Canna Mead Wharf

The Grand Union Canal cuts through Northamptonshire like a liquid motorway, and Canna Mead Wharf - just outside Northampton - is where you get a proper sense of what made these waterways tick. It's a working wharf, or at least it was, and the industrial bones are still visible if you know where to look. The canal itself is the draw here rather than any single building or monument. You can walk the towpath for miles in either direction, watch narrowboats nose past during the season, and actually understand why the canal system mattered so much to the Midlands economy.

This isn't a destination in itself - it's a launch point. Walkers will appreciate the flat, easy access along the towpath. Families with young kids can burn energy without needing to trek uphill. Canal enthusiasts and industrial history types will get more from it, especially if they combine it with a walk towards Northampton itself or head north towards Welford where the canal gets prettier.

The beauty of basing yourself at one of the nearby farms - Magic Mushroom Cabin is barely half a mile away, and Hideaway Wood Farm's alpacas are only just over the road - is that you've got your accommodation sorted while having instant access to proper countryside routes. The towpath is free and open year-round, though spring and early autumn are best when the path isn't clogged with leisure boaters. Allow an hour for a decent stretch in either direction. It's the kind of place that doesn't demand your whole afternoon but rewards a gentle wander.