EGG BRIDGE WAVERTON

The Dee Valley near Chester holds some proper old industrial surprises, and Egg Bridge at Waverton is one worth seeking out if you're into the bones of how places actually worked. It's a modest stone arch bridge, nothing flashy, but it carried water from the Dee to power mills further downstream - a bit of 18th-century engineering that's lasted better than most Victorian show-offs.

Walking there from Chester takes you through proper countryside that most tourists miss entirely. The bridge itself sits quietly beside the river, the sort of thing you'd walk straight past if you weren't looking. That said, if you're the type who likes understanding how industrial Wales functioned before everything got grand and obvious about it, there's something satisfying about standing here and working out the hydraulics of it all.

It's free to visit and costs nothing but time. Allow twenty minutes if you're just grabbing a photo, longer if you fancy wandering the riverbank either side. The nearest caravan parks - Netherwood and Birch Bank Farm are both within a couple of miles - make decent bases for exploring the area without needing Chester's tourist crush. Summer's your best bet, when the path stays drier and the Dee's low enough to see the structure properly.

Historically minded walkers will get the most from this. Kids might find it a bit underwhelming unless they're genuinely interested in how water wheels worked. But it beats paying entry to something more famous that you'll forget by next month.