MORE than 65 people turned up on an ancient hill in Strete parish to light a beacon for the Queen’s 90th birthday last week.

The parish organised their tribute on an ancient site for lighting beacons known as Great Bondfire - named and spelt as such in the tithe apportionments in the 1800s.To celebrate the turn of the millennium, owners Colin and Kate Gill set about making a permanent site in the field for a beacon.Great Bondfire hill was historically the ideal location for lighting beacons, due to its prominent visibility from the coast.They purchased a substantial old granite post from a reclamation yard on the edge of Dartmoor, measuring more than ten feet tall and about a foot square.This was then planted three feet into the ground and a substantial brazier was placed atop the post, commissioned from a Kingsbridge workshop.Colin Gill then carved the Roman numerals ‘MM’, signifying the year 2000, onto one face of the granite.It has been used for several important celebratory occasions since.In the Queen’s honour, an old handmade woollen union flag was used to decorate the recreation area, belonging to Colin’s grandparents who were married in 1913.Despite the weather, and Strete being a tiny Parish with fewer than 500 residents, more than 65 people of all ages turned up for drinks, a barbecue and cake. There were even a few visitors from Kingsbridge.Kate Gill said: ‘We had a lovely time. Thank you to all of you who helped Strete once again raise a toast and cheer for the Queen.’