Eddy / Boathouse

The Boathouse at Yorkshire Sculpture Park is where Joc Jonjosch's work 'Eddy' sits right at the water's edge, and you'll spot it immediately - a striking piece that plays with reflection and movement in ways that shift depending on the light and where you're standing. It's essentially a contemporary art installation rather than a traditional gallery, but that's rather the point. You can walk right up to it, circle it, sit on the grass nearby and just watch how the water interacts with the piece. The whole thing takes maybe twenty minutes to properly absorb unless you're the type who'll spend an hour photographing it from different angles.

This works brilliantly if you're camping locally - Mapplewell Meadows Farm and Broadlands Farm are both within four miles - and want to break up a park holiday with something beyond the usual attractions. Art lovers will get far more from it than kids, though younger ones might be intrigued by the sheer oddness of having sculpture in a landscape rather than behind glass. There's no entrance fee to the park itself, though do check current opening hours before you drive over from Barnsley.

The real value here is that it forces you to slow down. You're not rushing through galleries or queuing. You're standing by a pond in Yorkshire looking at something that makes you think differently about the space around it. Well worth combining with a walk around the wider sculpture park if you've got the time.