Elham Valley Line Trust

The Elham Valley Line Trust runs what amounts to a railway museum devoted to a branch line that closed back in 1961. If you've got any fondness for old trains or the social history of rural Kent, it's worth an afternoon from your caravan base near Folkestone. The trust has pieced together the story of what was once a proper working railway connecting the valley communities, and they've done it with genuine enthusiasm rather than museum polish.

You'll see restored rolling stock, track memorabilia, and photographs that give real flavour to how people actually travelled in this corner of Kent before Beeching's cuts. It's the sort of place where volunteers genuinely know their subject and will chat your ear off if you let them - which is either brilliant or a bit much depending on how much time you've got. Families with railway-mad kids will find more to engage them than casual visitors might, to be honest.

The trust operates seasonally, so check before you drive over from Black Horse Farm or Hawthorne Trench. Admission is typically modest or free depending on what events are running. Allow a couple of hours maximum unless you're genuinely deep into railway heritage. It's a short drive from Folkestone and sits nicely alongside Port Lympne Safari Park if you're planning a proper day out - though the two attractions couldn't be more different in tone.