Family Beach towns on central southern coast?

Bournemouth or Weymouth?

Have a look at Swanage - nearby you will find Old Harry Rocks (chalk cliffs). This s about 70 miles south of Bath.

CJean,
Bournemouth appears to be a really large town, and I’m hoping to find something very much lower key, with fresh catch of the day in the local market and a bunch of sleepy rentals.
But Weymouth looks more my speed. I’ll check it out!

Thank you very much!

DaisyDorset,
Sounds great! I’ll check out Swanage!
Thanks very much!

Lyme Regis. Lovely promenade. You’ll need a car to get there.

most English beaches are not sandy - check first for happy family. Most are pebble or shingle, be sure to pack water shoes.

Be careful walking under the chalk cliffs - much of the southern coast is on the Jurassic trail and new fossils are frequently found due to erosion of the cliff face. It can be dangerous under the cliffs because that is where the rock falls - and rock is heavy and potentially fatal.

Not to be confused with the sugar based stick of rock with the name of the resort in it that you buy at the rock shops. 99 is chocolate inserted in a cone (cornet) of ice cream.

What time of year are you going? At any time the British seaside holiday often involves waterproof jackets and flasks of tea.

"most English beaches are not sandy", That's possibly true of the area that Graciesie is interested in but surely not of England as a whole? There's no shortage of sand up here in the worth.

Weymouth certainly meets the criterion of being sandy, although for that reason it is quite a busy seaside resort.

There are a number of places on the Isle of Wight that would suit your criterion- Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor- with a short ferry ride to get there, from Lymington, Southampton or Portsmouth.

On Island, among many other attractions of the well known chalk cliffs and stacks called The Needles (and the fun of an open top bus ride to get there), also the multi coloured cliffs and very family centred beach at Alum Bay Chine (with it's chairlift to the beach)
very close by.

Freshwater beach is also just round the corner. The Island is easy to get around either by transit or by car. Among other attractions is a Castle, a Planetarium and Fort Victoria- a fort built to repel the threat of a French invasion.

I actually think that of the towns on the island Yarmouth may suit your criterion best.

Just to point out Swanage, Lyme Regis, Weymouth & Bournemouth all have sandy beaches.
The rock falls mentioned in a previous post are in the West Bay area.