A popular beach that’s just over and hour drive from Manchester has been named one of the best UK beaches for dogs in the UK.
A trip to the beach is a family summer day out that’ll never go out of fashion.
But for those of us with four-legged friends in our lives, it’s not just about a paddle in the sea, soaking up some sunshine, and grabbing a portion of fish and chips and an ice cream to top off the day, it’s also about making sure our dogs have a cracking time too.
Most dog owners usually have a couple of favourite dog-friendly beaches they like to visit, but now, a new guide of the best beaches for dogs in the UK has named a North West gem at the top of the list.
Vets Now – an out-of-hours emergency veterinary care provider, with a branch based in Manchester – has got to work examining beaches right across the country.
Not only that, but the digital guide has also taken into account the safety of each beach on the list, as with potential dangers such as fish hooks, jellyfish, low tides to be aware of, it’s important we keep the welfare of our pups in mind too.
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Bispham Beach – which is just north of Blackpool, and takes just over an hour to drive to form Manchester – has taken the coveted top spot.
Bipsham Beach claims the top spot on the 50 Best and Safest Dog-Friendly Beaches in the UK guide / Credit: Geograph (Steve Daniels)
This Lancashire beauty spot has got the seal of approval from experts thanks to its sweeping expanses of sand, and the fact that on a quiet day, there’s a good chance that you and your dog could have large swathes of the beach all to yourself.
“The team were really impressed with Bispham Beach,” said Laura Playforth, Professional Standards Director at Vets Now and one of the authors of the Best Beach Guide.
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“Especially its pet friendliness and facilities on offer, and we believe it to be an ideal destination for the UK’s dog lovers.”
She continued: “Unfortunately, pet emergencies don’t take summer holidays and each summer we witness a significant rise in emergency cases that are related to beaches and the sea [so] we’ve only chosen beaches where water quality is deemed high, dogs are welcome all year round, parking and access is good, and a daytime vet is based nearby.
“All the beaches featured are within an hour’s drive of a Vets Now pet emergency clinic or hospital, so if you’re at the beach in the evening or weekend and suffer a pet emergency, you know you’re never far from expert help.”
You can read the 50 Best and Safest Dog-Friendly Beaches in the UK guide in full here.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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Manchester City announced signing of top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have finally announced the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City have sealed his signature instead.
Finally confirmed and fully announced on Monday, 19 January, Palace and Man City are said to have reached an agreement in principle for a base fee of approximately £20 million.
However, rumoured add-ons are thought take that total closer to £30m; either way, it’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending reach roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale ahead of completion in a recent press conference.
Guehi will wear the number 15 shirt for Man City and has penned a deal until 2031.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.
Can you see any more deals being down befor the end of the window?
New survey reveals half of Mancs have already given up their new year’s resolutions
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our third week of 2026 now, and according to a new survey, half of Mancs have already ditched their new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, and it’s not like we intentionally set ourselves up to fail with them, but more often than not, that tends to be the case – and now a new survey of 1,000 Brits carried out over the past few weeks has found that 35% of us have already admitted to giving them up.
That percentage rises to a whopping 50% when narrowed down to the people of Greater Manchester.
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow are the other four major cities joining Manchester in the top five list of people in each area that have stopped their 2026 challenge early.
Half of Mancs have apparently already given up their new year’s resolutions / Credit: PICRYL | Pexels
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s the cities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Edinburgh that are staying strong, with just 25%, 26% and 26% giving their new year’s resolutions up respectively, and some of the other northern cities on the list including Liverpool and Leeds.
According to new research from greetings card marketplace, Thortful, more than half of Brits (53%) expect to give up within the first three months of the year – with the hustle of busy schedules, work commitments, families, and social activities being given as reasons why.
When it comes to the reasons people provided for why they’ve given their resolutions up this year, lack of discipline tops the list at 43%, followed by just being too busy to consider them at 21%, and different mental or physical barriers in third place, as well as a change of personal circumstances and a lack of money also cited.
The majority of people cited a lack of discipline as being the reason they gave up / Credit: Andrea Piacquadio (via Pexels)
Looking forward to next year, it seems many of us want to reframe how we set our new year’s resolutions in the future.
According to the research, 32% of respondents want to ‘improve their existing qualities rather than set an unrealistic challenge’ next time around, and 16% ‘feel like there’s social pressure to change in the new year’, when in reality, they ‘don’t have to’.
Emily Sergeant -
9th July 2021 
