Love and Kisses

The sculpture garden at Abbotshaugh, just outside Clackmannan, pulls you in with bold public art that actually makes you stop and look. Love and Kisses is part of the Helix Art initiative - a series of installations scattered across the landscape where you wouldn't necessarily expect to find them. The pieces here are sizeable, often playful, and they sit oddly well against the Scottish Lowlands backdrop.

What you're doing is walking around spotting art installations in an outdoor setting. It's not a formal gallery - think more rambling between sculptures, reading their stories, working out what they mean to you. Some hit harder than others. Families with kids who are old enough to appreciate why people make art will find it engaging. Walkers use it as a proper excuse to spend an afternoon outdoors with a purpose beyond just trudging moorland. It's not a sit-down-and-study sort of experience - you're moving, thinking, occasionally baffled, occasionally charmed.

Allow a couple of hours if you're genuinely pausing at each piece. An hour if you're treating it as a scenic loop. The whole thing is free, which helps when you're not entirely sure what you're walking into. Best visited when the light's decent - overcast Scottish days flatten the experience a bit, and rain makes the walk less pleasant without improving the art.

If you're based at Highland Gateway Glamping nearby, this makes a sensible half-day outing. It's the sort of thing that works better as part of a wider Clackmannanshire trip rather than a destination in itself, but it's well worth the detour if you're in the area.