A Wonderful Park

At the weekend we went to see my son and family in West Yorkshire. It turned out to be a really warm weekend, ideal for a picnic and time outside. So we spent Sunday at one of the gems of West Yorkshire, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This is a huge park south of Wakefield in the grounds of Bretton Hall. I think that it came about because of the area’s links with probably the two most famous Twentieth Century British sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

The park contains tens of sculptures set seemingly at random around the parkland. They range from massive constructions to some quite delicate works. It is great because the works are so accessible, although there are notices to keep off the sculptures the many children in the park including my grandchildren widely ignore this. But hey they will remember the works far more by actively exploring the textures and structures of the sculptures. Unwittingly they also form great play structures, one sculpture had loads of nooks and crannies in which the little ones could hide and surprise each other.

All of the sculptures were produced in the last one hundred years, so there was no evidence of any plinths, rather structures placed direct in the parkland. Most were of some sort of metal, some in metals that were coarse and unfinished. Some were recognisable as figures or animals. Others seemed to me were just randomly distributed and welded together. One particularly interesting sculpture was the roots of a tree recreated in weathered bronze; another was a number of steps set in coal.

This provokes interesting thoughts, the classic question being, “Is this art”. Well it is not classic art the sort that would be in a white walled museum. But it does provoke a great deal of thought, it is interesting and stimulating, and it provides pleasure to young and old alike. It is as art should be, very accessible, and hugely stimulating. So importantly it works.

We had a great day helped by beautiful warm weather.