Stourport-on-Severn

The industrial revolution lives on beside the Severn, where canal boats still chug past Georgian warehouses and lock keepers' cottages. This isn't your typical Cotswolds town - Stourport wears its working heritage proudly, from the historic basins where the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal meets the river to the red-brick streets that housed canal workers two centuries ago.

Wander down to the canal basins and you'll find narrowboats moored alongside pleasure cruisers. The Canal Heritage Room tells the story properly - how this was Britain's first canal town, purpose-built in the 1770s. York Street Boatyard still works the old lime kilns, a proper piece of living history rather than a sanitised museum piece.

Beyond the waterways, there's more than you'd expect. The Civic Theatre puts on decent productions, while Burlish Woodland offers proper walks through ancient oak and beech - a world away from the canal banks. Tennis players head to Stourport Tennis and Squash Club, though the real action happens on the water.

Stourport sits well for exploring Worcestershire's quieter corners. Worcester itself is 20 minutes south, while the Wyre Forest spreads north into Shropshire. The Severn Valley Railway runs steam trains through Bewdley, just upstream.

Staying at one of the nearby parks makes perfect sense. Whether it's Lickhill Manor Caravan Park close to the action or the more rural Blackstone Meadow, you're ideally placed for both waterside walks and countryside rambles. The town's compact enough to explore on foot, but having wheels opens up the whole Severn Valley.