The Snail

The Snail is a gallery tucked away near Chesterfield that punches well above its weight. It's a proper working creative space - part exhibition venue, part artist studio - where you can actually watch makers at it rather than just gawping at finished pieces behind velvet ropes.

The space itself is intimate, the kind of place where you'll bump into the artists if you're lucky. There's usually contemporary work on show, though what's hanging changes regularly, so you won't get the same experience twice. The focus leans toward local and emerging talent rather than the safe, gallery-shop predictability you find elsewhere. That's refreshing, though it does mean some pieces won't land with everyone.

I'd give it a couple of hours maximum unless you're the type to sit and sketch or properly chat with the artists. It's not somewhere to drag reluctant teenagers, but art students and actual creative types will find it worth the trip from Chesterfield.

Perfect if you're camped at Poolsbrook Country Park or Riverside Valley - both are minutes away - and need something more thoughtful than another chain attraction. Better still if you're combining it with a walk round the local area, which has decent countryside if you're willing to look beyond the obvious spots.

Bit of advice: ring ahead before you visit. Opening hours aren't always standard, and it's the kind of intimate space that occasionally closes for private events or while new work is being hung.