Woodlands Lodge Park

Don’t be thinking of Bridgnorth as just a handy place to pick up food (although the Saturday market is particularly fine for that ). It’s also a splendid place for a stroll, with castle ruins to explore, riverbanks to roam along and a funicular to ride between the two halves of town (a rare sight away from the sea). The town's also the starting point for steam-powered rides on the Severn Valley Railway, and there are more nods to the area’s past over in Ironbridge (20 minutes’ drive). The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and packed with museums including a hands-on science centre, china and iron museums and a living, breathing Victorian town (complete with traditional sweet shop, the small sorts will no doubt be happy to hear). If you’re seeking some outdoorsy action, aim for The Edge Adventure Activity Centre (15 minutes) to get pulses raised with days of clay pigeon shooting, rafting, canoeing and quad biking. Alternatively, give your hiking boots a good old workout with a walk on Wenlock Edge (20 minutes) or a selected chunk of the Shropshire Way (it’s 200 miles long, so you may not want to do that all in one go…).