Topsham to Turf Locks along the canal

Three miles there and back along the last reach of the Exeter Ship Canal to the Turf Hotel at the mouth of the estuary, an hour and a quarter dead flat on a wide grass and gravel towpath with the Exminster Marshes on one side and the tide on the other. The catch is the crossing: the towpath is on the west bank, so from Topsham you take the seasonal ferry from the steps below the Passage House, and if it is not running you must drive round by Exminster and walk down the lane instead. Dogs have it easy here with no stiles, no traffic and no livestock on the towpath itself, but the marsh either side is grazed and full of overwintering birds, so keep to the path and on a lead in winter, and the canal is deep with sheer sides throughout.