He said the new sewer system will help clean up the River Ribble and beaches along the Lancashire coastline from Southport to Blackpool.

BBC: Businesses hit by Preston sewer works compensated

Having built all the roads, bridges, tunnels, harbours, airports, schools, hospitals and city halls that the country is ever likely to need, so desperate have the construction companies become to find new places to pour their concrete that they have taken to paving over the river beds and beaches.

ECONOMIST: Japan observed

From the beaches of Normandy to the Imjin River, our soldiers have fought together.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama & Prime Minister Cameron Joint Press Availability | The White House

The sprawling estate on the Cornish side of the River Tamar is a handful, with 55 Grade I and II structures and four ancient monuments, four beaches and a deer park.

BBC: Historic Mount Edgcumbe's uncertain future

Its sweltering citizens rushed for the beaches, its forests burned and some of its nuclear plants had to be closed down because the river water to cool them was insufficient.

ECONOMIST: Violence in Afghanistan