TONER

TONER sits in Newlyn, a working fishing village that hasn't been sanitised for tourism. This is a proper contemporary art space, not the sort of place that demands three hours of your time but rather one that rewards a focused visit. The gallery itself is fairly compact - you'll move through it in forty minutes or so, depending on what's on and whether you're the type to linger. They show challenging, often experimental work from emerging and established artists, which means it's more likely to provoke than please. That's rather the point.

It works brilliantly if you're staying at Roselands Caravan Camping Park, just five and a half miles away, and fancy a proper cultural half-day rather than yet another cream tea. Kids won't get much from it unless they're already gallery-trained, and elderly relatives might find the work a bit too contemporary for comfort. But if you're after something that takes contemporary art seriously without the pretension of a major city institution, TONER does it well.

The setting matters too. Newlyn itself is worth an hour's wander - proper fishing boats, decent fish restaurants, the Newlyn Art Gallery (the historic one) if you want more art. Being surrounded by actual working culture rather than heritage theatre makes TONER feel less like an obligation and more like something you've genuinely discovered. Free admission would make it a steal; paid entry is fair if the show is strong.