Visiting South Devon's Coast: Part Two - Coastal walking in two of the best Devon harbours

Our first coastal walk was from Little Dartmouth to Dartmouth. Starting at Little Dartmouth you follow the South West Coastal Path to the River Dart Estuary. The more inland you go you can see the defences on both sides of the River. Dartmouth is noted to be Devon's most defended port and this walk takes you directly to Dartmouth Castle. While we were here we decided to go in and take a look.

The installations at the castle show it's history right up until World War II, which means this castle defended Dartmouth for over 600 years. In the Gun Tower can also touch some of the shots, try on different helmets and see what it is like to shoot a cannon with an interactive light display which the kids enjoyed and, the views overlooking the Dart Estuary are sublime. There is also a cafe here so you can have a refreshment break. The walk then takes you back up the South West Coastal path to Little Dartmouth. We completed the walk and then drove closer to Dartmouth so we could have a walk around the harbour and do a bit of shopping.We arrived at high tide and lots of people were catching crabs all along the harbour.

Our next Coastal walk I had really been looking forward too as I had planned a really lovely meal when we reached Brixham. The walk takes you from Berry Head into Brixham and back. Berry Head is the headland south of Brixham and is a national nature reserve and site of scientific interest. The was an array of nesting seabirds that you can see and a specially built hide with descriptions of each in it. There are also historical naval fortifications there and a visitor centre talking about Berry Head's history and a lovely cafe where we had a cream tea lunch called The Guardshouse Cafe.

After a lovely lunch we then started our descent into Brixham Harbour. Brixham is hilly but the view when you get to the harbour is magnificent and you can see why it is still home to England's largest commercial fishing fleet and the very reason I wanted to come here, to sample that wonderful fresh fish. Also in the Harbour is a moored replica of Francis Drake's Ship, The Golden Hind, which is also a nice attraction for the kids.

After this we did a some shopping in the lovely local independent shops before having a nice pint of Rattler at The Prince William pub, sitting outside to soak up the glorious view of the harbour. This was our pre-dinner drink as I had booked us to go to Rockfish for our Dinner. I loved everything abut this restaurant and being dog-friendly made even better. Here you are eating seafood that has been caught that day, there is nothing fresher, and with the outdoor terrace seating you can look over the fishing fleets out to see, this is as sustainable as it gets and oh so delicious. Then menu lists more fish that I realised we could catch in our waters and the waiting staff come round and circle those that have been caught this morning. I had Brill, which was a fish I hadn't had before and it was delicious as well as 6 fresh oysters to start. Coupled with a nice crisp white wine I was in foodie heaven. I cannot recommend this place enough, it is a real treat for seafood lovers.

After our relaxing dinner we had to walk it off by heading back up to Berry Head to finish our walk, ordinarily a two hour walk it was nice to break it up and make a day of it in Brixham. I was going to sleep well tonight.