Tittybottle Park

The name stops most people in their tracks, but Tittybottle Park is a genuine and rather lovely nature reserve just outside Ilkley. It's a modest spot - more of a local secret than a headline attraction - covering rough moorland and woodland where you can actually see what the Pennines looked like before the postcards arrived.

What you get is straightforward: a few miles of walking trails through heather and bracken, with the occasional view that justifies the climb. The paths are well-trodden enough that you won't get lost, but quiet enough that you won't feel herded. On a clear day you can see across the valley; on a grey one it's moody and atmospheric in that very Yorkshire way.

This is walker territory, full stop. Families with young kids will find the terrain a bit unforgiving - it's not a pushing-the-pram sort of place - but anyone over eight or nine who can manage a decent hike will get something from it. Bird watchers come here too. The reserve sits right on the moorland edge, so you might spot grouse, curlew, or if you're lucky, merlin.

Allow a couple of hours minimum; three if you want to properly explore. It's free to wander, which is refreshing. The nearest proper facilities are back in Ilkley itself. If you're staying at Fairmead Farm Glamping nearby, it's barely worth a detour unless the weather's kind - but on a proper Pennine day, it's exactly the sort of bracing walk that makes you remember why you came to Yorkshire.