Cabin Casting Collaboration: Wildflower Wagon, Crafts Hill Barn, Cambridge

After a summer of set backs and cancellations due to wee Pinto’s ongoing health issues, I was so excited to be hitting the road to the Wildflower Wagon for a few days casting in the Cambridge countryside. I hit the road south on Friday evening stopping in at the Lake District for a layover before heading onto Oswestry for my first port of call, the craft fair at Woodhill Park Estate which was organised by Syrie Johnson and her husband who recently took over the grounds and house.

I was one of the craft stalls taking part in their opening event, All Woodhill Park’s a Stage … a new Shropshire Festival in aid of Horatio’s Garden which included an outdoor performance of As You Like It by Dukes Theatre in front of the beautiful house.  It was a great event and lovely to meet all the other stall holders and visit a new part of the country. I then packed up and headed to Stoke on Trent to rest my head ahead of a visit to the Wedgewood factory, which I was keen to fit into this trip as it has been on my hit list for a while. But before I hit the museum I received a top tip from my lovely Air B&B host to check our Trentham Gardens which was very near my accommodation and it was such an unexpected place to stumble upon. I went straight into the gardens when it opened at nine and lost myself in the stunning Italian garden, recently revived and reimagined by the renowned designer and multi-Chelsea gold-medal winner Tom Stuart-Smith. To the east of the Italian Gardens are the Rivers of Grass and the adjacent Floral Labyrinth which I wafted through before taking a stroll round the lake. Both these schemes were designed by eminent Dutch plantsman, and Chelsea gold-medal winner, Piet Oudolf and were a true joy to experience. I only scratched the surface of the grounds and you could easily spend a whole day wandering round the different paths and gardens, or canoeing on the water, enjoying the shopping in the nearby retail park or just taking in the calm serenity of the Italian Gardens. But I had places to be, namely a date with one of my creative heroes - Josiah Wedgewood and his factory/museum.

And it did not disappoint, I was absolutely captivated by the beautifully laid out V&A collection and spent a very happy few hours geeking out on Wedgewood and his incredible story and pottery. He was an extraordinary man, a real entrepreneur, socialist, perfectionist and I think, genius. I was energised by the way he broke the mould, pioneered new materials and techniques and adapted his business to the changes in society and trends around him. What a guy! I want to go back another day and do a tour of the factory which wasn’t open on Sunday to see behind the scenes of Wedgwood production. After tearing myself away from the fabulous Wedgewood advent calendar at the end of the exhibition I hit the road to my final stop on this trip, Crafts Hill Barn in Cambridge.

This was the third collaborative stay I had booked in as part of my casting grand tour of the UK, inspired by my love of Grand Tour intaglio collections which I learned more about through the eyes of Wedgewood in Stoke so it energised my passion fro this project. Back in the 18th century small plaster intaglios were amassed by the young aristocratic men on their European travels, which would often be mounted into cases or books and displayed in fashionable interiors back home. These collections acted as souvenirs of a year long adventure in Europe in addition to being a reminder of the inspiring artworks and decorative pieces they had come across during their travels.  So my aim is to undertake my own Grand Tour of the UK this year, and also take some female ownership of a tradition which was almost entirely undertaken by men back in the day, and create a visual record of the flora and fauna of Britain by capturing a moment in the seasonal life of the landscape around the cabins I am staying in around the country.

Casting in front of the wild swimming pond Jo and Jim have built in the land around the cabins. 

I arrived to a tropical Cambridge and  hastily changed out of my north England woolies and got into some shorts after being greeted by Jo and shown to my home for the next few nights, the charming Wildflower Wagon. It is one of  a few tempting accommodation options at Crafts Hill Barn, once a working farm which has been lovingly restored by Jo and Jim from a Victorian granary and outbuildings into four unique spaces for two surrounded by five acres and a large natural swimming pond. I was absolutely delighted to step into the quaint Wildflower Wagon, with a generous comfortable bed, cute little kitchenette, log burner and toilet; the interior wooden cladding and vintage decorations creating a cosy home from home feel. The wood fired outdoor bath sits in a copse of woods behind the cabin surrounded by twinkly light for the perfect romantic evening bathing experience, or if you fancy a quick wash the watering can outdoor shower is also a fabulous way to get clean after an outdoor casting session. Jo had picked some beautiful sweet peas, Japanese anemones, sunflowers and dahlias from her garden and I also picked some of the wild carrot, yarrow, rosebay willow herbs growing outside the cabin to work with.  I got to work in the evening sun with a combine harvester and bird song as my soundtrack  - perfect! After getting the plaster poured I headed down to the pond edge with a glass of wine for a dragonfly spotting session, a dreamy way to end the day.

After a long, deep sleep in one of the most comfortable beds I’ve ever slept in I woke to another beautiful day so I poured myself a coffee and headed back to my pond side stoop to soak up the peace. I planned on heading into Cambridge that day to revisit some of my student haunts so I took a look at the casts I had made the night before and rerolled out some clay to make a few more intaglios which could dry while I was out and about. There were some delicious breakfast provision provided so I tucked into this before heading off to find my wheels for the day. I hired one of the bikes from Jo and pedalled off at top speed to Cambridge, excited to get immersed in the town I had spent 3 happy years as an undergraduate. It was SO fun cycling around and stopping off at old haunts and favourite spots in Cambridge, I went to visit the History of Art department where I spent many hours in a dark projector room and seminar room (it hasn’t changed a bit), wandered round town and the backs, before cycling out to Robinson (my college). It was so nostalgic and hard to believe it has been almost 20 years since a young, very nervous me started student life and going back made me truly appreciate what a privilege and honour it was to study there. It was a highly pressured and challenging time academically and I never fully believed I was meant to be there with a sort of constant imposter syndrome, but I really enjoyed my time there and feel so lucky to have experienced such an excellent education. I hopped back on my bike and headed out to one of my favourite student haunts, the Orchard Tearoom in Grantchester which we used to cycle out too to celebrate handing in an essay or surviving a tutorial.  It hasn’t changed a bit and I settled down in one of the deckchairs with a scone fresh out the oven and recharged before heading back to my wagon idyll for a quick pond swim in the rain. The rain cleared as I was treated to the most beautiful evening so I went for a wander in the fields nearby and nature put of an amazing show with a lilac sunset, it was stunning.

I packed up slowly the next day, sad to leave my cosy Cambridge bolt hole, taking a few snaps of the casts I had made during my stay against the wagons lovely interior features before saying farewell to my new dragonfly friends and hitting the road.

I broke up my journey home with a visit to Cragside, a National Trust gem and a showstopper of a house and garden. Again I could have spent all day wandering round the woodlands and various sights in the vast landscape but I whizzed round the bountiful, lush and colourful formal garden before heading inside to the exquisite Art&Crafts interior. Every room was a delight and the ingenuity and creativity of Lord and Lady Armstrong was evident throughout the house. Lord William was an engineering pioneer and introduced ingenious modern amenities to their home including a hydraulic lift, water-powered spit and, most brilliantly, electric lighting. I was drawn to visit by the incredible and colossal marble fireplace in the Drawing Room which I had seen images off. The scale and grandiosity of the fireplace was even more impressive in real life,  the somewhat ostentatious, Italian Renaissance–inspired features were crafted using the finest materials and the latest Victorian engineering techniques. I have never seen anything like it in a residential setting and I was blown away by the hours of work that must have gone into carving such an elaborate and massive sculptural feature. With my eyes sated by creative inspiration, I settled back into the car for a last sunny drive back to Edinburgh to my gorgeous boys who I had missed filled with ideas, energy and inspiration after such a magical trip.

A huge thank you to Jo and Jim for hosting me, and I highly recommend a stay at Craftshill Barn to rest, restore and relax. Now where am I off to next…..