06/11/2026
Went to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema last night and saw the new He-Man: Masters of the Universe movie. It was campy, glam-rocky, unapologetically over the top, and if anything, I think it could have gone even further. I loved it.
The reason I bring it up is that a large part of the movie was filmed near my hometown of Lyme Regis, just across the Dorset border in Devon, at a place called Beer. Yes, Beer — like the drink. You can even visit the Barrel of Beer pub and buy a T-shirt that proudly says:
“I had a Beer at the Barrel of Beer in Beer.”
I highly recommend the trip. The Beer Quarry Caves are incredible. They occasionally host theatrical productions in the caves themselves, and out of season you can even watch the bat camera and see the resident bats going about their nightly business.
Another connection I hadn’t appreciated until moving to Missouri is that the stone from these caves, known as Beer Stone, travelled much farther than Devon. This creamy-coloured limestone was prized because it was soft enough to carve when freshly quarried but hardened when exposed to the air. It was used in some of Britain’s most famous buildings, including Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, and Windsor Castle.
Even more surprisingly, between 1909 and 1911, carvings made from Beer Stone were packed into 230 separate cases, shipped across the Atlantic, and assembled at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, where they form the magnificent carved screen behind the altar, known as a reredos.
So there I was in Missouri, watching Eternia on the big screen and recognising a little corner of home.
It felt like a little trip back to the Shire
