Westward Ho!

This part of the coastline is known for its dramatic cliffs, and Westward Ho! is no exception with the beach falling within the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The beach is home to long flat stretches of beach ideal for sunbathing. Surfing areas are clearly designated and there are slipways over the pebbles at the RNLI points. It’s usually easy to hire equipment and book training sessions.

Dogs are allowed on the beach all year round, with a few summer restrictions but do take the time to check the beachfront signs.

Westward Ho! storm overflow map

Water quality sample results

The graphs below show the significant reduction in harmful bacteria in the Environment Agency’s (EA) water samples since the 1990s. E. coli and  Intestinal Enterococci exist in all open water - they are found in human and animal poo, and get into the water via sewage spills, road drainage, agricultural livestock, or wildlife and birds. The EA uses the levels of these bacteria to decide whether to award this beach bathing water status.

2025-2030 investment programme

To help reduce the risk of environmental impact from our sewerage network, and to contribute towards improving bathing water quality at Westward Ho! Beach, we have earmarked circa £500,000 of investment up to March 2025*.

We are reviewing previous work that identified roads and roofs connected to the sewerage network in Northam. Rainwater falling on these areas then gets discharged from the storm overflow automatically when the network’s storage capacity is reached. We are looking into the feasibility of separating these areas out to drain the rainwater directly into the river or sea.

The 2025-2030 investment programme is currently being scoped out. If you’re a community group or part of a local network and would like to have your say see ‘Your Beach, Your Say, Our Investment’.

*Amounts earmarked for investment may change dependent on the final design of the optimal solution and costings provided by our supply chain.

4 year overflow spill information

The data shown in the table below is the reported annual total spill number for each overflow which has been identified by the EA for this bathing water.

The assignment of an overflow to the bathing water does not always mean an impact will occur, it can be dependent on a number of factors such as tidal state and weather conditions. Sometimes it has been allocated just for investigation purposes and has no impact at all.

All data collected goes through vigorous quality assurance processes before being included in the counts. Sometimes debris can trigger false spills to be recorded, resulting in potentially higher than actual spill numbers.

Number of spills

  2023 2022 2021 2020
Northam finescreen pumping station overflow Outlet 1, Bideford 70 8 12 78
Picture of a blue Cornish beach

Tell us about your beach

We're inviting local community and stakeholder groups to work with us, as we consider where we need to prioritise our investment for 2025.

Your Beach, Your Say, Our Investment
Picture of a dark storm over some hills

More about storm overflows

We know that as a water company, we have a big part to play in improving our network and reducing the number of discharges. We also know there's lots more work to do.

Find out more

The beach profiles were created in line with information provided by our partners, Environment AgencyRNLIKeep Britain TidyMCS - Beach Guide and British Beaches.