Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits

The chalk pits themselves are long gone, but what remains is a landscape that tells the story of Cambridge's industrial past in a way no museum ever could. You're looking at vast excavated bowls, their pale walls rising steeply from the ground, the kind of place that makes you realise how much material was actually dug out of this corner of Cambridgeshire. It's free to wander, and the site sits barely half a mile from Cambridge Cherry Hinton Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite - close enough for a morning walk before breakfast.

What you get here depends entirely on what interests you. Walkers will appreciate the circuit around the pits themselves, with decent paths and the peculiar geology on display. History types will find it genuinely interesting - these weren't casual digs, but serious quarrying operations that fed Cambridge's building boom. The chalk was used for mortar and cement. Kids might find it novelty value rather than riveting, though climbing around the banks keeps them occupied for thirty minutes or so. The views back towards Cambridge on a clear day aren't bad either.

Go in spring when the wildflowers start appearing on the slopes, or autumn when there's less foot traffic. Allow ninety minutes if you're doing the whole loop. It's not spectacular or dramatic - it won't take your breath away - but it's the sort of place that grows on you, especially if you're already based at one of the nearby caravan sites. Perfectly decent for a morning outing before heading into Cambridge proper.