Upriver from Dartmouth and turn left, there is in a secluded tidal inlet named Old Mill Creek, the perfect location for maintaining and mooring every kind of craft. There have been small shipyards quietly carrying on their business here, servicing local needs, since way before written records began.
Today the Creek’s wooded banks have special heritage status, and are being preserved by the Raleigh Estate, who own both foreshore and fundus. Since 2008 the Spirit of Adventure organisation has offered an opportunity for youngsters from Devon and Cornwall to explore Old Mill Creek in Canadian canoes. Their memories will last a lifetime. It is a magical place which has been the backdrop to so many histories and local life stories over the centuries.
The spot has strong connections with Royalty. The Naval College, up on the heights above the inlet, was built in 1905 to replace their old training hulks, and , which were moored at the entrance to the Creek in the 1860s. From Victorian times royal heirs have trained at the College, making social visits too, as when recently-married Elizabeth and her dashing husband returned to Dartmouth in 1949, revisiting the Sea Ranger headquarters, an old MTB moored by Old Mill Creek where both young princesses had spent a few days after the war. Elizabeth was delighted
