Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

A visit to Cambridge (my childhood home) isn’t complete without a walk through town, along The Backs and down the old streets to The Fitzwilliam. The building is magnificent (complete with portico entrance and the two huge stone lions which guard the steps), and thanks to a generous ACE grant, they have built a snazzy modern extension, which houses the cafe and gift shop as well as a significant new gallery space.

It’s free to visit, so whenever we are there, we always swing by for a mooch around the rooms. I tend to head upstairs the paintings and print rooms, but on my most recent visit, we turned left and found ourselves in the ceramics and pottery collection. It’s amazing. So full of strange, beautiful and functional forms, all shown together. A highlight for me was also the two Ming Dynasty vases which were smashed by a visitor who knocked them both down the stairs of the gallery (!) They have both been restored and we had quite a nice time trying to spot the repairs.

The permanent collection is fabulous, as is the programme of exhibitions.