Saunton Sands

[2] It is part of the Taw-Torridge estuary Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is at the centre of the UNESCO-designated North Devon's Biosphere Reserve, where Braunton Burrows lies at the heart.

[4] Saunton Sands is popular with surfers because the beach is long, an unusually exposed westerly, and provides space for large groups.

[5] Saunton Sands was used as a location for the 1946 Powell and Pressburger film A Matter of Life and Death (sometimes called Stairway to Heaven),[6] and can be seen where David Niven's character is washed up on the beach after he jumps from his burning aircraft without a parachute.

[7] The beach was used as a location for the Second World War Anzio landings scenes in the 1982 Pink Floyd film The Wall[citation needed] and as the backdrop for over 700 wrought iron hospital beds on the cover of the band's 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

[11] The BBC One series A Very English Scandal filmed scenes as Saunton Sands to depict a California beach, using digitally rendered palm trees, where the character of Peter Bessell (Alex Jennings) lives.