Saunton Sands is a beach in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 village of Saunton

Saunton

Saunton is a village located approximately two miles from Braunton on the North Devon coast in the South West of England.Several kilometres long, the village borders the former national nature reserve, Braunton Burrows...

 on the North Devon

North Devon

North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...

 coast near Braunton

Braunton

Braunton is situated west of Barnstaple, Devon, England and is claimed to be the largest village in England, with a population in 2001 of 7,510. It is home to the nearby Braunton Great Field and Braunton Burrows, a National Nature and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve....

, popular as a longboard

Longboard

A longboard generally designates a longer board variant in various board sports.* Longboard * Longboard...

 surfing location. Its southern end, 'Crow Point', lies at mouth of the River Taw

River Taw

The River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor. It reaches the Bristol Channel away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge.-Watercourse:...

 estuary

Estuary

An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

. It's part of the Taw estuary Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...

 and the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Biosphere Reserve

Biosphere reserve

The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...

 Braunton Burrows

Braunton Burrows

Braunton Burrows is a sand dune system on the North Devon coast. Braunton Burrows is a prime British sand dune site, the largest sand dune system in England. It is particularly important ecologically because it includes the complete successional range of dune plant communities, with over 400...

.

A bright white hotel, 'Saunton Sands Hotel', overlooks the beach at the northern end, which, in this part of the beach, is a designated military training area. It is cordoned off a few times a year and the beach is converted into an air strip for the military transport planes, usually C-130 Hercules

C-130 Hercules

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...

, of the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 to practice STOL

STOL

STOL is an acronym for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe aircraft with very short runway requirements.-Definitions:There is no one accepted definition of STOL and many different definitions have been used by different authorities and nations at various times and for a myriad of...

 beach landing and take off. There are permanent restrictions for flying kites in this part of the beach.

Saunton Sands was used as a location for the 1946 Powell and Pressburger

Powell and Pressburger

The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1981 they were recognized for their contributions to British cinema with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the most prestigious...

 film A Matter of Life and Death (sometimes called Stairway to Heaven), and can be seen where David Niven's character is originally washed up on the beach after he jumps from his plane without a parachute - and survives.

The beach was also used as a location for the Second World War Anzio landings scenes in the 1982 Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

 film The Wall

The Wall

The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...

and later as the backdrop for over 700 wrought iron

Wrought iron

thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...

 hospital beds on the cover of their 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason

A Momentary Lapse of Reason

A Momentary Lapse of Reason is the thirteenth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK and US in September 1987. In 1985 guitarist David Gilmour began to assemble a group of musicians to work on his third solo album...

.

In the late 90s the beach was also used for the video for the Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

 song "Angels".

Saunton sands is popular with many surfers purely because the beach is so long and provides adequate space for large groups.

On 3 August 1990, a temperature of 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) was recorded at Saunton Sands, which is the hottest temperature to be recorded in the south-west.