retired. In 2009 over half the estimated population were aged over 50. The village straggles along narrow roads down steep-sided valleys, terminating at a shingle beach, Branscombe Mouth, which forms part of the East Devon and Dorset Jurassic Coast. To either side of the beach, the coast rises steeply to cliffs, which are in the ownership of the National Trust. It is a popular point for starting walks on the South West Coast Path; it is a short walk eastwards to Beer (with two alternative routes, one at the top of the cliffs and the other ascending the cliffs via the interesting Hooken Undercliff area and a longer walk westwards towards Sidmouth. There is a small primary school, which had 68 pupils in 2005. It is owned and operated by the Church of England with grant assistance from the Devon County Council. The original building dates from 1878. There are two public houses in the parish, the Fountain Head and the Mason's Arms, both of which were included in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2008. The Fountain Head is sited at the source of a spring in the hamlet of Street. The name of the Mason's Arms is a reminder that stone quarrying in the nearby beer stone caves was once a major employer in the village; from the undercliff path east of Branscombe Mouth, an adit to the former beer stone mine can be seen. The Mason's Arms is also a hotel. A village brewery, Branscombe Vale Brewery, has won many awards for its beer. The village contains three National Trust properties, The Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge, restored by the Trust, which has owned them since 1965. July 2013 saw the inaugural Branscombe Music Festival, hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny. Performers included the Carducci String Quartet, Philip Higham (cello), Ailyn Pérez and Stephen Costello with Iain Burnside (piano), the Leo Green Experience jazz band and the Trelights Brass Quintet. MSC Napoli On 18 January 2007 the container ship MSC Napoli was holed whilst in the English Channel during the storm Kyrill, forcing the rescue of her 26-man crew by French Navy and Royal Navy helicopters. On Saturday 20 January 2007 she was beached at Branscombe to enable the salvage of the cargo. The MSC Napoli was carrying 2,394 containers, of which around 150 contained "hazardous" substances including industrial and agricultural chemicals, according to the Maritime