Plymouth City Centre - Devil’s Point - Devonport Park - Central Park

Nicholas Rudd-Jones

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Plymouth is defined by its ocean setting, situated between the Rivers Plym and Tamar in a beautiful natural harbour. The port and quaysides have always been at the centre of its wealth, but for quite different purposes over the centuries; first, in the Middle Ages, as a port for wool and Dartmoor tin; then, in the 18th century onwards, as a centre of the British navy during the period of the Empire; and in the last generation, as the dockyards have diminished, as a desirable and fashionable place to live and visit, with converted dockyards offering stylish apartment living, the café life and locally-sourced food, epitomised by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall The River Cottage Canteen & Deli, which opened in the beautifully restored Royal William Harbour in 2011.

It is the visual interest of the setting, and the mix of history and modernity that makes this walk so fascinating. The walk takes you across Plymouth Hoe, where Sir Francis Drake was playing bowls when news of the Spanish Armada came through, around a restored dockyard that had been the main victualling point for the Royal Navy and into a delightful Victorian park recently restored with Lottery funding.

England - South West England - Devon - Town or city