The Blowingstone

A hole carved into a sarsen stone in the chalky downs above Wantage - that's the Blowingstone, and it's properly odd. You can actually put your mouth to it and blow through, supposedly producing a sound loud enough to be heard across the Vale of White Horse. Whether it genuinely works or you just end up looking daft is half the fun.

The stone itself sits in a field near Kingston Lisle, a short walk from the village. It's not enormous - you could miss it if you weren't looking - but there's something compelling about standing in front of a rock that's been used this way for centuries. Local legend ties it to folklore about a giant and a wicked woman, though historians reckon it was probably once used as a territorial boundary marker. Either way, the view from up here across the downs is excellent.

This is strictly a walk-and-blow job rather than a full afternoon activity. Twenty minutes, half an hour tops, unless you fancy extending it as part of a proper ramble through the Oxfordshire chalk country. Kids find it entertaining - there's novelty in the whole blowing-through-ancient-rock thing - though under-eights might struggle to actually produce a sound.

Stay at Evelyns Garden Glamping just 1.3 miles away and you can make this a lazy morning excursion before heading to White Horse Hill or exploring further afield. It's free, always accessible, and works best on a clear day when the views properly open up. Not groundbreaking, but worth the detour if you're in the area.