There is a quiet to the Fens that is not the quiet of solitude. It is the quiet of being watched by something that has been watched, in its turn, by something else, going back several centuries.

I arrived at the Featherstone Bridge Visitor Centre at 09:14 on Saturday morning. The volunteer behind the counter looked up from her crossword and said, 'You're the one then.' I asked her what she meant. She returned to her crossword.

Highlights of my visit included the Bog Walk (1.4 miles, mostly horizontal, three viewing platforms), the 13th-century chapel-of-rest (locked, but with audible humming from inside), and an excellent ploughman's at the Three Drowned Brothers.

Recommended for travellers seeking 'wide skies, narrow people, and the kind of silence that asks questions back'. Bring waterproof socks and a strong sense of identity.

Two stars. Three if it had stopped raining.