Aldersroot

There’s a fair amount of history to digest in this leafy corner of Essex. You can learn about all things industrial at The Museum of Power (40 minutes’ drive), housed in an up-cycled 18th-century water-pumping station, or witness life in Cold War bunkers at Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker (five minutes’ drive). Have a nose around the 17th-century pottery finds and Victorian landscape paintings at Epping Forest District Museum (half an hour), and check the haphazard opening hours at Valence House Museum (35 minutes) before visiting – it’s well worth the trip to see the moated manor house, period rooms and gardens full of wildflowers. Keeping up the cultural theme, visit The Gibberd Garden (half an hour), where avenues of trees lead to an eccentric sculpture trail featuring the best of British artists – and when it’s just a peaceful country walk you’re after, try the trails through Bobbingworth Nature Reserve (10 minutes), built on a former landfill site.