WINNING TIP Royston Cave, Hertfordshire

This deep, man-made chalk cave beneath Royston is believed to date from the 14th century. Bizarre Christian and pre-Christian imagery is carved into the chalk walls – quasi-erotic sheela-na-gigs, St Catherine, the Holy Family (or is it?), knights, martyrs and magical creatures form a sort of frenzied panorama. Studies of the cave show that it may have been used by the Knights Templar.
01763 245484, roystoncave.co.uk, adults £3, children free
Intheshed

Cheshire

World Worm Charming Championships, Willaston
Only in the UK could the World Worm Charming Championships be held. A quirky afternoon out – and there was great excitement in 2009 when the record was beaten for the most number of worms collected – 567. You would never guess such fun could be had from a 3mx3m plot of grass.
01270 663957, wormcharming.com, held annually in June, admission £1
dizzyc

Derbyshire

World Championship Hen Racing, The Barley Mow, Bonsall
The Mow's major claim to fame is as host of World Championship Hen Racing, which supports the British Hen Welfare Trust. This eccentric mix of serious racing and hopeless enthusiasm means that the thoroughbreds of the hen-racing world stand as much chance as any have-a-goer who turns up on the day (held on the first Saturday of August each year). Occasional battles between competitors see yellow warning cards for fighting on the track. Racers have been known to travel from as far afield as Finland and Australia. 01629 825685, barleymowbonsall.co.uk, thehenshouse.co.uk
Badlypackedtraveller

Mappleton boat race and bridge jump
This is held annually on New Year's Day. Twenty teams of two people paddle down the River Dove for a quarter of a mile, climb out of their boats and jump 30 feet off the bridge into the river. They then swim to the edge and run across the field to the finish line – the Okeover Arms, Mappleton. Crowds gather and there is food, hot drinks, as well as copious amounts of alcohol on offer! A great way to start the New Year.
Okeover Arms,01335 350305 theokeoverarms.co.uk
En1gmaz

Northumberland

Branxton Cement Menagerie
If you are travelling on the A697, take a detour, a few miles south of Coldstream, to visit this small, imaginative sculpture garden. You come face to face with Lawrence of Arabia on his camel and Winston Churchill with his cigar as well as all the wild animals you could ever hope to meet in one garden. Created in the 60s and 70s by a local builder, John Fairnington, to entertain his son, these life-size statues are very endearing. no phone, alnwick.org.uk/menag.htm, admission free
TriciaLow

Merseyside

Williamson Tunnels, Liverpool
Underneath Edge Hill, a quiet district of Liverpool, lie the Williamson Tunnels. A retired tobacco merchant called Joseph Williamson paid to have them dug in the early 1800s, and nobody knows why. He might have been trying to create honest work for the unemployed, he might have been digging a bunker in which he could sit out Armageddon. Visitors can take a guided tour through a section of the vast complex – more tunnels are still being rediscovered.
0151 709 6868, williamsontunnels.co.uk, adults £4.50, children £3
Cooperteacher

Yorkshire

Mother Shipton's Cave, Knaresborough
Opened to the public in 1630, Mother Shipton's Cave contains the only known petrifying spring in England. The well water's high mineral content means that everything in its path turns into stone, leaving behind mineral deposits that build up to form a crust of new rock. Visitors to the Petrifying Well can make a wish by placing their hand in the waters and see all sorts of petrified items hanging from the rock face, including shoes, teddy bears, a hat belonging to John Wayne and Agatha Christie's handbag.
01423 864600, mothershiptonscave.com, adults £6, children £4
mouse73

Peasholm Park, Scarborough
This wacky family attraction is a Scarborough institution. Council employees hide inside model ships on Peasholm Park lake and re-enact sea battles. It started in 1927 and they joke that it's the smallest manned navy in the world. Special effects include bombs, gunfire and aircraft on wires, and the whole thing is preceded by an organist playing in a floating pagoda.
no phone, peasholmpark.com, shows on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays in August, adults £3.70, children £2.10
Troutiemcfish

Lincolnshire

The Kinema in the Woods, Woodhall Spa
The Kinema is a traditional 20s cinema showing all the latest films. It is a fantastic place with intermissions, old-fashioned paper cinema tickets, a Compton organ (that plays during the interval!) and a fantastic sweetie counter. Highly recommended.
01526 352166, thekinemainthewoods.co.uk, adults £6.30, children (14 and under) £4.90
YellowBellyUK

Inner Hebrides

Macurdie's Exhibition, Kilmuir, Skye
Skye is renowned for its wacky geology, and the northern peninsula of Trotternish boasts an array of bewildering natural weirdness; from a massive rock needle to an enchanting "Faerie Glen". The most bizarre place, however, must be inside the mind of the eccentric curator of this one-roomed "exhibition" tucked away on the peninsula's west coast. Upon entering, it seems nothing more than a collection of junk recovered from the beach, but a closer look reveals a surreal and often humorous story or proverb attached to each artefact ("Life is like the wind – it's not there when there isn't any," is a personal favourite.)
no phone, theskyeguide.com, admission £1
FatherPed

London

St Pancras' Gardens
This is surely the quirkiest park in London, full of quiet corners and eccentric memorials. In the middle sits St Pancras Old Church, one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in Europe. The surrounding park is what remains of the old churchyard cut through from 1863 by railway construction into St Pancras Station. Among the graves and memorials left in situ are those of philosophers and writers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft and the monument designed by Sir John Soane for his wife. The latter will look familiar to most people because it was the inspiration for Gilbert Scott's design in the late 1920s of the red telephone box.
020-7974 1693, camden.gov.uk, admission free
Oxfordtraveller

Infinite loop, King's Cross and Euston, London
Harry Potter's Platform 9¾ is not the only weird feature of King's Cross. it is also one end of possibly the only place in the universe where you can go on an "infinite loop" by continuously taking the "northbound" tube. Sounds impossible? Welcome to the twilight zone. Go to King's Cross and take the Northern line "northbound", at the next stop get off at Euston. Now take the "northbound" Victoria line, and at the next stop get off at King's Cross!
tfl.gov.uk
KS66

Devon

Overbeck's Museum, Salcombe
This is the National Trust-owned home of the eccentric Edwardian inventor Otto Overbeck. Find the hidden room full of dolls and listen to the "polyphon" (a giant Victorian music box). Best of all, see Otto's invention, the "rejuvenator", designed to renew youth through electric shocks. This quirky place (kids can search for Fred the friendly ghost) is in a beautiful location with exotic gardens, and looks down on Salcombe and its bay.
01548 842893, nationaltrust.org.uk, adults £7, children £3.60
TheOP