HMV Altmark

The HMV Altmark sits in an unlikely spot near Porthcawl - a German World War II minesweeper that somehow ended up beached on the Welsh coast and never left. It's an odd piece of maritime history that most visitors driving past the seafront completely miss.

What you're actually looking at is the rusting hull of a working warship, now landlocked and gradually surrendering to the salt air. It's free to view from the shore, and honestly, that's the only way to experience it - you can't board her, can't climb aboard. The appeal is the strangeness of the thing: a German vessel sitting in a South Wales seaside town, a proper reminder of how far the war's debris travelled.

History buffs will find it worthwhile. Kids might spend ten minutes looking before asking what's for lunch. The walk from central Porthcawl takes about fifteen minutes if you know where you're heading, though signage is minimal. Go at low tide if possible - you get a better sense of the wreck's scale.

It works well as a stop-off if you're already in Porthcawl, especially if you're based at Trecco Bay Holiday Park down the coast. Combine it with a proper walk along the seafront, the local beaches, or a visit to the funfair. On its own, the Altmark is a curiosity rather than a destination. But that's rather the point - it's the kind of odd historical leftover that makes a holiday memorable.