Old Chapel Gallery

A converted chapel in Derbyshire that's been turned into a working gallery space - the kind of place where you can actually feel the building's previous life humming underneath the art on the walls. It's intimate rather than grand, with the sort of rough stone and high ceilings that make you want to speak quietly even when there's nobody else around.

The gallery shows contemporary work from regional artists, rotating exhibitions that tend toward the thoughtful rather than the showy. You're not wandering through rooms and rooms of stuff here - it's lean and considered, which means you can actually absorb what's on display instead of getting fatigued by choice. The space itself is the real draw for some visitors. That ecclesiastical architecture works properly as a gallery backdrop; the light falls differently than it does in white cube spaces, and artists seem to respond to that.

It's worth a detour if you're the sort who stops at small independent galleries anyway. Won't keep you occupied for hours, but that's the point. You'll spend 45 minutes to an hour here, then head back to Sheffield for lunch. Families with very young kids might find it a bit slow, but older children and teenagers interested in art will get something from the setting alone.

If you're camping nearby at Riverside Valley or Secret Wood, it's close enough to make a morning or afternoon trip without too much faffing about with the car. Check ahead for opening times before you visit - these smaller spaces can be variable with their hours.