Drake Field

The field where Sir Francis Drake supposedly played bowls before battling the Spanish Armada sits just outside Tavistock, a proper piece of English legend made visible. It's not much to look at - a sloped bit of ground with a stone monument and some interpretation panels - but stand there and you're literally where one of England's most famous moments supposedly happened in 1588. Whether the story's entirely true hardly matters when you're looking at the actual spot.

Walkers and history enthusiasts will get more from it than families with restless kids. You need to care about the Tudor period, naval history, or at least the mythology of it all. The walk from town takes twenty minutes or so, and you can combine it with a proper wander around Tavistock itself - the abbey ruins are worth an hour. Allow thirty minutes here if you're thorough with the panels, ten if you just want the photo.

Stay at either Langstone Manor or Woodovis, both within three miles, and you've got a solid base for exploring the moorland around here. Drake Field works best as part of a bigger day out rather than a standalone trip. Free to visit, open all hours since it's just a field, and genuinely atmospheric on a quiet morning when the mist hasn't lifted off the moors yet.