Apsley Cherry-Garrard

The modest cottage where polar explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard lived out his later years sits quietly near St Albans, a place most walkers pass without noticing. Cherry-Garrard was Scott's protégé - the youngest member of the Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica - and his memoir 'The Worst Journey in the World' remains one of the finest accounts of polar exploration ever written. This is where he retreated after returning from the ice, processing trauma and frostbite in the Hertfordshire countryside.

It's not a museum or formal attraction with ticketed entry and opening hours. What you're looking at is a private residence with historical significance - a quiet pilgrimage spot rather than a day out. History types and Antarctic enthusiasts will find the location moving, even from the outside; families with young children will get nothing from it. The real value is in standing there and thinking about what this man endured - the irony of finding peace in the gentle rolling landscape of Hertfordshire after such extremes.

If you're based at Cherry Green Trees or Commons Wood nearby, both decent caravan spots within five miles, it's worth a passing visit on a country walk around St Albans. Don't expect facilities or interpretation boards. Bring your own sense of history. The appeal is entirely in the story this place holds, not in what it offers as an attraction. Worth knowing about, even if the visit itself takes ten minutes.