Love2Stay

If you do make it away from the fab spread of activities on site, then a trip to medieval Shrewsbury (10 minutes' drive) comes fully recommended. Get stuck into the grisly tales on offer at the Jailhouse, gaze upon the cracking views from the 11th-century castle, and have a riverside picnic in local favourite Quarry Park. For those with restless boots, take the fine circular tour of the town and three larger walks of the surrounding countryside, taking in battlefields and bandit hideouts, ancient forts and nature reserves. You can hire bikes back at the site to visit ruined abbeys and stately homes on designated trails. Bridgnorth (half an hour) is well worth a trip, especially for train buffs: a clifftop rail cars glides adventurers up the 111-foot sandstone cliffs slowly enough to savour the views over the Severn valley. Another sedate (if slightly noisier) way to see the surrounds is on the Severn Valley Railway, whose old steam engines puff 16 miles from Bridgnorth down to Kidderminster through cracking fine English countryside, tooting at suitable intervals.