Art at the Beach | Mawgan Porth

The gallery sits right at Mawgan Porth beach itself, which is the whole point really. You're not trudging inland to some sterile white-walled space - this is art where the Atlantic wind can actually reach it, where the light changes every half hour, and where you can genuinely walk straight from the sand into whatever's on the walls that week.

It's a working gallery that takes itself seriously without the pretension. Local and visiting artists rotate through, so what's showing when you arrive is anyone's guess. Some visits you'll find proper contemporary work that makes you think; other times it leans more casual seaside fare. Either way, the space itself is the real draw - intimate, unpretentious, the kind of place where you can actually talk to whoever's staffing it.

Really only takes twenty minutes to an hour depending on what's up. The sort of thing you'd slot in before or after a beach session rather than plan a whole outing around. Works brilliantly if you're staying at Sun Haven Holiday Park or Watergate Bay Touring Park just up the coast - you're literally a walk away. The beach at Mawgan Porth is proper good anyway, so you lose nothing by poking your head in here while you're about.

Closest town is Trevarrian, though Newquay's only a few miles on if you need supplies or a proper lunch. Go when the weather's decent enough to actually enjoy the beach - there's no point sitting in a gallery on a grim day when you could be doing that anywhere.