It was the first day of our holiday in Cornwall and we were in St Ives. I’d primed the kids on the way: “It’s mummy’s holiday too, you know, we won’t be in there all day,” and was expecting moans of “Can we go now?” throughout our visit. But, honestly, I don’t know when I’ve ever had a more positive and child-friendly gallery experience.

As soon as we arrived at Tate St Ives the friendly and helpful staff gave the four children in our party an activity sheet with the promise of a wristband or badge on completion. A genius idea, it motivated the kids and really made all of us pay closer attention to everything we saw. It’s not a huge space, an hour is probably long enough to enjoy the exhibits, but it’s a rich, distinctive collection of art. Small but perfectly formed.

As you walk around the gallery each window provides perfectly framed vistas across Porthmeor Beach, but the best views are in the cafe on the top floor, with it’s gallery area and roof terrace. The food is local and excellent, and very family friendly indeed. We ended up staying a little longer than I’d promised the kids, but they didn’t mind, they had ice cream.

Images by Gillian Roe