Worthing beaches were included. The final near-London beach to be named and shamed was at Southsea in Hampshire. It's worth noting that the 'Brown Flag' rating doesn't necessarily mean the whole beach is poor quality for swimming or bathing. It can refer to just one section of a beach. On the bright side, several counties and places close to London were also commended for the cleanliness of their beaches. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were named England's joint sixth-best places for coastal water quality, with 73 percent of beaches rated 'excellent'. The UK's dirtiest beaches near London Southsea Beach, Hampshire Deal Castle Beach, Kent Dymchurch Beach, Kent Littlestone Beach, Kent Aldwich Beach, Sussex Worthing Beach, Sussex Find the .
