The Boot Room

The Boot Room in Ripon is one of those places that stops you dead. It's the former changing room where the famous Ripon Spa FC players got ready - nothing grand, nothing polished, just the genuine article frozen in time. Walk through and you're standing where footballers have laced up their boots for decades, kit hooks still on the walls, the smell of the place somehow still speaking of liniment and determination.

It's a proper pilgrimage for football historians and anyone with a soft spot for grassroots sport. You won't need more than half an hour here - this isn't a sprawling museum - but what you get is authentic. The Boot Room tells the story of a real club, real players, real passion. Kids who love football will find it interesting; those indifferent to the sport might feel it passes them by.

Ripon itself is worth a day trip anyway. The cathedral's superb, the market square has proper character, and the Ripon Spa FC ground is walkable from the town centre. If you're staying at Sleningford Watermill, just five miles out, The Boot Room makes an easy addition to a park-based break in North Yorkshire. Check ahead about opening times - they're not always posted online - but it's worth the leg work to visit.