Yorkshire Sculpture Park

(Taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ18)

I had a magical day out recently at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield, about a 3/4 hour drive from here.  It's vast area (500 acres) of parkland, meadow, gardens and lake, surrounding the 18th century Bretton Hall, which was once the home of Sir William Wentworth.  The house became a teacher training college for many years but that has now closed.  The Sculpture Park was started some 33 years ago and has grown and developed to become 'a centre of international, national and regional importance for the production, exhibition and appreciation of modern and contemporary sculptures'.  The 18th century deerpark, now full of contented sheep and geese, is home to a range of sculptures, some by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth (both born locally).  My photo shows a Henry Moore bronze "Upright Motive No 9" (1979).  There are visiting exhibitions and indoor gallery spaces too and they have recently restored some of the gardens and parkland, so that even more of the estate is open to the public.

It's a fantastic, unusual, exciting place.  You can take a long, exhilarating walk in the fresh air whilst at the same time admiring some of the most important sculptures of the last century.  Kids love it and, even if you can't walk so far, there are lovely gardens and galleries close to the entrance. When you're done, there's a couple of good tea shops and a gift shop.