Emerging from the cold windswept sand dunes at Crosby Beach in Merseyside, there’s initially nothing out of the ordinary about the solitary figures standing sentinel on the beach at low tide. But then you look again, there’s dozens of them, all facing the same direction and all eerily stationary, staring out to sea.

‘Another Place’ is now a permanent sculpture installation by Sir Antony Gormley, consisting of 100 cast iron 6 ft 2 in tall figures all facing towards the sea and spread out over a 2-mile stretch of the beach.

They’re all, somewhat disconcertingly, stark bollock naked, and modelled on the artist’s own naked body. All naked except for one lone figure which sported one of those hideous seasonal sweaters with ‘Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal’ embroidered onto the front – perhaps a local Liverpudlian greeting? Apparently Gormley quite likes public interaction with his sculptures. I wonder what he’d make of this one?