RAF Coltishall Heritage Centre

The old RAF Coltishall airbase, just outside North Walsham, holds onto its Cold War past with a modest but genuine heritage centre. You'll find aircraft parked on the former runway, including a Lightning fighter jet and a Bloodhound missile launcher - the sort of hardware that defined Britain's air defence during the tense decades after 1945. It's not flashy, but it's real.

The centre itself is straightforward: wartime memorabilia, photographs, and accounts from the pilots and ground crew who worked here. If you've got even a passing interest in military aviation or 20th-century history, it's worth a couple of hours. Kids aged eight upwards tend to engage well with the aircraft themselves, though younger ones might lose interest once they've climbed about the fuselage.

The site works brilliantly as part of a Norfolk Broads holiday - North Walsham is genuinely close to the water, and you could easily combine this with a day exploring the rivers and villages nearby. Norfolk Broads Haven, just 3.9 miles away, makes a solid base if you're after a touring park with decent facilities.

Honestly, it's not a headline attraction. You won't travel two hours for it. But if you're staying in the area - perhaps doing a Broads break - and the weather's iffy, or you fancy something different one afternoon, it fills a gap. Free entry is likely, though best to ring ahead for opening hours and any seasonal closures.