Who’s Henry Moore?”

My artist husband was appalled when asked this question by our teenage daughter. With the help of various books, he attempted to explain who the sculptor and artist was, but I thought it better to show her a few of his works in person. And where better than Yorkshire Sculpture Park? The 500-acre attraction is one of those places I’d heard a lot about yet had never visited. And it is home to a number of Henry Moore artworks.

So we set off and made the effortless journey to the park, which sits in stunning countryside just five minutes from the M1, near Wakefield.

As we drove up to the visitor centre I was thrilled to see sheep rubbing their woolly flanks along the plinth of a Henry Moore sculpture.

I have a book at home, Henry Moore’s Sheep Sketchbook, containing wonderful sketches and drawings made by the artist for his daughter Mary. I know how much he loved sheep, so it was lovely to see them grazing around his work.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is set in the grounds of the Grade ll-listed Bretton Hall Estate. The landscape was designed more than 200 years ago as a private pleasure ground. Much thought was given to the planting of imported exotic trees, the modelling of hills and valleys and the use of water and architectural features.

Split up in the late 1940s, the estate was brought together by YSP, providing open access. With sculptures dotted everywhere, it is hard to know in which direction to head first. But my daughters, who raced off, led us to three giant, cut-out, metal men who looked as though they’d been sprayed with bullets.

This impressive group of giants was Molecule Man by American artist Jonathan Borofsky, and became the first of many sculptures to provide a fun photo opportunity. My daughters posed beside a bronze running man, a huge, mesh reclining hare with pert breasts, and – my favourite – another massive hare made from cast bronze, incorporating many familiar items such as a teddy bear, a camera, a garden fork and a watch.

The estate is vast, and there is plenty of scope for a decent walk, so allow plenty of time for your visit. We made our way across the lake which divides the country park, to Oxley Bank, and followed the path to a series of steps leading off into woodland.

These aren’t just any steps, but an exhibit in their own right. Black Steps forms part of the largest exhibition to date of work by the internationally-renowned British artist David Nash, who explores the different properties of wood and trees as artistic material.

Broad and wide, we all agreed that the flight of steps was the easiest we had ever climbed. At the top, the path continues along a ridge with fine views towards the lake and open countryside.

It passes sculptor and environmentalist Andy Goldsworthy’s intriguing Hanging Trees series, in which trees lie horizontal, knitted into stone walls that surround them. I liked this a lot, with its trapped, tortuous feel.

At the hilltop stands what my daughters dubbed “wire house”. The steel pavilion, Basket #7, is so-called as it has previously been erected at seven places around the world.

Children love the installation, by the German artist team Winter/Horbelt, with its corridors small enough for them to squeeze through, but too narrow for adults.

We walked from the main visitor centre, which contains galleries, a shop, restaurant and toilets, to Longside Gallery, a stunning space offering far-reaching views of the park. Once an indoor riding arena, it is used for exhibitions both by YSP and London’s Hayward Gallery. The Hayward uses the space for displays from the Arts Council collection. There is a small refreshment kiosk here, so families can have a snack before returning by a different route to the visitor centre.

We returned to the lake across a meadow, past grazing cows, shaggy highland cattle and even more sculptures. I wasn’t keen on abstract sculptor Anthony Caro’s rusting steel creation Dream City, which may be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, but reminded me of the Victorian urinal that serves as a tourist attraction in the village near my parents’ home.

The beauty of the park is that you can’t possibly cover it all in one visit. We spent around four hours strolling around, but saw less than half of it. And, to my younger daughter’s horror, we didn’t make it back to the restaurant in time to sit on the balcony and sample its delights.

As the park is open all year round, another visit is on the cards, probably in autumn when the woodland will be ablaze with colour. As we left the park, the sheep were still rubbing their coats against the sculptures.