Broadhalfpenny Down

You won't find much up here besides grass, sky, and the sort of view that makes you understand why cricket was invented on this spot. Broadhalfpenny Down sits just outside Waterlooville, a proper Hampshire ridge that hosted the world's first recorded cricket match way back in 1751. Today it's just a gentle rise with open downland, but there's something rather good about standing where those early players actually stood.

The Down itself is free to access and demands minimal effort - a short walk from the car park gets you to the memorial stone that marks the occasion. You're looking at maybe twenty minutes here unless you're the type to linger over every blade of grass contemplating sporting history. Families with young children might find it a bit abstract (what's a cricket match from 300 years ago to a seven-year-old?), but anyone who actually cares about the game will find it genuinely moving.

If you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks - Wallops Wood is closest at under two miles, or Rookesbury Park a touch further out - it makes for a pleasant morning stroll before breakfast rather than a destination in itself. Combine it with a walk across the wider downland and you've got something worthwhile. Go on a clear day when the visibility stretches properly, not on one of those grey Hampshire afternoons when mist rolls in and you can barely see twenty yards ahead. The site sits in proper open country, so weather matters here.