Countess Pillar, Brougham

Drive south from Penrith and you'll spot this oddly moving stone column standing alone beside the A66. The Countess Pillar was raised in 1656 to commemorate the meeting between Lady Anne Clifford and her mother - the Countess of Pembroke - after they'd been separated for decades. It's a proper piece of local history, the kind of thing that makes you pause and actually think about the people behind it.

There's not much to do here, to be honest. You pull over, read the inscription if you can make it out, take a photo, and move on. Twenty minutes maximum. But if you're into old stories and Cumbrian heritage, it's worth the brief stop. The pillar itself sits in a small designated area with parking nearby, so you won't struggle finding it.

It works best as part of a wider wander around Brougham and the surrounding landscape - the castle ruins are just down the road, and you've got the eastern fringes of the Lake District within easy reach. If you're staying at Howdy Glamping, it's barely ten minutes away and makes a quick bit of cultural punctuation between walks. Kids won't find it thrilling unless they're genuinely interested in history, but for adults with a taste for the peculiar and personal monuments scattered across England, it's rather good. Free to visit, always open.