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makershack at cheltenham science festival

girl making an octopus in makershack cheltenham science festival

Delighted to announce we’ll once again be expounding the scientific attributes of clay at The Cheltenham Science Festival taking place 6-11 June 2023.

We’ve been a  staple of the MakerShack since 2016 and worked with 10’s of thousands of participants getting hands on with clay in this marvelous, family friendly interactive space.

Just to whet your appetite, here’s a few photos from the MakerShack last year….and a lovely little video produced by the the organisers.

makershack at cheltenham science festival

terracotta pheasant made by hundreds of visitors to eastnor castle fun week

terracotta dalek from dr who at eastnor potteryOver the years, The Flying Potter has facilitated pottery workshops with oodles of festivals and events, many of which culminate in a collaborative terracotta outcome. The majority of activities often take place in temporary spaces, so the organiser doesn’t necessarily require the fired, finished masterpiece after the event has taken place. As a result, the final ‘resting place’ for many of our projects is our lovely garden here at Eastnor Pottery.

If you ever have the good fortune to visit us here in Herefordshire, please take a moment or two to scour the hedges and flower boarders – you never know what you might discover!

terracotta pheasant made by hundreds of visitors to eastnor castle fun weekcollaborative terracotta dragon made at eastnor castle by eastnor pottery and castle visitors

pottery hen party in the potting tent at eastnor pottery and the flying potter

Although it’s only early March, the gorgeous weather last weekend put us in mind of all the gorgeous pottery hen parties we’ve hosted here at Eastnor Pottery.

Fingers crossed we’ll be welcoming groups of gals back to the Pottery very soon and if you’ve been charged with organising a hen weekend, please take a look at our Pottery Hen Party page. Lots of creative fun and memories to be made.

Please use the contact form to check availability and book your event. Alternatively, email: admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk or there’s always someone to take your call Monday – Friday during Lockdown. Please telephone 01531 633886.

We look forward to hearing from you but in the meantime, here’s a few hen party team photos from yesteryear!

pottery hen party in the potting tent at eastnor pottery and the flying potterpottery hen party at eastnor pottery west midlandshen party weekend in the potting tent at eastnor potteryhen party group in the garden at eastnor pottery herefordshire

 

childrens hands in wet squidgy clay at cheltenham science festival 2019

childrens hands in wet squidgy clay at cheltenham science festival 2019Under normal circumstances (remember them!?) we’d have been up to our eyeballs in clay at the brilliant Maker Shack as part of Cheltenham Science Festival.

We’ve been involved in the Makershack since its inauguration in 2017. Last year we encouraged visitors to make a press molded brick, using real brick clay from Coleford Brick and Tile Company based in the Forest of Dean.

The bricks were assembled into a giant castle and we worked with nearly 10,000 people over the x6 days of the festival! – that’s a shed load of bricks! The sheer volume of visitors meant we had to build a fresh structure each day, deconstructing the building at the close and re-claiming the material for the next morning.

Athough the Makershack was primarily aimed at Primary school aged students – (and man, there must have been very few Gloucestershire schools who didn’t visit the show), on Friday night grown-ups got to play with the technology in a special after-hours session between 8pm and 10pm.

Although it’s full-on, we love the #makershack and look forward to sharing the scientific benefits of engaging with clay, with festival visitors in 2021.

ceramic artists jon williams and sarah monk take part in the digital hey clay festival 2020
ceramic artists jon williams and sarah monk take part in the digital hey clay festival 2020
This is the 6th time we’ve been involved with this fabulous FREE event and usually we’re full to the rafters with lovely people having loads of fun on the potter’s wheel. As we’re not re-opening to the public until 1st July, we’ll be celebrating HeyClay by hosting live tutorials, studio tours and insights into our making across our social media. Here’s a timetable of LIVE events here at Eastnor Pottery and the Flying Potter:

Friday 15th May 2020

11am     Studio Tour (Insta) 😍
1pm      Throwing a pot with Jon Williams (Insta)🤩

Saturday 16th May 2020

10am     Studio Tour (Facebook)😍
11am      Throwing a pot with Sarah Monk (Insta)🤩
1pm       How to make a donut with Jon Williams (Facebook) 🍩
2pm       How to make a soap dish with Sarah Monk 🧼

We hope to see you there! 😀🌈