Loamhole

The clue's in the name at Loamhole - this is where the raw material for ironmaking came straight out of the ground. Coalbrookdale's industrial heritage runs deep, and this site shows you the actual extraction pits where workers dug the clay and loam needed to fire the furnaces that changed Britain forever.

It's not flashy. There's no café, no visitor centre, no interactive displays. What you get instead is the landscape itself telling the story - those distinctive hollows and ridges scarring the hillside are the evidence of centuries of digging. Walk around and you can properly see how the land was shaped by industry. The site sits right at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, so it slots perfectly into a day exploring Coalbrookdale's other attractions - the Museum of the Gorge, Blists Hill, the Ironbridge itself.

History types and industrial archaeologists will find this genuinely worthwhile. Kids might manage twenty minutes, then get restless. The walk itself is straightforward enough, though the ground's uneven in places. There's no admission charge - it's essentially a free outdoor historical site you can wander round at your own pace.

Stay at Irongorge Camping (less than a mile away) and you're perfectly positioned for a proper exploration of the gorge. The site itself needs only an hour or so, but combine it with the other attractions nearby and you've got a solid afternoon. Best visited on a clear day when you can actually see the contours of the old workings properly.