[1] From the bus stop at the entrance to the ferry slip, take the lane on the opposite side of the road. Pass a footpath sign and public toilets on your left. After a few hundred metres the path follows the banks of the River Tamar on your right.
[2] At the little harbour of Empacombe, walk by the harbour wall to avoid the private ground.
(A) Empacombe Harbour was never intended for ships, but for boats taking supplies to larger vessels moored in deeper water. They included materials for the first Eddystone Lighthouse.The castle-like gateway was built by the Edgcumbe family in 1788 to add interest to their grand estate. This is the first of several such features and follies along the route.
[3] Cross the road and take the footpath immediately opposite. A short way along the broad farm track, take the indistinct track going diagonally up the hill on your right. Head for the gate into the wood that comes into view at the top left hand corner of the field.
[4] Through the gate, follow the main path that zig-zags up to the open ground at the top of the wood, avoiding side paths to left and right.
[5] Cross the road and head to the right of Maker Church. Turn right at the church and follow the hedge on your left.
(B) The parish church of St. Mary and St. Julian dates from about 1500, possibly incorporating structure of earlier nave and chancel. The church was fortified during the Civil War and captured by the Roundheads in 1644.
[6] Cross the stile just after the field gate and follow the well signed footpath through fields, passing the B&B and tearoom on your left.
[7] At the tarmac road turn right up the short hill, then left at the road junction, passing the buildings of Maker Farm on your left.
[8] When the road enters open ground, take the signed footpath down the narrow lane your left. Stay on this gently sloping lane past the ruined Grenville Battery on your right, avoiding the side paths on the left that descend more steeply to the Coast Path.
(C) Now a ruin, Maker Heights Redoubt No.4 was built in 1782. It was renamed Grenville Battery in 1887 after two 12.5-inch 'rifled muzzle-loading' guns were installed.
[9] When you meet a major path coming from your right, keep left on your path as it goes more steeply down. It soon opens out into a street with houses on either side, the beginning of Kingsand village.
(D) Kingsand and its close neighbour Cawsand were notorious centres of smuggling until (and to a lesser extent after) the Coastguard patrols began in 1822. An 18th Century visitor remarked on the 'grotesque' appearance of local women, 'waddling along' with a great weight of contraband spirits under their petticoats.
[10] Turn sharp right at the first junction. Go through the pedestrian gate onto the tarmac path that traverses the broad greensward above the sea. For most of the rest of the walk you are following the South West Coast Path. You are likely see ships belonging to Brittany Ferries, the Royal Navy, and (often moored just inside Plymouth Breakwater) the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
(E) Over 1.5km long, the Plymouth Breakwater was built from locally quarried stone between 1812 and 1841.
[11] At the road go right for a short distance, then take the footpath on the left. You want the path starting parallel to the road, not the unofficial path going steeply up the bank. It gains height in open ground, enters a wood, and passes Picklecombe Seat on your left.
(F) Picklecombe Seat was built in the 18th century using medieval stone taken from churches in Stonehouse.
[12] After you pass Fort Pickecombe, the former level route of the Coast Path is barred because of a land slip. The diversion zig-zags steeply up the bank on your left.
(G) Fort Picklecombe was built between 1864 and 1871, one of the coastal defences against the French ordered by Lord Palmerton. It was converted to housing in the 1970s.
[13] Avoid the broad level path to your left and take the steep footpath down through the wood. The way becomes broader and more level, passing the quaint 'Lady Emma's Cottage' on your left. It emerges from the wood to give an imposing view of The Folly on your left and across Plymouth Sound and Drake's Island on your right.
(H) The Folly was built in 1747 as a deliberately picturesque ruin, again using stone reclaimed from churches in Stonehouse. The convincingly 'ruined' effect was achieved by building a structure and blowing it up with gunpowder.
[14] Past The Folly, leave the broad path and go diagonally down the slope to a gate. You are now entering a fascinating section of the Edgcumbe Estate where the Temple of Milton overlooks an ornamental lake. Notice the strong concrete roadways to the beach, built to carry heavy armour to this D-Day embarkation point.
(I)The Temple of Milton was built in the Ionic style in 1755. The name comes from an inscription taken from Paradise Lost.
[15] Go through an iron gate into the more formal gardens of the Edgcumbe Estate. Here you pass the Blockhouse on your left and the canons of the Wilderness Point battery on your right. The way mostly follows the waterfront, but passes to the left of the Orangery.
(J) Built in about 1545 by Sir Peter Edgcumbe, the Tudor Blockhouse is much the oldest of the fortifications along the walk. By contrast, the nearby Battery dates from 1865.
[16] As you leave the garden through the gatehouse, your starting point comes back into view.