BEER

 Beer is a pretty seaside village built around a small cove on the south coast of the U.K. in East Devon, unusually with a stream running down the side of the main road. Historically the traditional village of Beer developed around smuggling, later turning to fishing, but it is now firmly focussed on tourism. Beer was one of the 20 contenders for Channel 4s Village of the Year competition 2018. Beer made it to the final! Beer was once famous for its lace too and made the lace for Queen Victoria's wedding dress.

Beer's charming main street is full of lovely shops and cafes and leads down to a small beach which is home to a working fishing fleet. The beach consists of pebbles, sometimes quite large, and slopes quite steeply to the sea. It is backed by white limestone cliffs either side of the village, and is a sheltered bay - hence the beach also acts as a harbour for the small local fishing boats which provide an attractive splash of colour to the setting.

If you walk over the headland from Branscombe to Beer, the rock changes abruptly from the local red Devon sandstone to white Beer limestone. Although soft when quarried, this stone hardens on exposure to the air. Historically, the stone was used for Exeter Cathedral and the Guildhall, and is thought to have been mined as long ago as Roman times.