Devon’s thriving Arts & Crafts scene comes to life this autumn as attention turns to friend meet-ups and cosy indoor maker evenings.

If stained glass, clay gargoyles and naive watercolours don’t excite, how about nature-inspired pottery or surreal painting? Or an early festive gift creation?

They’re all here in our selection of the county’s best.

Yours in Devon,

P.S. I’d love your feedback on this new occasional format. Did it help you find the right workshop? Let me know in the Member Poll below.

Workshops in North Devon

Barnstaple, Bideford, Great Torrington, South Molton

Sat 4th Oct | Nature Inspired Mug or Vase | RHS Rosemoor, Great Torrington | £75

Sat 4th Oct | Tataki Zome Printed Neck Scarf | The Plough @ St Anne’s, Barnstaple | £62

Sun 5th Oct | Introduction to Embroidery | The Creative Hub, Barnstaple | £30

Fri 10th Oct | Hand Made Sketchbook | The Plough Arts Centre, Barnstaple | £37

Sun 12th Oct | Introduction to Linocut Printmaking | The Burton at Bideford | £70

Wed 15th Oct | Willow Basket Weaving | Quince Honey Farm, South Molton | £45

Fri 17th Oct | 2-Week Colour Linocut Printmaking | The Plough Arts Centre, Barnstaple | £65

Sat 18th Oct | Autumn Leaves Stained Glass Wind Chimes | RHS Rosemoor, Great Torrington | £120

Sat 18th Oct | Willow Bird Sculpture | The Plough @ St Anne’s, Barnstaple | £75

Sat 25th Oct | Gargoyle Sculpture | Ceramics Academy, South Molton | £47.16

Sat 25th Oct | Gingerbread House Pottery | The Plough @ St Anne’s, Barnstaple | £70

Sat 1st Nov | Expressive Monoprinting | The Burton at Bideford | £70

Sat 1st Nov | Winter Hare in Watercolours | The Plough @ St Anne’s, Barnstaple | £60

Sat 8th Nov | Candle Making | Quince Honey Farm, South Molton | £35

Sat 8th Nov | Four-Week Life Drawing Course | The Burton at Bideford | £125

Sat 15th Nov | Penguin Sculpture | Ceramics Academy, South Molton | £47.16

Sat 22nd Nov | “Smiling Basket” Willow Weaving Workshop | The Plough @ St Anne’s, Barnstaple | £70

Sat 29th Nov | Wet Felting Bags | The Plough @ St Anne’s, Barnstaple | £35

Workshops in South & East Devon

Plymouth, Tavistock, Newton Abbot, Bovey Tracey, Ashburton, Totnes, Exeter, Axminster

Wed 1st Oct | Creative Textiles Monthly Social | Ocean Studios, Plymouth | Free

Thu 2nd Oct | Cyanotype Cushions | Newton Abbot | £80

Sat 4th Oct | Life Drawing with Andrew Stacey | Ashburton Arts Centre | £12

Sat 4th Oct | Wooden Spooncarving Club | Axminster Store | £6

Sat 4th Oct | Drawing the Figure | Salcombe Art Club | £50

Mon 6th Oct | Creative Watercolours | Printworks, Tavistock | £12

Wed 15th Oct | Make a Human Head in Clay | MAKE Southwest, Bovey Tracey | £90

Sun 19th Oct | Surreal Art Drawing & Collage | St Saviours Hall, Plymouth | £22.50

Wed 29th Oct | Evening Pottery | China Blue, Totnes | £60

Thu 13th Nov | Christmas Glass Fusing | Art Craft & Laughter Studio, Plymouth | £40

Sat 15th Nov | Colour & Tone Painting | Ocean Studios, Plymouth | £30

Fri 21st Nov | Festive Fused Glass | Arthouse, South Brent | £65

Sat 22nd Nov | Flower Power Mosaics | Starcross, Exeter | £85

Thu 27th Nov | Yule Wreath Making | The Box, Plymouth | £45

Sat 29th Nov | Cardboard Kingfisher Workshop | RAMM, Exeter | £30

MEMBER POLL

Last week’s result: “How often do you attend heritage and history events?” (3,207 subscribers)

• Never 16%

• Rarely 34%

• Occasionally 34%

• Often 16%

Laura said: “In August we attended the Honiton Hill Rally where the historic farm machinery was amazing to see in action.”

Devon Curiosities #76: Crockern Tor Stannary Parliament

It would be hard to find a less suitable place for a parliament.

Up on High Dartmoor with no shelter, for centuries Crockern Tor was the dramatic meeting place of the Great Court of Devon Tinners.

Up to 80 “MPs” from Tavistock, Plympton, Chagford and Ashburton met at the Stannary Parliament, from where they controlled the tin industry.

Proceedings are said to have been directed from the dominating Parliament Rock, which looks like a giant chair.

Granite tables and chairs, if they were ever there, have long gone.

Whether the Parliament hosted a short ceremonial event and adjourned to somewhere warmer, or sat through hours of debate in the winter drizzle or summer heat we will never know.

There’s evidence for 10 meetings between 1494 and 1703 and as you climb the Crockern Tor near Two Bridges you can try to imagine what they might have been like.

Actual location

WHAT ELSE IS ON?

🌊 North Devon 

🐬 South Devon

🏆️ Get lucky! Win Devon leisure prizes

FEATURED:  🍾 A 2-night stay for 2 with a sea view at Woolacombe Bay Hotel, including breakfast each morning, a 2-course dinner, prosecco, 45-minute Rasul experience and access to the spa (10th Oct)

🌊 A 2-night break in a 3-bedroom North Devon sea view apartment for family or friends with private hot tub (30th Sep)

🐕️ A 4-night break in an East Devon cottage with its own dog friendly enclosed garden and views across open countryside (30th Sep)

♨️ A 2-night stay for 4 people in a cliffside cottage at Babbacombe, with breakfast each day and 1 lunch for 4, including access to the sea-facing spa (30th Sep)

🫖 Tea for a Year! A 12-pack bundle of South Devon Teas, a different blend for every month. (30th Sep)

🦞 2 nights for 12 people at the soon-to-be-launched Sea Holly House in Beer (1st Oct)

🌊 A North Devon 2-night stay worth £568, with a view of the sea (6th Oct)

🧶 1 of 5 pairs of weekend tickets to Stitch Fest South West at Newton Abbot racecourse in November, worth £36 (16th Oct)

NEW!  🎟️ 5 pairs of tickets for the Westpoint Exeter Motorhome & Campervan Show on 21-23 Nov (9th Nov)

NEW!  🦢 A wildlife cruise for 2 in the Exe estuary. Enter once a month to increase your chances (30th Nov)

NEW!  🏰 A 2-night stay for 2 at the 5-Star Boringdon Hall Hotel, with Michelin-starred dining at Àclèaf, a second evening at the 2 AA Rosette Mayflower Brasserie, plus breakfasts, spa entry, bottle of gin, and 10% off treatments (no closing date given)

NEW!  🌊 1 week in a luxury holiday apartment at The Lanterns, Hope Cove, for up to 4 people (dogs too) worth £2,000 (no closing date given)

NEW!  🏰 A 1-night stay at Boringdon Hall Hotel, Plymouth for 2, including a 60-minute spa treatment and breakfast. (1st Dec)

NEW!  🏨 A 2-night stay for 2 guests at a Devon Brend Collection Hotel (30th Mar 2026)

❓️ Have you won a prize from a link here? Let me know

New member? Catch up here

🎶 The smooth, warm voice you’ll remember from the 1990s

🎭️ True story, offbeat and comedy shows in September and October

🎼 High quality, possibly world class, choral music in 5 Devon villages

🐎 75+ events celebrating 368 square miles of wild beauty

That’s all for this week. Thanks for being a member.

NEXT WEEK: Visit a Victorian fort after dark.

Andy, Esme and Lara