Totnes to Ashprington

We caught the train to Totnes and walked down from the station to the River Dart, where we started to follow the Dart Valley Trail.  However, after a short while we could not see where to go.  We walked through an industrial estate before realising we had missed the path.  When we retraced our steps we saw  the cycle path which we intended to return on, so decided to take this path and come back on the footpath.

The cycle path was a good path to walk on and no cyclist used it while we were walking along it.  It climbed slowly up a hill while following the direction of the river, which we could see occasionally below.  Eventually we joined up with the footpath and continued on that way.  Above Ashprington we turned left to divert to Sharpham Vineyard.  It was a steep hill down and as we did not want to pay £4.75 to look around the vineyard it was a bit of a waste of time.  However, by taking this road down we got wonderful views back to Totnes along the river.

We climbed back up the hill and continued on to Ashprington.  Initially there was a footpath at the side of the road and then through a playing field but then we had to walk down the narow road.  Ashprington was a pretty village, but we did not stop but walked down the hill to Bow Bridge, where there was a pub with tables outside at the side of the creek.  Very pretty and a welcome rest.

On the way back we kept to the Dart Valley Trail, which was well marked and a flatter route than the cycle route.  Once back in Totnes we saw how we had missed our way at the beginning - we should have walked through the higher part of the industrial estate, not the lower part next to the river!