Stoodley Pike

The walk up to Stoodley Pike is proper steep, but once you've climbed the 1,300-odd feet you're standing in front of this Victorian monument like you've earned something. It's a stone obelisk plonked on the Pennine moorland above Hebden Bridge, built in 1854 to celebrate the end of the Crimean War, and it dominates the skyline for miles around.

The thing about Stoodley Pike is that it's less about the monument itself - nice enough, but you're not spending hours here - and more about the walk and the views. On a clear day you can see across the moorland to the Pennine peaks. The moorland around it is proper wild, purple with heather in late summer. It's the sort of place that feels like you're miles from civilisation even though Hebden Bridge's cafes and bookshops are just a few miles down the hill.

Walkers will get the most from this. The approach routes vary in difficulty, but none of them are gentle. Allow a couple of hours for the round trip depending which path you take from town. Families with confident hikers aged ten-plus will manage it, but toddlers and the very young will struggle with the moorland terrain and gradient.

It's free, obviously - just park in Hebden Bridge and go. The real value is as part of a broader walking holiday in the South Pennines. Based at Old Chamber Camping or Hebden Bridge Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite, you've got this, plus Heptonstall village, Hardcastle Crags, and the Bronte Way all within easy reach. Worth combining with other walks rather than making a standalone trip.