What better way to spend time with friends than chilling and making pottery in Herefordshire?

These London ladies took a weekend break in the countryside earlier this year and spent a creative and relaxing Friday afternoon with us.

They conquered the wheel then spent a couple of hours chatting and carefully decorating their freshly thrown masterpieces…And don’t they look amazing!? And the pots look pretty cool too! Well done you three!

This has to be one of our favourite photos of recent times

Jon and his family visited the Pottery to celebrate his 40^th birthday in creative style. Everybody took a turn on the wheel to make a pot and then paint it in a truly individual manner.

When it came to the obligatory team photo at the end of the session, Jon’s son Harry, quick as a flash, scooped mum’s iphone to photograph Jon the Potter photographing the family group. Love the movement as M&D lunge across the table to rescue the tech!

We wish Nicola all the best with her endeavours on and off the potter’s wheel!

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Staying @thecottageinthewood & visiting us @eastnorpottery #perfectweekend #happybirthdaymum @the.burmesepython #kickboxing

A post shared by Eastnor Pottery (@eastnorpottery) on Dec 8, 2018 at 3:35am PST

The trio’s positive outlook and good humour made for a brilliant, creative shared experience and a workshop session we’ll look back on with fondness.

If you’ve got something amazing to celebrate, then why not mark the occasion by making a piece of pottery. We have options for large groups and smaller gatherings and plenty of inspirational makes, including collaborative pieces where everybody contributes to a single thrown pot.

Sarah treated her mum Susan to a 1.5hr pottery experience as part of her birthday treat.

The pair made a pot each on the wheel and then spent some quality time together in the tranquility of the main studio painting their masterpieces with coloured slip.

Both agreed it was a wonderful, relaxing and creative thing to do for Susan’s special day.

More details of our fabulous range of drop-in projects can be found right here. We are open 10am – 4pm Tuesday to Saturday and have 1.5hr start times through-out the day. Please email admin@astnorpottery.co.uk or tel 01531 633886 to check availability.

What do you get a loved one who has everything?

The experience market has positively blossomed in recent years as we all attempt to fill our leisure time with meaningful and very often creative activities.

It’s no surprise then we’ve seen more and more individuals and families gifting each other pottery experience vouchers for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas.

Aspiring potters and visitors to our Herefordshire studio are not only creating a tangible object to be proud of, the process of making has therapeutic benefits too. Co-coordinating eye, hand and speed of the potter’s wheel leaves very little mental capacity to dwell on anything other than the task in hand – quite literally! All that other ‘stuff’ fizzing around participants heads fades away and a state of mindfulness ensues – just like meditating!

Workshop participants are also making memories. Our staff strive to create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, perfect for friends and family to catch-up and unwind and get their creative juices flowing. The expert guidance and positive facilitation enable visitors to thrive and create that ‘special’ piece or family heirloom. Once it has been fired and glazed, the artifact serves as a permanent reminder of time spent together doing something creative and ultimately rewarding.

We offer gift vouchers to whatever value you would like to spend. For instance, a £20 experience will enable the lucky maker to throw a pot on the wheel, decorate it with coloured slip and then leave it to be fired and glazed. A voucher to the value of £130 will enable the recipient to play with clay on the potter’s wheel for a whole day, inclusive of a delicious lunch.

All in all, making pottery is good for you and what better way to show your appreciation for a loved one than presenting them with an Eastnor Pottery Experience Voucher this Christmas.

You can purchase our vouchers online, right here.

The end of the school summer holidays heralds a new group of visitors to the Shire! 

Couples and groups of adults descend on the county to enjoy the beautiful Autumnal scenery, the bustling market towns and idyllic villages.

Most of them book an activity of some description to punctuate their visit, and, it appears pottery is high on their list of adventures!

If you are planning a rural, creative break in Herefordshire then please check out our dedicated website page for couples and small groups.

“Having exhausted all options in and around the Cotswolds for family activities, we looked a little further afield and as I had tried, and failed to use a potters wheel at school, I knew my children (ages 15 & 9) would have fun making a mess – if not an actual pot!

Jon and the team were ready and waiting after booking only a few hours before and we arrived after a very pleasant 50 minute drive from Stow on the Wold.

We chose to go with the make, paint and bake option which enables you to throw a pot, glaze it and have it fired in a kiln for collection later as it takes some time to dry, before it can be fired. We chose to make medium sized pots.

We had an absolute blast! Aimee our instructor was knowledgeable, helpful and patient and we each took a turn to start, restart and complete a pot at the wheel. This also meant we were able to learn from each other’s mistakes and successes. We had around 45 minutes each at the wheel but there was no rush at all which was really nice.

Complimentary refreshments were provided and once we had our finished pieces, they were dried for a while before we started painting on the glaze(s).

We were all quite proud of our creations by the time we had finished – about 3 hours after we arrived. Having done just about everything we can find to do in the Cotswolds, Eastnor Pottery was, without doubt, one of the most enjoyable activities we have done. I particularly like the fact that anyone from 3 to 103 can enjoy it together, as it requires no real physical ability, just a bit of patience and enthusiasm, and in my case also a sense of humour.

I really cannot wait to go back and have another go and my children and mother feel the same – fantastic fun come rain or shine and you leave with a genuine sense of achievement, having learned something new in a creative environment.

My only tip is to wear clothes that you don’t mind getting a little mucky, although we came away actually quite clean. Very highly recommended – we are definitely going back next time we visit the Cotswolds.”

The group took advantage of our fabulous 1.5hr shared potter’s wheel experience and made some super pots and shapes. We’ll fire and glaze their pottery creations, ready for collection from the studio in a few weeks time. The pots will serve as a permanent and unique reminder of her special day.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

When Alex & Scott spent a couple of days with us in July, they made pottery on the potter’s wheel with their young family in mind. Here are the children road testing their creations and proving they are very much fit for purpose!