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eastnor pottery owners sarah monk and jon williams getting ready to reopen after lockdown

Eastnor Pottery re-open for business Saturday 4th July 2020

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eastnor pottery owners sarah monk and jon williams getting ready to reopen after lockdownJust under three weeks to go before we welcome back all you aspiring potters and creatives! We are so looking forward to seeing you and have been beavering away making changes to products and studio spaces, all designed to make you feel confident to visit and comfortable whilst you’re here.

For those of you who haven’t had the good fortune to visit our wonderful studio on the idyllic Herefordshire Eastnor Castle Estate, we are blessed with bags of outside space. Whenever the weather permits we’ll be facilitating sessions in the garden and in our boutique ‘Potting Tent’ marquee.

The Potting Tent Marquee at Eastnor Potterykick wheel at eastnor pottery and the flying potter

If’ is looking chilly, we still have ample room in the Pottery to social distance a battalion of would be potters! Well not quite that many, but we are very confident in our planning and spacing. Inevitably, we’ll be seeing less of you as classes will be smaller. In fact, during July, we’re offering dedicated classes per booking. So, if you are a family or couple you’ll have your very own private session! Give us a call on 01531 633886 or email admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk to book your session.

Here’s a list of other things we’re going to be doing to make people feel comfortable when they visit Eastnor Pottery.

  • To avoid handling cash and cards, we’re asking for full payment in advance of customer’s sessions – BACS our preferred method of payment and we’ll provide customers with our account details as soon as they are in the diary.
  • Customers will need to bring their own apron and old towel (sharing is fine). The clay doesn’t stain and washes out easily so wearing old clothes is perfectly acceptable too, but please don’t forget the towel!
  • We’ll be asking customers to arrive no earlier than 5 mins before their session starts. This will give plenty of opportunity for previous guests to finish their session and proceed on their merry way.
  • On arrival, customers will be directed to a waiting area and asked to wash their hands. Their experience will commence once the previous participants have departed and we’ve had opportunity to clean tools and prepare the wheel(s)
  • We’ve set up the furniture and potter’s wheels to account for the 2m social distancing rule and will be observing social distancing through-out the experience.
  • Sadly, the legendary complimentary cuppas and fresh coffee are on hold for the time being :( That said, customers are very welcome to bring their own beverages and water bottles.
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childrens hands in wet squidgy clay at cheltenham science festival 2019

Throwback: MakerShack at The Cheltenham Science Festival 2019

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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.

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Superhero!

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Superhero poster children's pottery session 30-5-18Children’s Pottery sessions in half term. Wed 30 May 2018

We are delighted to announce details of our fun and creative children’s workshop sessions scheduled for the approaching half term holiday.

Superhero is the exciting and inspirational theme.

It doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be encouraging the children to make Marvel Comic inspired characters (although who can fail to be impressed by the powers of Ironman or The Hulk!) We’ll also be encouraging the young clay enthusiasts to consider Superheros closer to home. We’re thinking mums, dads, grandparents, teachers or some other figure they admire or look up to.

Once the children have modelled their superheros using a range of pottery making techniques, they will have the opportunity to paint their creations, there and then with coloured slips and underglazes.

The resulting work will need to dry thoroughly before it can be fired in the kiln. We allow approximately one month for this process and details of collection times will be issued on the day of the workshop.

1.5 hr sessions commence at 11.30am and 2pm and are tailored for two age groups: 4-8yrs in the morning and 9-12yrs in the afternoon. Although, these age ranges are not strictly adhered to as younger and older siblings are always welcome to participate on either session.

Places cost £15 per head with a 10% discount for x3 or more places booked. Telephone and email booking essential: Tel: 01531 633886 e: admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk

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Pirates!

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Pirate pottery fun for children in half term at Eastnor PotteryChildren’s workshops in the ½ term Holiday
Pirates!
31st May 2017

We are delighted to announce details of our fun, creative and pirate themed children’s workshop sessions planned for the rapidly approaching ½ term holiday.

Youngsters will take a spin on the potter’s wheel to make a pirate galleon filled with rogues and treasure.

Captain Long Jon Potter and his crew of ceramic sea-dogs will be on hand to aid the seafaring creativity:

Those young landlubbers and scallywags who visited the Pottery back in 2006 might recall our ‘Pirates & princesses’ children’s workshops. We reckon everybody loves a bit’ a pirate and the sessions were fit to bursting. Eleven years on, we thought it was high ‘tide’ we hoisted the jolly roger and readied the rowlocks for another voyage of pottery pilfery. We set sail on the 31st . Arrr me hearties!

The children’s terracotta creations will be fired and ready for collection from the Pottery approx. one month later.

Sessions are designed for two age groups although younger and older siblings will never be turned away: 11.30am-1pm 4-8YRS and 2-3.30pm 9-12YRS. Places cost £15 per child with a 10% discount for x3 or more places booked. Telephone or email booking essential. 01531 633886 admin@eastnorpottery.co.uk

 

 

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The hens of Hardwick

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Mobile pottery hen party visits Hardwick House nr TewkesburyGreat to be back at Hardwick House facilitating more hen party pottery creativity.

Hardwick House is a half hour drive from Eastnor Pottery and is the perfect country retreat for large groups of girls looking for a Gloucestershire base. (The grand steps leading up to the front door always make for a good group photo too)

This particular bunch made and painted coil pots as well as each taking a turn on the potter’s wheel.

The fruits of their creative labour will be fired, glazed and returned to the girls in time for the bride’s big day.

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