Air crash memorial

East of Huntingdon, in the Cambridgeshire countryside, stands a solemn memorial to an aircraft that came down during the Second World War. It's the kind of place that catches you off guard - you're cycling or walking through flat fenland, and suddenly there it is, a permanent marker of loss.

The memorial commemorates a specific crash, and if you're interested in wartime history, it's genuinely worth the detour. There's no visitor centre or fanfare, which somehow makes it more powerful. You stand there reading the names and dates, and the flatness of the landscape around you - that big Cambridgeshire sky - seems to emphasise how exposed and vulnerable anyone was up there.

Historians and war buffs will find it moving. Families with older kids might appreciate it as part of a broader heritage walk through the area. It won't take long - twenty minutes maximum - but that's not really the point. It's a quiet moment, not an attraction you tick off.

If you're staying at one of the nearby campsites - Long Island Lake is barely half a mile away, or Cuckoo Fen and Roseberry Tourist Park are close by - you could easily incorporate this into a morning ramble. Access is free and unrestricted as far as I can tell, though there's no formal visitor information. Spring and autumn are lovely times to visit these fens, when the light's right and you won't be swatting mosquitoes constantly. Worth your time if you've got the interest and you're in the area.