Kingswear and Dartmouth

On a sweltering, hot sunny Sunday afternoon in July, under a clear blue sky, there is only one place to head: to the West End or London Palladium of tourist jewels in Britain. And that is Dartmouth and Kingswear at the mouth of the River Dart estuary in south Devon.

From Exeter, by car, there is a neat little by-pass - repeatedly signposted as 'Ring Road' - known as the A380; it is a dual-carriageway which skirts the urban sprawl of Torbay (Torquay and Paignton) and takes you straight to the A3022 and Brixham. Here, you may turn off for Kingswear, reached by an ever-narrowing little road.

Park about half a mile at the top of the hill that leads down to Kingswear - away from the crazed double yellow lines - and you have a delightful stroll down to the station and the estuary, which blinks its spectacular presence between the terraced and detached houses.

Cross the Dart by passenger ferry and then explore Bayards Cove and its Tudor castle and on towards Warfleet and Dartmouth Castle.