Bureau of Dreams

The Bureau of Dreams is a gallery space near Hexham that trades in contemporary art and installations - the kind of place where you'll either have your mind properly opened or leave thinking you've wasted twenty minutes. It's small, deliberately so, which means the work gets your full attention rather than disappearing into the sort of cavernous white-cube void that makes you feel like you're on a school trip.

What you'll see depends entirely on the current exhibition. There's no permanent collection to speak of, so it's less about ticking off the famous bits and more about catching whatever the curators have decided matters right now. That approach works if you're into contemporary practice - installations, conceptual pieces, the sort of work that asks questions rather than providing answers. If you're after landscapes and portraits, look elsewhere.

The real value here is as a cultural pause during a holiday based around the parks - Springhouse Boutique Holiday Park is just five miles away, making this a proper afternoon venture. You won't need more than an hour inside, which suits the drive from East Farm Glamping at six miles even better. It's the kind of stop that breaks up a week of countryside properly, especially if the weather's turned and you're looking for something indoors that doesn't involve shopping or cafés.

Contact Hexham's tourist information for current opening hours and what's on - the gallery's schedule isn't entirely predictable from what I can gather, so ringing ahead beats showing up to a closed door.