Gnome Reserve, West Putford, Devon
Something of an Ideal Gnome Show is put on by the zealous Ann Atkin at West Putford, southwest of Bideford. The four-acre reserve features more than a thousand of the red-capped characters, as well as various petrified frogs, toadstools, kittens, ducks, and a beech wood and wildflower plot. It attracts thousands of visitors every year, all of whom have to don a red cap, says Mrs Atkin, "so as not to embarrass the gnomes".
• 01409 241435, gnomereserve.co.uk, adults £3.50, under-16s £3, under-3s free
Ancoats Peeps, Manchester
The Ancoats area of Manchester was once at the forefront of the industrial revolution, but has been in need of regeneration for decades. A local art project, the Ancoats Peeps, looks back to the time of cotton production and steam power, with brass eye pieces set into walls around the neighbourhood – peepholes that reveal intriguing walled-up spaces. There's no map or guide, you have to discover them yourself, but the Cutting Room Square is a good place to start.
• ancoatspeeps.com, free
Louis Tussaud's House of Wax, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
What's better than a realistic waxwork? A really bad waxwork! Louis' museum doesn't quite match the quality of its more famous counterpart, but that's all the more fun for visitors. For example, can you guess who these celebrities are? (Answers at the end of the article.)
• 18 Regent Rd, Great Yarmouth, adults £3, children £2
Nine Standards, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
There are many sets of standing stones which are arguably more interesting than Stonehenge and have no pay-for car parks, admission charges, crowds, tea-rooms or tourist tat attached.
The Nine Standards are on the Pennine watershed to the north of the B6270, between Kirkby Stephen and Keld. There is nothing more spooky than plodding across the boggy mountaintop in the mist and seeing these nine shapes, taller than a man, created by God knows whom (some believe the Romans built them to resemble soldiers, from a distance), loom suddenly and menacingly, and then disappear again in a swirl of cloud.
• 01768 371199, visitcumbria.com/pen/nine-standards.htm, free
The Bubble Car Museum, Boston, Lincolnshire
If these cute-mobiles were released onto the market there'd be a frenzy of hipsters and vintage fans swarming to buy them, but anyone would enjoy a look. This wonderful collection of bubble cars opens in October and there's an event on Bonfire night, with tickets at £10, including dinner, wine and camping. The museum will also feature a rally field for race events and a camping field, plus 1950s housewares, scooters and caravans.
• Clover Farm, Main Rd, Langrick, 01205 280037, bubblecarmuseum.co.uk, adults £3, children £1
Land of Lost Content, Craven Arms, Shropshire
This kitsch-filled museum dedicated to British popular culture is a nostalgic joy. Spot costumes, food and drink packaging, film and TV memorabilia from schooldays past, which Stella Mitchell has been collecting since the 1970s. And try the Icons Cafe upstairs.
• The Market Hall, Market Street, 01588 676176, lolc.org.uk/lolc.html, adults £5, children £2.50
Museum of Mental Health, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
This creepy museum reveals how mental health patients were treated 200 years ago, as it tells the story of the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, built in 1818, through exhibitions of restraining equipment, a padded cell, medical documents and photographs.
• Fieldhead Hospital, Ouchthorpe Lane, 01924 328654, free, ring ahead
The Pineapple, Dunmore, Stirlingshire
This extraordinarily eccentric two-storey summerhouse was built for the fourth Earl of Dunmore in 1761 as part of the Dunmore estate, and tops off classical stone architecture with a pineapple-shaped roof.
The earl was governor of Virginia, where sailors used to stick a pineapple on a gatepost to announce their return home. Dunmore's attitude, on being forced home in 1776 by the declaration of independence, was that he would have the biggest pineapple of the lot to mark his own reluctant return. At the time it was built, pineapples were still unknown to most people in Britain.
The property is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is leased to the Landmark Trust (01628 825925, landmarktrust.org.uk), which means it is available as a holiday let. A three-night weekend break for up to four people costs from £334.
• 0844 493 2132, scotlandsforfamilies.com, free to visit – donations requested
Some of these entries were taken from Ben Le Vay's Eccentric Britain, Bradt Travel Guides, £13.59 from guardianbookshop.co.uk. See also nothingtoseehere.net and theukcuriosityblog.com
• And the waxworks of stars are (clockwise from top left) Shirley Bassey, Kylie Minogue, Kevin Keegan and Prince William
