(S) Leave Wembury at the crossroads down from St. Werburgh's Church and go along Churchwood Valley to reach Ford Road. Continue past Ford Farm and up to Traine Road. Turn left past Traine Farm and up to the junction with Wembury Road. Turn left and almost immediately right, down by the side of some houses to go through Hollacombe Wood. Go past Spriddlestone House and up to the crossroads at Spriddlestone through a metal gate. Turn right and then left opposite the last couple of cottages into a small copse of trees and across the fields to Cofflete Creek. The road is called Brixton Tor and was the site of an old mill. There is an old stone bridge that used to carry the Great Western Railway branch line from Plymouth to Brixton. The route continues along a shady lane and across fields to meet up with the A 379. Cross the busy road and go right along the footpath for about 100m until you reach Lodge Lane and turn left. Go up the lane for a good half mile to a crossing with Hilltop Cottages and turn right. About 50m further on, turn right through a metal gate and head for the houses and the church that will bring you out in Brixton.
(1) To avoid the A 379, go left, in front of the church (check out the restored lamppost on the corner). If you want a pint in The Foxhound pub or fish & chips at the chippy next door, turn right and go back along the A 379 towards Combe. From St. Mary's Church, head onto Old Road next to a shop. At the crossing with Red Lion Hill, go straight across to Woodland Drive and keep heading east past all the houses and out onto the fields next to a big oak tree. The path bears left, heading in a north-easterly direction, over a stream and coming out onto a small lane at Gorlofen (look out for the pheasants). Turn right along the lane, past a junction on the left, and after about 200m go over a wooden stile on the right to head over the fields. The path should bring you out onto Bowden Hill (road) opposite some houses. Turn right along the road, then left between the houses to reach the A 379 on a railed slope into Yealmpton.
(2) Turn left along the road, past the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew and The Volunteer pub up to the crossroads. Turn down to the right along with Torr Hill (road), past the junction and onto the B 3186 across the footbridge.alongside the road bridge that crosses the River Yealm. Turn left on the other side, through a wooden swing-gate to follow the river to the end of the houses, along a narrow path with a wooden fence on the left and tall hedge on the right. The path bears right to stay out of the woods, meeting a track. Turn left along the track, heading north east to almost reach Yealm Bridge but turn right just before. It's also worth going 20m up to the A 379 to see the Old Toll House, dating back to 1809. Track back the 20m or so to pick up a lane on the left (coming from the Toll House). This leafy lane will take you to the local road, at which you turn right and head into Dunstone.
(3) At the T-junction, turn left then bear right along the road past a thatched cottage. Just past a footpath sign on the right, take the path going off to the left over a wooden stile through the trees and out onto the fields. The route crosses the fields to the local road near Ramsland Farm. Here, turn left along the road as far as the sawmill and take the track leading off to the right. At the crossroads keep straight on to go through Flete Wood and eventually reach a T-junction. Turn left and head across country to Hollowcombe Cross and the A 379. In a 90º curve in the track just before the main road, there is a path that cuts across the field to come out next to a driveway to a farm. Cross over the road to pick up a permissive path that runs parallel to the road, behind the hedge. Cross over the side road and continue on to the bridge over the River Erme. Don't cross the river but turn left to follow it up to the A 3121 and a stile made of a metal bar between two vertical stones. Turn right along the road, ignoring the first turn off to the left but continuing until a road leads off left called Town Hill that leads into Ermington.
(4) The Crooked Spire pub sits at the road junction with Chapel St. Bear right along School Road and turn right before the church, opposite the war memorial. Head down this road to meet up with the A 3121 again and turn left. Follow the road round to the right and over the bridge to take the road off to the left alongside the River Erme as far as Strode. At the junction, follow the sign indicating Penquit but take the first path on the left (ignore the second path 2m ahead on the road) through a modern metal swing gate. This path leads over the fields to Thornham Farm then on to Lower Keaton. This time, the access to the road is over small stone stairs, up and down. Bear left along the road to another T-junction and turn left. As the road narrows, passing a farm building on the left, bear right off the road alongside the river and past a weir. The path follows the river for a while then bears off right to head over fields to Yeolands Farm. From here, there is a permissive path on the left, behind the hedge that follows the road past the football club to the feed-off road from the A 38 and the Bridge Court Recycling Centre on the right. Ignore the path to the subway to the playing fields but keep on along the stone wall to go under the A 38 alongside the river. The river path goes under Marjorie Kelly Way then bears off to the right along Costly St. At the T-junction, turn left and the route finishes at the war memorial on Fore St in the centre of Ivybridge.(E)
