Beer Beach Sunrise

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. Beer is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, at which time it was located within Colyton hundred and had 28 households. 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.

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