Our Editorial team, Kirsty and Gemma, fully embrace the ease in lockdown restrictions and venture along the County Down coast to Millisle for the afternoon to visit Eden Pottery.
Tucked away in the Ards Peninsula is the little gem that is Eden Pottery. Like so many others, Eden had to pull out their creative thinking to ensure a healthy return to business after lockdown. Thankfully, these guys have more creativity in their little fingers than us mere mortals could ever hope to have in our entire bodies.
We pulled into the car park at Eden Pottery on a drizzly Friday morning. The soggy atmosphere certainly hadn’t dampened our spirits, or those of the many coffee sipping, scone munching visitors who sat happily distanced from their peers under the canopies all cosied up in their coats.
As we stepped inside, we felt as though the morning couldn’t possibly get any better, we were not only out of the house, but here we were, confronted with a menu and the possibility of eating food, somewhere other than home.
Heather is responsible for the edible delights. I have to give a particular dedication to the cinnamon scones, they deserve a paragraph to themselves! This is the perfect place for a spot of lunch or a coffee break and a chat with friends, safely face to face! You can pop in for refreshments or for food without getting all artsy – the lunch menu is delightfully different with something to suit everyone and they have got their coffee right on point! It’s refreshing to visit somewhere where you can actually see how much love and effort has gone into what’s on offer.
Phil showed us to our station which was outside in a wonderful bunting and light draped gazebo with a high roof. It reminded me of what would happen if a circus tent and teepee merged together.
This is a brand new feature to Eden Pottery which was a direct result of our new almost-post-COVID new world. Heather and Phil have taken the decision to add this quirky new space to their usual indoor workshop and cafe area to allow for new, safe, social distancing measures to be followed.
The layout is so clever that we didn’t even notice that we were being deliberately kept at a distance from other visitors. I had worried that we might all be made to ring warning bells on the approach of one another when we did eventually step out into the new world of separation, but Phil and Heather have really thought this one through. They have provided an area where we can all feel together, even though we’re still somewhat apart. This is a fantastic space for small group bookings too, perhaps a birthday or a hen party, or even just a socially safe ‘I’ve missed you’ gathering of friends.
At our tables, Phil gave us a demonstration of how to use the paints and sponges and gave us a little bit of insight into his role at Eden. One of his many tasks is to handcraft each little individual sponge used to print on the pottery, so each is perfectly unique and individual to Eden Pottery. I enjoyed the fact that I was about to create a masterpiece that you couldn’t get anywhere else in the world – a genuine one-off!
Phil made the whole process look easy. Of course, he did. That’s what experts do, they do their thing and leave complete amateurs with the belief that they can do it too! We each chose a blank canvas on which to splurge our creativity – all of the pottery is obviously made at Eden and there are so many different items to choose from, cups and mugs, to dinner plates and plaques.
This is something that we would both definitely recommend to absolutely everyone! From little tots to the Great-Grandad’s and everyone in between. This is a multigenerational activity that brings people together, even when we have to stay apart.
Kirsty and I were no ‘Phil’ when it came to the decoration of our own pottery items, but you know what, we weren’t too bad! What makes this so much fun is that little sense of achievement you get when you’ve finished. As I looked at my Campervan plaque with smudgy edges and blurry bits where I had washed the paint off to start again, I couldn’t help but feel like that eight-year-old in Primary School when I came runner up in the colouring competition for my picture of the Wizard with the purple face.
Eden is more than just a jar of paint, some impressively intricate sponges and amazing home-baked delights…
It’s a place you visit for that long overdue catch up with the people you love in a manner that won’t push BoJo over the edge; it’s a place you go to get creative and to relax and to look at the end result of your imperfect creation and think, ‘Yup. That’s going on the wall!’
Thank you for having us Eden Pottery! We had a smashing (thankful not literally) time!
You can contact Eden Pottery via their website www.edenpotteryshop.co.uk, go for a visit and create your very own unique masterpiece or purchase non-smudged Eden Pottery online or in the shop.
