The Top Things to Do in Yorkshire when visiting Cedar Court Wakefield
The Cedar Court Wakefield Hotel offers an excellent base to navigate Yorkshire, situated as it is just off junction 39 on the M1; our much-loved hotel has been welcoming business guests for over 30 years!
But this hotel is much more than a (seriously well-equipped) business hub! This property also offers unrivalled access to some of the county’s major attractions, including some seriously impressive and must-see ‘Things to Do’ for any Yorkshire trip…especially for the culture lovers out there!
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Just a seven-minute drive from our hotel lay Yorkshire’s oldest open-air sculpture gallery, The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP); this incredible site features a huge array of works, including creations from legendary artists such as (locally born) Henry Moore and Damien Hirst all of which are there to be found sitting within the 500 acres of stunning parkland.
The YSP is dog-friendly and has a lovely restaurant and café if you fancy resting your legs after all that exploring!
This really is an experience not to be missed!
West Bretton, Wakefield WF4 4LG – ysp.org.uk
Distance from the hotel: 3 miles / There is a car park outside, and a short walk to the entrance.
Top Tip: The YSP is a PERFECT family day out, but the park is BIG folks – so wear some comfortable shoes.
PS why not ask us to make picnics for you?
The Hepworth (Gallery)
Wakefield is truly lucky to host such a special art gallery, The Hepworth (named after, another, local Artist Barbara Hepworth…there is something special in the air in Yorkshire!) – opened to great acclaim in 2011. The Gallery was built to house the private collection of the former Wakefield Art Gallery, and more so provide a legacy for Barbara Hepworth in the town she was born.
The award-winning space has hosted some of the most modern and contemporary pieces of this generation, always including naturally many of Barbara Hepworth’s own wonderful sculptures. The Gallery itself is something to admire too; an angular concrete jutting-outer seems to have landed from another (dystopian?) time – especially when viewed against the Victorian & Georgian architecture of Wakefield – yet it somehow blends so beautifully with the edge of the ever-babbling weir. It is a marvel of design from (Royal Gold Medal for Architecture Winning) Architect David Chipperfield.
The Gallery remains free to enter and really must be part a key part of any Yorkshire itinerary.
Gallery Walk, Wakefield WF1 5AW – www.hepworthwakefield.org
Distance from the hotel: 3 miles / There is a (chargeable) car park outside the Hepworth, or a taxi from the hotel to the Gallery will cost approx. £6.00 / Taxi drivers will collect you from the road outside the Hepworth, or why not take the short walk (15mins) into the city centre for an explore? (Wakefield has a number of Taxi Ranks, worry not).
Top Tip: The 14th Century Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, is a truly special (Grade I listed) building that is really worth seeing too; located on a medieval bridge (and actually one of only three surviving bridge chapels in England) – that is just a two minute (0.1mile) walk from the Hepworth, just cross the A61…and follow the River Calder! It is really very beautiful…and the smallest chapel we’ve ever seen?!
The Theatre Royal Wakefield
Situated in the centre of Wakefield is the beautiful Victorian theatre complex, The Theatre Royal (Wakefield). The stunning (Grade II listed and Frank Matcham designed) auditorium holds enough plump red-velvet seats to welcome 499 people…including using the Royal Boxes!
Those lucky enough to have bagged a seat can, on any given night, expect to enjoy a variety of entertainment from the theatre’s impressively full roster; their stage is usually occupied 265 days of the year with a wide variety of diverse acts.
The theatres own shows, such as their HUGELY popular pantomime amongst others, are often co-produced by playwright and Creative Director John Godber (Bouncers, Teechers, Up ‘n’ Under).
Over the years we have ourselves, at Cedar Court, enjoyed nights of comedians, tribute acts, plays, celebrity talks and local productions.
This theatre really does live up to its ambitions to provide ‘Theatre for All’ and it would be strongly recommended that you view ‘What’s On’ when planning your ‘Yorkshire Escape’.
Drury Lane, Wakefield, WF1 2TE – www.theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk
Distance from the hotel: 3.8miles / A taxi from the hotel into the City approx. £6.00, the taxi rank for your trip back to the hotel (for a nightcap) is just outside the theatre.
Top Tip: The Theatre recently opened its excellent new Walker Studio, an adjacent building that now hosts the Theatres other bar…this can get very busy as it is downstairs as you enter, so just nip upstairs to the original bar and jump the queues!
The three destinations listed here are just a few of our personal favourites (with them being so close to our hotel) – but this little list by no means shows the extent of what Yorkshire has to offer! From our breath-taking coastlines, via jaw dropping countryside and vast rolling dales (as seen in SO many TV shows!) to our bustling city centres…there really is so much to explore and enjoy.
To visit us once, is to start planning your next trip.
PS us Yorkshire-folk are pretty well known for our warm hospitality too…so don’t be surprised if you get engaged in a chat (or three!) whilst out and about exploring!