Ada Lovelace in Hinckley CIC

There's a modest bronze statue of Ada Lovelace tucked away in Hinckley town centre, and it's one of those things that stops you dead on a high street walk. She's commemorated here because of her Leicestershire connections - the mathematician and computing pioneer spent formative years in the county, and this tribute marks her place in both local and technological history.

The statue itself is straightforward, unpretentious work. You won't find crowds or queues. What makes it worth seeking out is the story it represents. Ada's the kind of figure schools bang on about (pioneering woman in maths, the first computer programmer, all of that), but seeing her actual likeness in bronze - stood in an ordinary town centre rather than locked away in a museum - makes it hit different. It's properly humbling.

It's free to view, naturally, and takes five minutes to walk round. Don't expect an elaborate visitor centre or plaques the size of tombstones. This is understated. Families passing through Hinckley could do worse than pausing to point it out to kids interested in science or history. Walkers tackling the area might use it as a checkpoint between town and countryside explorations.

If you're based at Fortway Farm Leisure & Fishery nearby (less than five miles off), it makes a decent rainy-day town visit, bundled with a wander round Hinckley's other bits. Worth the detour if you're already in the area; not worth driving across Leicestershire specifically for.