Social Clay Festival 2025

Social Clay 2025

Social Clay Festival celebrates sociable making, from housebuilding to ashtray makers at our historic inn The Farmer’s Arms and is returning for its fourth glorious year—this time the sun will shine even if darkly! Join us for a three-day collaborative gathering of people, using ideas, clay and crafts in a political, educational and social way, brought to you by Grizedale Arts and Tees Valley Arts.

Since we established The Farmer’s Arms, we’ve been working to foster collaborations, ideas and discussions to help people from all walks of life develop networks and provide a space for making. Social Clay is an informal celebration of what has been established here to date and a chance for you to meet other people doing interesting things, to learn, exchange, collaborate and get involved!

The Farmer’s Arms isn’t just a pub it’s a new kind of social space. We have workshops, gardens, housebuilding, craft and art projects, fermentation, cooking and product development—a place where people meet and plots and soups are thickened. There is an emphasis in all these areas on social functionality and how these ideas and skills feed into everyday life and creativity, so, if you’re working somewhere in between any or all these things, but you’re thinking beyond the product, then this festival is for y’all!

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

It’s a packed programme over the three days including workshops suitable for all ages, at least three generations or more, fun filled, food filled and educational, programmed by us, our friends and collaborators and partners Tees Valley Arts, what more could you possibly want.

Friday 29 August

Arrival and welcome at the Farmer’s Arms (stupendous parking, accommodation and camping on site)

10 – 4pm Signwriting course with Beccy Roberts (sign up to the separate Eventbrite listing or via our website https://lakedistrictfarmersarms.com/event-category/workshops-courses/) unbelievably useful and simple skill for all, and a prequal offer prior to festival start at 6:00pm (for the super eager)

6.00pm, SOCIAL CLAY FESTIVAL START: Welcome and intro talk about the Farmer’s Arms and the aims of the festival with Adam Sutherland (Grizedale arts) and James Beighton (Tees Valley arts)

7.00pm: One total Potluck meal—bring your own pot, we’ll provide the content (food free with your Social Clay ticket)

From 7.30pm: Pub regulars the Celtic Fiddles, traditional folk music jam session—bring your own jug (or other instrument) and join in or just drink.

For early arrivals and/or late leavers: the bar will be open as normal 5pm to 11pm

Saturday 30 August

10.00am to 4.00pm: all day craft workshops and demos including of Mochaware, handle making (and spoon making), slip trailing, throwing off the hump and more (2x free workshops with weekend ticket, all demos free)—William Plumptre, Francis Lloyd Jones, Peter and Heidi Hodgson, and many more.
Plus, all day Craft stalls—mostly pottery! If you have something to sell pottery or otherwise do bring it along for the Bring and Buy Anything stall, or if you wish to book your own stall (£10 per stall) contact maria@grizedale.org in advance.

6.00pm: Talk on Grizedale’s Ampersand Foundation funded major project Reform Life—project launch and outline talk for this innovative socially engaged programme that will be running throughout the Crake valley over the next two years.

7.30pm on: Entertainment (if you can call it that) a disturbingly difficult pottery themed pub quiz devised by Aaron Angell of venerated Troy Town ceramic studio fame) – if you answer a single one of the ten questions correctly you get a free pint or equivalent! Plus other surprise fun!

11.00am to 8.00pm: pub and cafe open and our wood fired Pizza Oven fired up and ready to go, design your own impossible pizza (within reason) or head for other specials: Korean Bingsu with artist baker Yunkyung Kam (YK) and a one pot economy bowl with architect designer baker Choon Yuan Wang

For those keen on continual eating opportunities our Café will be open 11pm to 4pm and our bar open 12noon to 11pm for more cakes than your eyes can stand to see

Sunday 31 August

9.30am: Mushroom walk—from mushroom to mushroom, we will mostly be finding Hedgehog, chantarelle and Porcini. Meet at Tarn Hows car park, nr. Coniston, bring a heavy bag.

11.30am: Workshop on preparing and cooking mushrooms in our Fermentation barn back at the pub. How not to poison yourself in one simple lesson.

Or
10.00am Architect Hannah Sheerin will host an introduction at The Farmer’s to their ‘build every bit of your own house’ Black Shed self-build learning project – including making ceramic sinks, light switches, tiles and more – followed by a workshop at The Farmer’s and at 16:00pm, for those keen to see the Black Shed itself, a visit to the site up in Coniston at our sister venue Lawson Park. For further info re: the Lawson Park guided tour see below or for more info on The Black Shed see here: https://www.grizedale.org/projects/the-black-shed-working-title.

13:00pm: Sunday Lunch at the Farmer’s (£10 per head on the day with a Social Clay ticket) a communal sit down on one endless table catering for all diets, dispositions and delectations (as if that were humanly possible, but then it is artist chef led)

14:00pm:  Intangible National Asset discussion with guests, all welcome. See below for more information

16:00pm: Lawson Park guided tour with Karen Guthrie, visit the exceptional gardens & unique artist residency space developed over the last 25 years at Grizedale Arts’ Lawson Park site and HQ, just above Brantwood museum (John Ruskin’s house and collections). The gardens are a collaborative project led by Karen Guthrie with Grizedale arts and feature many art works and projects in a biodiverse haven with unforgettable views. This will be the last tour of the day (separate booking on Eventbrite or via our website https://www.grizedale.org/events) but the gardens and house are open all weekend for those with a mind to go off piste via the booking link.

BIG + NEW this year: establishing an Intangible National Asset Register (list of good things)

As part of the talks programme this year we will host an exciting discussion on the idea of establishing a national register of designs held in common ownership, an equivalent of the Asian Intangible National Asset Register and the Living National Treasures. Representing an idea of a shared heritage, functionalism, and a recalibration of hierarchies and value. The proposal is to create a contemporary design register that bridges some of the divides and omissions within design heritage, to establish a set of rules, including mass and craft production, a marriage of Arts and Crafts, Modernism and contemporary design, production and making. It will all start here, at Social Clay 2025, and progress forthwith. Discussion format includes artists, craftspeople and designers, administrators and cultural theorists, both live and online, all welcome, come and join in, put forward your design nominations!

Join us for the weekend:

£35 Weekend Ticket will get you exclusive first come first served access to two of the workshops happening over the weekend plus a free potluck welcome meal on the Friday. A £55 Weekend Ticket + Camping will get you all the aforementioned PLUS camping in our beautiful farmer’s meadow a stroll from the pub (basic facilities, 24-hour toilets but no showers), price is per head (not tent) and includes complementary camping on the Sunday night for those wishing to stay a little longer.

All ticket holders are offered a 500ml bottle of our valley cider vinegar, straight from the fermentation barn. Please ask a member of staff for one, worth the price of the ticket alone.

Discount for students studying within the field of arts and craft – please contact maria@grizedale.org.