Join us for a stroll around the beautiful picturesque fishing village of Beer in Devon, England. Our walk starts at the top of the village and we make our way down to the Jubilee Memorial Grounds, situated above the beach on the South West Coast path. The gardens were created by the people of Beer to honour Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. From here we enjoy the magnificent views of Beer beach and the surrounding coast. We take a stroll along the beach and enjoy the views of the fishing boats and limestone cliffs. There are many cafes here and you can also rent deckchairs and beach huts. Our walk finishes in the centre of Beer village by the Dolphin Hotel.
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Beer is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England. The village faces Lyme Bay and is a little over 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the town of Seaton. It is situated on Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and its picturesque cliffs, including Beer Head, form part of the South West Coast Path. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,317.
Beer's long fishing heritage is still very much alive today, with a colourful population of fishing boats, fresh fish and Beer crab for sale, and mackerel fishing trips. In the past Beer was equally well known as a smuggling base and the home of notorious Devon smuggler, Jack Rattenbury. It was also famous for fine lace including the lace flounce for Queen Victoria's wedding dress crafted in Beer by Miss Jane Bidney and her team of 200 workers.
Beer is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Its name is not derived from the drink, but from the Old English word bearu, meaning "grove" and referring to the original forestation that surrounded the village.
It is a pretty coastal village that grew up around a smugglers' cove and caves which were once used to store contraband goods. These are now part of the attraction of the village. Many of the buildings are faced with flint, a hard glassy stone found in the local chalk rock.
Historically, the main sources of income for the village include fishing and lace production. Boats are winched up the beach as there is no harbour, and fresh fish is sold nearby. Nowadays small electrically driven winches using steel cables or tractors are located on the beach to haul boats in. Higher up is an old manual capstan operated by up to 20 men, now disused.
A brook winds its way in an open conduit alongside the main road down to the sea.
A WW2 pillbox is located close to the western side of the beach exit.
The shape of the coastline allowed local seafarers to operate in weather conditions when other towns could not, because it is protected from the prevailing westerly winds by Beer Head and the chalk cliffs which are the westernmost outcrop of limestone on the southwest coast.
Nowadays, the sources of income are mainly tourism and fishing. Beer is also the home of the Pecorama (run by the Peco model railway manufacturer), which includes pleasure gardens and the Beer Heights Light Railway.
Beer has a steep pebble beach. This makes walking on the beach difficult. Long rubber mats - actually recycled conveyor belts - are laid down to assist walkers.
Beer is home to a cave complex, the Beer Quarry Caves, resulting from the quarrying of Beer stone. This stone has been prized since Roman times, because of its workability for carving and for its gentle yellow colour on exposure to air. Beer stone was used in the construction of 24 cathedrals around the UK, including Exeter Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral, and was also used in the building of Christchurch Cathedral, St.Louis. Missouri, USA. Bovey House, an Elizabethan manor house, is a mile inland.
Starre House, the oldest house in Beer is built using the local Beer stone that has been quarried since Roman times.
Bacteria taken from cliffs at Beer on the south coast were launched to the International Space Station in 2008. The Beer microbes were placed on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Technology Exposure Facility and were sent up still sitting on, and in, small chunks of cliff rock from the Jurassic Coast. After 553-days they found that many were still alive. The survivors are now reproducing in a laboratory. This was part of an experiment to study the survival of microbes (which naturally live on the stone) in extreme conditions. A new species of cyanobacteria was isolated at the Open University that could be used in future space settlements on the Moon and Mars to produce oxygen and break down rocks.
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