The walk eventually attracted 16 walkers, not a bad number considering the distance to travel and the prospect of heavy rain forecast.

The overall walk was a little under 8 miles and Adeline had indicated that it would be moderate to strenuous in places.

14 of us were ready for the off on the road just above Dartmouth Castle which lies on the mouth of the Dart Estuary.

After the briefing we headed up along the road passing a small car park on our right before a steep little uphill section heading to the upper coastal path.

From the top we had good views both looking back towards the estuary and out to sea.

Looking back we could see Dartmouth Castle guarding the western side of the estuary, looking quite small way below us.

As we emerged onto the high ground above the Dart Estuary we had excellent views looking across the towards The Tower Day Beacon and the rock cluster guarding the eastern side of the entrance to the Dart.

Shortly afterwards along the higher coastal path we stopped for an early coffee break as our path gradually took us further away from the coast.

We made our way along to an area shown on the map as Little Dartmouth and then swung away right heading NNW towards Week Cottage.

We continued on more NW passing Higher Week and shortly after emerging onto a road for a section of road walking along quiet narrow country roads.

We headed west along the road until it emerged onto the wider and busier Stoke Fleming to Dartmouth road.

Luckily we were only on the road for a very short time before we swung off and back on a narrow road again which descended down to Venn Cross.

We did not turn right as some had anticipated but continued on down the road, heading south west and descending towards a splendid looking house at Riversbridge where we stopped to admire the house, gardens, bridge and small lake.

Shortly after we turned south and followed the stream down through a valley through which the stream ran.

En route we passed two old renovated mill houses one with its well preserved clock on the wall of the house facing the narrow road.

Shortly after we saw a signpost indicating a coast path down towards Blackpool Beach and another sign up a steeply ascending narrow track also marked as a coast path. I found this a little strange as the coast was at least 400 yards to the south.

It later emerged that the coastal path in this area really doesn't exist from west of Strete to east of Stoke Fleming, a 2 mile stretch of coastline with no real coast path, thanks in the main to non co-operating landowners.

There being nothing we could do to redress this lack of a coast path, we turned left and made our way up this steep narrow and slippery path to the top of the hill.

We stopped near the top for lunch and shortly after we could see the spire of Stoke Fleming Church below us.

We made our way down towards the village and stopped for a quick look at the church. As usual just opposite the church was the village pub, the Green Dragon.

No one took up Adelines offer of a call into the pub for a swift drink and we continued our way along the land based section of the so called coastal path in the area. Our route took us to the left of the pub and we continued along for well over a half a mile east of the village until the signpost by a car park taking us south south east and down towards the coast again.

What a shame that this two to three mile section of coast is effectively closed to walkers.

We made our way down towards Warren Point, and although we were unable to walk the section at least we were able to see the section of coastline we had missed.

Perhaps one day access will be granted to walkers. I wonder what effect the freedom to CROW legislation will have on our access to this section.

For the last section back towards the entrance to the Dart it was coast path all the way for the last 1.5 to 2 miles.

As we made our way along this final section of coast there were fine views of the short coastal section leading towards the estuary and the boats were making the most of the breeze as the raced out in the bay.

After a while there was a choice of coastal paths, the high or the low coastal paths, we took the low route as we had taken the high route on the outward leg.

Down a particularly steep descent towards Compass Cove we stopped for our final break of the walk and then on and around as the entrance to the Dart opened up before us.

We swung round towards the river and we could again see the small point of Dartmouth Castle overlooking the entrance.

The coastal path again climbed up to merge with the high route above us and we passed the boat race control point where Dartmouth Committee members were signifying the end of the race to the racing yachts.

Quite soon we were back on the track passing the end of the road with it's small car park and a few yards later our cars parked by the side of the road, at just before 3 PM.

Thanks were given to Adeline for leading the walk and we were soon off again for our return to Plymouth.

We had made our way to Dartmouth up the A38 to Totnes and thence across to Dartmouth. By accident we returned by a coastal route along passing Stoke Fleming, Strete and down along by Slapton Ley before the inland swing to Kingsbridge and the scenic route back along the South Hams to the car share point at B&Q.

Just a few miles along out of Dartmouth the forecast rains began and by the time we arrived back the rain was coming down with a vengeance.

We had been lucky for once with the weather, that does indeed make a change.