Make Mine A Pint!

Because seriously, who only wants half a Beer especially when it looks like THIS:

Ok, so I'm not really talking about the stuff made from hops - I'm talking about this picture-postcard village just along the coast from Lyme Regis in Devon.

The name Beer isn't actually derived from the drink either, it's named from the old Anglo Saxon word "bearu" meaning grove which referred to the forest that surrounded the original settlement.

You wouldn't have believed that it was the beginning of October yesterday.  The sky was blue with barely a cloud, the sun shone and it was just a BEAUTIFUL day.

See what I mean?

As you can see, this isn't a sandy beach it's actually shingle and pebbles which can make it quite hard to walk on but at Beer they have an ingenious solution to this problem:

You see those strips on the ground between the boats? Well, they are actually rubber mats laid over the shingle.   The top of the beach has more of these creating walkways leading to some lovely little seafront cafes and making them accessible to everyone even wheelchair users.  I'm sure that initially they were used by fishermen to enable them to more easily access their boats  but they have been adapted to benefit everyone.

Only part of the beach has these mats, there is still plenty of unadulterated beach to wander along:

Boats to have your photo taken next to

Rocks to sit on and look enigmatically out to sea

Or even stand on (they are VERY versatile ;-) )

Beer has a long fishing heritage which  is still very much alive today as you can see from the photos of the boats above and fresh fish and Beer crab is for sale right on the seafront.

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 also full of pretty buildings and cottages which, even in October had gardens and hanging baskets bursting with colour.

A stream runs down the side of the main street to the sea with planters full of flowers bridging it at regular intervals

We really did pick the perfect day to spend in Beer.  In summer it can become a little overcrowded but yesterday, although there were plenty of people still around it didn't feel at all like that and yet it was as warm as any day in August.

Beer certainly is a shining jewel in Devon's crown.