Beesands Beach

A 3.7-mile circuit of about two hours from the shingle at Beesands past the ruins of the village the sea took at Hallsands, returning by tracks and green lanes with 200 metres of climbing and one long flight of steps. Start at the free seafront car park at Beesands, reached by narrow lanes from Stokenham, with the Cricket Inn and toilets beside it; the lanes are single track with passing places so a wing mirror is a genuine consideration in August. Beesands is a dog-friendly beach all year and the ley behind it holds fresh water, but the green lanes get overgrown in high summer, the fields hold sheep, and the cliff edge above Hallsands is undercut and unfenced.

A family-run shellfish shack and restaurant on the beach road at Beesands, selling crab, lobster and fish landed a few hundred yards away. Well-behaved dogs are part of the welcome, and the setting means a wet dog is nobody's crisis.

A seafood pub a stone's throw from the shingle at Beesands, on the coast path between Kingsbridge and Dartmouth. Dogs are made as welcome as people, with water bowls and biscuits in the front bar and in part of the restaurant, so this is a place you can eat properly rather than perch outside. Seven bed and breakfast rooms upstairs.