Lake Vyrnwy Dam

The dam rises out of the valley like something from a Victorian engineering textbook, all stone towers and deliberate grandeur. Lake Vyrnwy itself - a proper reservoir created back in the 1880s to supply Liverpool with water - sprawls across the landscape with such conviction that you'd swear it had always been here.

Walking the perimeter is the thing most people do, and it's genuinely lovely. The water reflects the surrounding hills, and on a clear day the views stretch for miles. You can drive across the dam itself, which gives you a sense of its scale, though stopping to take it in properly means parking up and walking the paths that ring the lake. Budget a good two hours if you want to do any real exploring - longer if you fancy tackling the full circuit.

It's free to visit and there's no entrance fee, which is refreshing. The nearby towns of Welshpool sits about 10 miles away, so it works brilliantly as a half-day excursion from one of the local holiday parks. Cae Nant Glamping and Camp Plas are both close by and highly rated, making this an easy addition to a wider Mid Wales trip.

Walkers and photographers will get the most from it. Families with young children might find the novelty wears thin after an hour unless they're the type to bring binoculars and bird books - the reservoir's decent for wildlife spotting. The dam itself is industrial architecture rather than beauty, but that's precisely why it works.