Toad Hole Cottage

You'll find this peculiar little museum squirreled away in the Norfolk countryside, east of Great Yarmouth - a converted cottage that once belonged to a eel catcher. The whole place is basically a one-room snapshot of rural life in the 19th century, with fishing gear, domestic bits and pieces, and a collection of objects that tell you far more about how people actually lived than any grand manor house could manage.

It's free to wander round, which is the only sensible price for what amounts to a glorified shed filled with eel traps and old pottery. You'll spend maybe twenty minutes here unless you're genuinely fascinated by the mechanics of traditional eel fishing - and some people absolutely are. The volunteers who look after it know their stuff and will chat your ear off if you let them.

Families won't find it thrilling, and children will likely lose interest once they've had a poke around. But if you're the sort who appreciates unglamorous social history and don't mind a slightly cramped, musty-smelling room, it's worth a detour. The real charm is that it hasn't been tarted up or over-explained with interactive screens.

You're close enough to Golden Beach Holiday Park to make this a quick stop during a park break along the coast. It's the sort of place that either speaks to you immediately or feels like a waste of ten minutes - there's little middle ground. Go if you're into Norfolk's fishing heritage; skip it if you need something with a café attached.