YSP: Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a place that I've been meaning to visit for some time now, and today I finally ticked it off the list.

It took just over an hour to get there (driving from Manchester) and the weather was great. With our picnic packed away and Dora safely on her lead we set off around the park with a map in hand. (Available free from the car park!)

The grounds are largely used for sheep grazing so dogs must be kept on their leads at all times, there are also some parts where dogs cannot go at all so we did have to miss a bit of the experience, mainly where the cattle graze. Nontheless there was plenty for us to see, and if you feel like you want to add some culture into your walk this is the place to be!

Each artist is introduced with signs around the park and their individual sculptures are clearly labelled and explained to provide a full education of the work. Some are striking, others quite bizzare, but interesting all the same.

There are several different pathways to follow and so you can pick your own route around the park, and with a chapel and a couple of different galleries open to the public there is plenty of variety too. Some of the walkways take you through beautifully well kept gardens - an ideal place for your picnic, but if you didn't pack your lunch don't worry, there are 2 cafés to chose from too with a selection of gorgeous looking cakes and other snacks.

I won't share too many photos as I don't want to spoil your experience but here is a sneak peek of what's on offer:

Think you've seen it all before? Probably not.. YSP commission different artists throughout the year so some of the work available to see here changed quite often. You can check out their website for information on what's on throughout the year.

The car park is huge and is controlled by ANPR cameras (automatic number plate recognition) which is pretty impressive, it's zaps you on your way in and all you need to do is visit one of the pay machines at any point during your visit and tap in your registration number. The machine wil calculate your parking cost..which is a maximum of £8 for the full day. It's much easier than having to go back to the car to 'pay & display'.

We really enjoyed our visit to YSP and we will definitely return later in the year to see how it changes, especially if this lovely weather decides to stick around!