Kinver Edge

Kinver Edge is a high sandstone ridge on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire border, crowned by an Iron Age hillfort with views over three counties and famous for the Holy Austin Rock Houses, homes carved into the red rock and lived in until the 1960s, the last inhabited cave dwellings in England. The restored rooms, with the fire lit in Fletcher's Cottage and volunteers telling stories of the families who lived in the rock, are the draw, while the heathland above is thick with gorse and heather and laced with waymarked woodland trails. Reviewers praise the knowledgeable staff, the tea-room views over Kinver and the sheer amount of walking. Tips from regulars: the Rock Houses open only on certain days while the countryside is free from dawn to dusk, so check before setting out; free lay-by parking on Compton Road fills on sunny weekends; and the houses are reached by steep steps. Dogs run off lead on the Edge but stay on leads in the Rock House garden.