Chard Museum

The ground floor of Chard Museum is where you'll spend most of your time, working through displays about the town's industrial past - lace-making, engineering, that sort of thing. There's a proper focus on local innovation here, which is refreshing. The upstairs galleries cover social history and natural history, though they're a bit more modest in scope.

It's the kind of place that rewards a slow wander rather than a quick tick-box visit. You'll learn things about Somerset's manufacturing heritage that rarely make it into the guidebooks. Kids might find stretches of it dry, but if you've got interested teenagers or anyone into industrial archaeology, it's genuinely worthwhile.

The museum is free to enter, which is a bonus. Budget an hour to ninety minutes depending on how deep you want to go. Chard itself is a working market town rather than a tourist hotspot, so it won't feel crowded even during school holidays.

If you're staying at one of the nearby parks - Dimpsey Shepherd's Hut Glamping is only a short drive away, as is Wytch Wood Camping - this makes a solid rainy-day option or a break from the outdoors. It's the sort of stop that makes a park holiday feel less one-note, honestly. Worth an hour of your time.