Distance frome the coast

[chil]

On a TV programme last night the presenter said that in the UK you are never further than 72 miles from the sea.Where is this place that is 72 miles from the sea and is there only one. Is this what they mean by middle England?

[kev100]

here it is.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/3090539.st m

[jno]

but Middle England also has a non-geographical meaning: the middle-earning middle classes, more or less.

[Gef]

Lots of places in the UK are 72 miles from the sea. Bo place is more than that.

[Narolines]

Presumably that's as the crow flies - it's 95 miles by road to the nearest accessible point on the coast to where I live.

[Quizmonster]

Regarding which place in the UK is furthest from the sea, here's a quote from the Ordnance Survey's website...and they should know, being the official mapmakers in Britain...which agrees with the information in the link offered by Kev above.

"The furthermost point from the sea in the British Isles is at grid reference SK 257144.This lies just east of Church Flatts Farm, approximately 1 mile south-east of Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire."

It would seem that anyone who claims to live further away from the sea than about 70 miles - as the crow flies and not by road - is just looking in the wrong direction!

 

[simsfreq]

I live in Warwick in the Midlands (Near Stratford upon Avon) and the nearest part of the sea to us is the east coast, which is 130km away as the crow flies, which is about 80 miles, unless you count the severn, which is a river and not a coastline

[Narolines]

Ah, simsfreq, just down the road from me in Solihull......

[Quizmonster]

The problem with river estuaries, Simsfreq, is this: 'At what point does an estuary's edge cease to be a river-bank and when does it become part of the coast?"
It is often taken to be that point at which incoming tides have an effect and the Severn Bore goes a long way in! Studying a map of the area - and even excluding the bore's effect - there doesn't seem to be much doubt as to which "coast" is nearest to Warwick and it isn't the east coast!
Of course, it's not just me saying this...this is what the Ordnance Survey says. There's not a lot of point in quibbling against such an authoritative source.