Eastend Reservoir

The water here is remarkably still on a calm day - proper mirror-like. Eastend Reservoir sits just outside Bishop Auckland and serves as a genuine working water supply rather than a leisure attraction, which means it feels refreshingly undeveloped. There's a walk around the perimeter that takes the best part of an hour and gives you decent views across the water to the surrounding hills. The banking is grassy and accessible enough for most fitness levels, though it's not flat throughout.

This isn't the sort of place you'd trek across County Durham specifically to visit. But if you're staying at Westgate Caravan & Camping Site five miles away, it's a perfectly decent morning or afternoon outing. Families with younger kids might get restless after 40 minutes unless they're genuinely keen on bird spotting - and there's genuinely good birdwatching here if that's your thing. Walkers and photographers will find the light particularly lovely in early morning or late afternoon when the water catches the sun properly.

There's no visitor centre, no café, and you won't need to book anything. Just turn up and walk. Bring binoculars if you've got them. The main appeal is the quiet - you'll rarely find crowds, which is refreshing when most attractions near Bishop Auckland do their level best to extract money from you. It's a proper local spot that's easy to combine with a visit to the town's market or a loop through nearby parks.