Coast Magazine- Come To The Seaside! (Coast Magazine)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	Coast Magazine
Date:	11/12/08 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Full of interesting and inspiring features.

Disadvantages: You might just want to sell up and move!

I have to tell you first I am in love with the idea of moving to the coast. I have my plan in place and one day in the not too distant future I think I will make the move. Not to a resort with beach huts, lovely though they are, but to a place out west where there is nothing but sheep and the roar of the Atlantic breakers.

For the moment though I have to content myself with regular visits there and magazines like my favourite "Coast" (living by the sea) which can take you to these places from your armchair.

I first found this magazine by accident a few months ago while in Smiths searching out The Radio Times. I was immediately drawn to the front cover which attracted me as it was a wild and inviting scene of surf and spray. I am not someone who spends much on things of this nature, and have never bought magazines consistently, but this one has become a favourite and one I keep going back to.

The publication is a bimonthly so the outlay is not too steep. Each copy retails for £3.99 and of course you can get a massive discount by taking out a subscription. I haven't done this yet, though I have been tempted, but I usually like to thumb through the latest edition before purchase to make sure there is something in it to attract me before I buy it. This is in no way a criticism of the publication but something I generally do with all this kind of material to avoid a paper mountain at home of unread reminders of money wasted. This magazine has always impressed me and it has so far not been allowed to languish on the shelf in the newsagents.

The magazine aims to cover all aspects of coastal living, the website quotes "Celebrating the British coastline in all its spectacular, quirky, life-affirming glory. From in-depth property pages, to travel stories, delicious recipes and spectacular seaside homes."


It is a glossy magazine of about 120 pages and unlike some publications these are mostly filled with stories and articles and not heavily cluttered with adverts.

Earlier this year the magazine treated us to a tour around the large coastal home of the Earl of Granville who lives in a remote west coast spot overlooking the sea on the Isle of North Uist. This month we are invited to other remote Scottish Island retreats, we are shown how to live without bills in a life of self sufficiency along the shoreline, and a particularly beautiful article on the power of solitude caught my eye.

There are articles on cosmetics to enhance your looks and skincare products are tested. We are told where to go to watch the best storms, how to star gaze in The Outer Hebrides and how to combine living on the coast with working in the city.

This unique magazine has captured my interest and has impressed me. Each issue is different and well researched.

I have gained many ideas for home decorating from the interiors shown in this magazine, and have been introduced to many new places which now sit on my list of places I want to visit.

Each part of the magazine is in sections covering Features, Homes and Style, Travel, Body and Soul, Property, and Regular items such as shopping adverts, letters etc.

Packed full of everything you can imagine inspired by the sea all that remains for you to so is to don a pair of wellies or flops depending on the season and feel the shells beneath your feet.

It's an escape and one I enjoy. The photography is of a very high standard and its one of those magazines which looks superb on the coffee table. My daughters often flick through the back copies when they come home from uni. Also sea lovers the girls are lured by anything to do with the coast and are fascinated with this publication. They like me are frustrated city dwellers although one daughter is luckily at St Andrews- a coastal university where incidentally the November issue featured a weekend away there.

For me the sea is an escape, a place to be silent, and to recharge my batteries, I like to amble on the beach with my little dog and see her face full of joy as she watches the waves. I love to watch otters swimming in the shallows, and to hear the sound of the seabirds and the rise and fall of the tides. This for me is the coast.

For some a more built up picture is their passion, my parents live in an Essex coastal village and for them it is a picture which reminds me of my childhood with buckets and spades, and donkey rides, brightly coloured flags, and ice cream cones and rows of beach huts.

Either way the feelings are the same. Awe inspiring. Do you remember that advert for M&S on the telly "I want to marry a light housekeeper?"- well this magazine is for anyone who has ever thought of a dream like that. I'm happy with my husband- he isn't a lighthouse keeper- but he is an islander from the Isle of Man so the sea suits him! I often find his nose in this so it comes recommended by him too!

Great magazine, good content, good value for money. Highly recommended.
www.allaboutyou.com/coast

Summary: A great magazine full of interesting and well researched material.