Luxury Self Catering holiday Cottage at South Beer Devon UK

The Stone Barn and South Beer at Beer Mill, Devon

Home Page

News and Special Offers

SPECIAL OFFERS

February half term – 10% off short breaks and whole weeks for parties of 8 guests or less in South Beer Farmhouse.

South Beer Farmhouse – 10% OFF all March bookings including weekends, short breaks and small party bookings from 2nd to 25th March

Discounts for return guests and early bookings may apply outside school holidays and peak weeks so please ask or remind us of your last visit.

Christmas and New Year 2012/13 – I know it seems early so we will happily reserve your preferred week and house with £100 deposit, the deposit balance will then be due at Easter and the usual remaining balance 8 weeks before your holiday – phone or email for more details.

BEER MILL NEWS: November 2011

Update on all our conservation work, nature trails progress and future plans:

‘Goodbye’ to Hill Cottage this week as it has now been sold to a local family who will be living at the house. This will give us more time and energy to devote to the Nature Trails and our guests at South Beer and Stone Barn so great news all round.

Eco Log Cabin wildlife hide – Dan Palmer of Canada Wood Log Construction is building us a mobile log cabin from wood felled near here in Dan’s own forest. It will be a great point to head to out on the nature trails and will be located in an ideal spot to shelter from inclement weather and spy out on the local wildlife at any time of year.

Orchard planning – We are now planning to plant an orchard of traditional local fruit trees close to Stone Barn and South Beer. We must choose root stock this autumn according to guidelines from Natural England for planting next winter 2012 and we would love to hear of your favourite fruits so that we all look forward to sharing the fruits in the future while helping increase the biodiversity here at Beer Mill.

Stewardship work – as part of ongoing conservation work we have managed to clear scrub growth from a further 10 acres already this autumn allowing the precious county wildlife culme grassland site to extend into the cleared areas and we are now busy restoring miles of traditional hedgerows throughout this winter. Some of the work makes everything look a bit desolate at the minute but it will all pay off in the spring when everything bursts back into life.

Remember you are all part of this by simply coming to stay here! Thank you for all your support

Open Farm Sunday 12th June 12noon to 5pm – Here at Beer Mill, Clawton we are taking part in Open Farm Sunday for the first time – we will be welcoming both our holiday guests and members of the local community to explore the Nature Trails which have just been completed and cover the whole of Beer Mill Farm, providing routes through newly planted and ancient woodland, pasture, wetland and county wildlife site with rest and information points. Maps and quiz will be provided at the main gate to Beer Mill Farm, only one per group please. Children must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times .Because of wildlife and livestock dogs must be on a lead at all times.

A guided walk with history of the site and information on all our activities will leave the main gate at 1pm and last for approximately 2 hours

Refreshments will be served in the wildlife activity room from 1.30 to 4.30pm with the kind assistance of Clawton Primary School PTA – donations to PTA funds will be welcome

A photographic competition is also being run so bring your cameras etc

Parking – local visitors please park in Clawton School car park and walk up the track beside the school wall to the main gate. Elderly or disabled visitors please contact Dick and Elaine Green for limited parking on site.

Other news – we are delighted to announce that following our energy performance inspection (EPC) just a week ago both Stone Barn and South Beer Farmhouse were graded A – the highest score possible and very unusual for such old buildings – just another reason you can feel happy to book your holiday with us and know that we are doing our very best to look after the environment for future generations.

BEER MILL NEWS: this week VisitBritain awarded the Stone Barn 5 stars and South Beer Farmhouse 4 star Gold for self catering accommodation – we are so happy that all our hard work upgrading and renovating through the winter has been recognised – we hope our guests, both new and old, all enjoy the benefits.

Beer Mill news: Latest addition to land management are a small number of Devon Ruby Red cattle now grazing here at Beer Mill helping to keep scrub regrowth down – they are friendly and curious, so approach guests along the nature trails from their own side of the fence! There is a crossing point where cattle meet humans but as long as they are not scared they are very happy chompers and will ignore you. Swallows are nesting all over the place so watch out for their acrobatic swooping over the ponds and round the farm buildings. Barn owls are now sighted regularly across the farm so pick your spot to sit and look out for them. Finally plans are now going ahead for our open day on Sunday 12th June as part of Open Farm Sunday. The Nature Trails will be open to everyone in the local community from 12 – 5pm with a guided walk from Beer Mill Gate to the county wildlife site part of the farm leaving at 1pm and help yourself refreshments available in the Wildlife room at the Stone Barn.

Beer Mill Farm Nature Trails:

Work has now stopped on scrub clearance to allow for the birds to nest. The warblers (we have spotted black caps, chiff chaff and willow warblers over the last few evenings) are back from their winter adventures and Dick and Elaine are busy learning to distinguish between the calls of all sorts of birds so that as the trees come into leaf we can still tell who is here! The foxes, owls and badgers are busy at night and we should soon have a sample video for you from our night camera to get an idea of what goes on around here when the sun goes down. The Nature Trails are now open across all of Beer Mill with a total of 15 information boards and 8 rest points so that you can wander at ease and stop to watch the wildlife go by – access is only for our holiday guests and educational visits by arrangement.