Clay Club and Craft Market

November 12, 2018 by Ray Morgan

I've had such a Leigh-on-Sea week, dear friends. Last week I attended Clay Club in The Old Foundry, or what used to be The Lynn Tait Gallery. 

Some readers might know from my previous blogs that I used to work at The Lynn Tait Gallery with my sister, so for us to both go along with our mum to the reimagined space was a lovely trip down memory lane. 

Now I know what you're thinking, the first rule of Clay Club is that you do not talk about Clay Club, but I am sure they'll make an exception for me. It was run by Beci Callow, a potter, and Hayley Wells, an illustrator, and it was all about making Christmas decorations. 

We arrived in a blustery Old Leigh at 7pm, and entered The Old Foundry which was warm, full of twinkly lights, and were handed ice-cold glasses of prosecco. We each had a ball of clay and tools, and were given a brief intro into how to work with the clay, and then we were off! I won't go into the details as you might want to book one of these workshops yourself (follow @BeciCallowDesign on Instagram for updates), but we all made some lovely things. 

There was a buffet, more booze if we wanted it, and the MOST relaxing vibe. Good tunes on the stereo (my adorable Mum going "Ooh, is that David McAlmont?"). Alllll the twinkly lights. Chatting to the fellow crafters. It was so fun. The hosts Beci and Hayley were incredibly helpful and encouraging. I would recommend Clay Club in a heartbeat. In a couple of weeks we'll get our fired and glazed decorations ready for our trees! Such a lovely thing to do. 

I also went to the Leigh Pop-Up Christmas Craft Market on Saturday in the Community Centre. I met up with some friends and we promptly realised it was Officially Too Busy (think a huge line of people just to get IN the centre) so we escaped to The Cake Bar in The Book Inn for some chats and relaxy time. We prepared ourselves to go to the fair again, but I will be perfectly honest: it was too busy! Shuffling along in a line meant you saw more of the back of the person in front's head than the actual stalls. It was almost scarily busy - and the minute you add buggies to the mix it becomes even more gridlocked. I regretted my rucksack because it kept getting dragged in different directions. My friend was with her children and they headed home, it was too hot for them! 

I did another circuit on my own as the crowds calmed and managed to make my way round all the stalls. It was so lovely to see brands I've followed for ages online. I have been a dedicated customer of local soap maker Bean & Boy for so long and finally got to meet Stacey who makes all the soaps. She leapt out from behind her stall to give me a hug, it was like meeting an old friend! After many conversations on Instagram and Etsy, we finally met IRL and it was so nice (I obviously bought more soap, I'm addicted). I browsed more stalls. I bought some festive bits [redacting any mention of what said gifts were in case my sister or mum reads this] and had a good old mooch as it finally calmed down. What was really lovely was the sheer volume of people who were supporting these independent crafters and makers. In a world of Amazon Prime it was cheering to see so many people buying things the old-fashioned way, and shopping local. 

I saw some serious shade online about the fair after the weekend. People saying things like "This had nothing to do with Christmas". I thought that was harsh. I saw plenty of festive decorations, Christmas crackers and partyware, but more importantly *ideas for gifts*. What better place to pick up some Christmas presents than this, with everything lovingly made by local crafters? I thought it was a winner. And it did feel festive! 

Yes, it was too busy. For a community building I was incredibly surprised that we weren't being counted out and in - it was just categorically too packed, and felt dangerously hot and overcrowded (I was desperate for them to crack a window). But it's a huge undertaking to put on something like that, so I just wanted to extend a thank you to the Leigh Pop-Up people (person?!) for creating such a popular event. The fact it was so busy was a great testament to how popular it was.