Auction House

Redruth's Auction House is a proper working gallery that takes you back to what art spaces used to feel like before they all got the coffee bar treatment. It's an active auction house first, gallery second - which means the walls are always rotating with genuine local work, from paintings to sculpture to jewellery, rather than the safe middle-ground stuff you see everywhere else.

The setup is refreshingly no-nonsense. You walk in, browse what's up for sale or exhibition, chat to whoever's running the place that day if you fancy it. It's the sort of place where you might overhear someone haggling about a landscape or learn about an artist you've never encountered. The space itself isn't vast, but that works in its favour - you'll spend a solid hour here rather than wandering aimlessly through eighteen rooms feeling obligated to have opinions about everything.

Families with older kids who can sit still for five minutes will get something from it. Serious collectors will appreciate the genuine stock rotating through. If you're staying at one of the holiday parks nearby - Lanyon is closest at just over two miles - it's a useful half-day activity that breaks up the coastal routine without requiring a massive commitment or a second mortgage.

Best to ring ahead about opening hours and whether there's anything specific on. Redruth itself isn't the prettiest Cornish town, but that's partly what makes the Auction House interesting - it's not trying to be a tourist trap.