Crosby Beach

Antony Gormley's Another Place consists of a hundred cast-iron figures, each moulded from his own body and weighing around six hundred and fifty kilograms, installed in 2005 across three kilometres of beach and up to a kilometre out from the shore. They all face the sea. The tide covers and uncovers them twice a day, so at high water only the furthest heads show and at low water the full spread is walkable. The work was intended as temporary and toured before arriving here; a local campaign kept it permanently in 2007, against objections from those concerned about navigation and about people walking out to the far figures. Barnacles and weed have grown on the lower parts, and the iron has rusted to a dark brown. Container ships pass in the Mersey channel behind them.

What you actually see

• The hundred figures - iron casts of the artist's body, all facing the sea.
• The tidal cycle - figures submerging and reappearing twice daily.
• The encrustation - barnacles and weed grown up the lower bodies.
• The shipping channel - large vessels passing behind the installation.

When to go

Year-round and at any tide, though low water shows the full spread and high water gives the more striking half-drowned effect. Sunset behind the figures is the standard photograph. Winter is quiet and often the best light.

Honest expectations

The sand has soft patches and channels and walking out to the far figures is dangerous on a rising tide; the outer ones are cut off quickly. The beach is not a swimming beach and has water quality issues. There is limited parking and few facilities.

Nearby

Formby's pinewoods and dunes lie north; Liverpool is a short train ride south.