The secret UK beach – with pubs nearby where you can swim with cows
A SMALL town in the UK is home to a secret beach where visitors can swim and sunbathe alongside cows, while also taking in some amazing scenery.
Yorkshire is home to some of the country’s most amazing views, but it’s not often thought of as a place to take a dip on a sunny day.
However, Gaddings Dam in Todmorden is unofficially the highest beach in the country and is popular with animals as well as people.
Also known as Cow Beach, the reservoir, situated high on the moors above the West Yorkshire town, draws visitors looking to cool off in the summer months.
It’s been described as “a hidden paradise for locals and visitors in the know” by The Walking Northerners, who rave about it as a place to visit.
In their guide to the secret spot, they said it “provides gorgeous views, cracking walking trails, a soft and sandy stretch of beach, plus one of the best wild swimming spots in the county.”
Getting to Gaddings Dam is not as easy as just driving there, as Tiktoker Clarice Herring (@clariceherring) explained.
In a video, she revealed how she got there by climbing “up a mountain”.
While that may be an exaggeration, it does require a bit of a trek to get there, and takes about an hour.
The most popular way of getting there is via the trail from the Shepherd’s Rest Inn pub, which acts as a great landmark to visit for after your trip to the beach.
There’s also the Top Brink Inn nearby, which is a little closer to the dam.
Clarice showed how the local cows are also particularly fond of the beach as well, sunbathing alongside visitors on a warm summer’s day.
She said: “Come with us to Gadding’s Dam, the UK cow beach.
“It is roughly a 30 minute walk from the nearest pub.
“The cows are free to roam around, but they are also free to leave, so you have to be very good with your timing.
“You’re also free to swim in the dam. You do have to climb up that mountain to get to it.”
Swimming isn’t the only water activity people enjoy at the beach, with kayaking and paddle boarding also an option.
One person wrote on TripAdvisor: “We often come here for a wild swim but this was our first time paddle boarding.
“The views at the top are gorgeous. The water was clear and a lovely temperature.
“Sometimes if you get it to yourself it’s just perfection!”
It’s not the only beach in the UK where you can share the waters with cows.
The Isle of Mull is the second largest island in the Inner Hebrides, found in the west of Scotland.
Visitors there can spot fluffy Highland cows paddling in the shallow blue waters off the island.
Scotland’s west coast is also home to around a quarter of the world’s species of whale, dolphin and porpoise, so it can be an amazing place to see wildlife.
There are also cuter and fluffier creatures to look out for too, with otters regularly seen going about their business.
Meanwhile, these UK islands have even been compared to the Maldives because of how beautiful they look.
And this British Island looks like it could also be in the Caribbean.