Attlebridge Airfield

The control tower still stands at Attlebridge, a sprawling wartime airfield just east of Norwich where American B-17 bombers once thundered down the runway. These days it's part museum, part working heritage site, and absolutely worth a detour if you're into aviation history or second world war sites.

You'll walk around restored hangars and original buildings, seeing the actual infrastructure the 8th Air Force used during daylight bombing runs over occupied Europe. The control tower is the real draw - you can climb it and stand where operations officers tracked their planes home. It's intimate and sobering. The few aircraft on display are well-maintained, and volunteers who work here know their stuff. Ask them questions; they'll talk your ear off for hours if you let them.

This isn't a slick, theme-park museum. It's genuinely focused on the American 388th Bomber Group's time here, so if you're after polished exhibits and gift shops, look elsewhere. But if you want to stand in the actual locations where real decisions were made during wartime, it delivers. Most visitors spend two to three hours here.

It works brilliantly as a morning outing if you're based at Bylaugh Country Park or Moat Island Glamping nearby. Norwich is close enough for lunch afterwards. Check ahead for opening times and admission fees, as this runs on volunteer power and isn't always open. Worth ringing first.