OIL AND INK GALLERY

The Oil and Ink Gallery near Chippenham is a proper working gallery where you can watch artists actually making things rather than just gawping at finished pieces behind glass. It's the sort of place that rewards poking about - you'll find paintings, prints, and other studio work scattered across the space, with the artists themselves often there to chat about their process. Worth an hour if you're passing through, longer if you get talking to someone about their work.

This appeals to the art-curious rather than casual browsers. If your kids are the "can we leave now" type after five minutes, they'll probably fidget. But those interested in how creative work actually happens - the mess, the iteration, the thinking behind a piece - will find it engaging. Adults keen on contemporary art from the South West will get more out of a visit here than they would from another high-street print shop.

The gallery works well as a half-morning stop when you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks. Piccadilly Caravan Park is just 2.8 miles away, and The Moors Campsite and Roe Deer Fields - both excellent sites with strong ratings - are barely five miles off. Pop in before or after a walk in the surrounding Wiltshire countryside, or make it part of a Chippenham morning before heading elsewhere.

Best to ring ahead or check their social media for current opening hours and whether admission charges apply, as details online are sketchy. It's not the sort of gallery that keeps rigid nine-to-five schedules.