Pancake Runners Statue

The Pancake Runners Statue sits in Olney, a market town that's genuinely worth a proper wander. It commemorates the town's famous Pancake Race - a 500-year tradition where locals sprint through the streets on Shrove Tuesday, frying pan in hand, tossing pancakes as they go. The statue itself is a bit of fun, capturing that slightly mad British eccentricity that makes these traditions so oddly brilliant.

You won't spend hours here - it's more of a "right, that's a good photo" kind of stop. But if you're in Olney anyway, which is lovely for an afternoon stroll with its Georgian architecture and the Cowper and Newton Museum nearby, you'll pass it. The race itself happens once a year on Shrove Tuesday morning, and if you time it right, that's worth the trip on its own - mad dash, cheering crowds, pancakes everywhere.

For families camping at nearby Ekeney House Campsite, it's barely two miles away, so an easy morning visit before heading into the town proper for lunch. Walkers will appreciate Olney's riverside paths too. The statue's free to gawk at, obviously - it's in public space - and there's no admission fee whatsoever. Honestly, it's the sort of thing that works best as part of a bigger day out rather than a destination in itself. But that's rather the point with Olney.