Attractions and Places To See around Shillingford St George - Top 20

Look out for an entrance onto a footpath on your right, which follows beside the railway tracks on your left, and the exe estuary on your right. The path is too narrow for cycling but great for walking and running.

This swing bridge is an interesting construction.

Nice flat cycle path. But gets VERY busy with 2 wheeled, 2 legged and 4 legged visitors in the summer months. Watch how you go.

Nice flat cycle path. But gets VERY busy with 2 wheeled, 2 legged and 4 legged visitors in the summer months. Watch how you go.

Cockwood Harbour is a small tidal harbour in Cockwood, a village on the western bank of the Exe Estuary in Devon. It is a popular boating spot with a church, pubs and accommodation. Cockwood Harbour is known for the railway line that runs over the narrow strip of land between the harbour and the sea. The line continues to Dawlish, where it follows the coastline and offers stunning views of the water. Cockwood Harbour is part of the Exe Estuary Trail, a cycle and walking route that follows the River Exe and the canal from Exmouth to Dawlish.

Exeter Ship Canal is a canal leading from (and beside) the River Exe to Exeter Quay in the city of Exeter, Devon. It was first constructed in the 1560s and was the first canal to be built in Britain since Roman times. It was also the first canal in England to use the pound lock. The canal was built to bypass the weirs that had been erected on the river by the Countess of Devon and later by the Earls of Devon, which prevented ships from reaching Exeter and forced them to unload at Topsham. The canal was enlarged and extended several times over the centuries and reached its present form in the 1830s. The canal basin was also built at that time and became a busy port with warehouses and workshops. Today, the canal is mainly used for leisure activities such as boating, walking and cycling. You can follow the Exe Estuary Trail alongside the canal and enjoy the scenic views of the river and the countryside.

Countess Wear Bridges are two bridges in Exeter, Devon that cross the River Exe and the Exeter Ship Canal. They have a D-Day connection because they were used for military training by British paratroops prior to the Normandy landings in 1944. The bridges were chosen because they resembled two bridges in France that were part of the Operation Deadstick, a daring mission to capture and hold the crossings over the Caen Canal and River Orne. The training involved rehearsing different scenarios and tactics in case the plan went wrong on D-Day.

The Exe Estuary Trail is a 22.5-mile (36-km), mainly flat cycle route and walkway that runs around the entire Exe Estuary linking Exmouth, Exeter and Dawlish, with fantastic views along the River Exe. The trail is part of the National Cycle Network Route 2 and is predominantly off-road. It passes through some beautiful riverside towns and villages steeped in maritime history, such as Topsham and Lympstone. The trail also offers a great opportunity to see the diverse and plentiful wildlife that inhabits the estuary, such as birds, fish and seals.