Clare Gage, multi-award winning Chesterfield based artist has teamed up with Chesterfield Champions, StraightCurves, to bring pottery courses to Chesterfield.

Clare Gage is a Chesterfield based artist who has celebrated her life-long love of textiles with ceramics by creating a truly unique collection of porcelain and jewellery. Clare is respected in the world of design, having won numerous awards for her work and seeing her designs featured in many great design magazines.

With interest in pottery growing in recent years due to a resurgence in traditional craft skills and TV programs such as The Great Pottery Throw Down, the collaboration between Clare and StraightCurves couldn’t have come at a better time.

Clare says:-

‘I love encouraging people to play with clay. I grew up going to pottery classes and it’s fabulous to be able to teach others. I like to create a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere where your creative ideas can take shape.’

StraightCurves was set up in 2013 by Karen Rogers, a fully qualified and experienced designer and secondary school teacher/adult education tutor, who is passionate about creativity and learning. She firmly believes that anyone can be creative, and StraightCurves offers a range of high-quality workshops and courses for adults and children in a variety of techniques based at their studio building on Saltergate, Chesterfield.

Karen Rogers, owner of StraightCurves, is excited about the new addition to her team of tutors. She says:-

“It’s great for our customers to have the opportunity to learn with Clare an award winning ceramicist who is based in Chesterfield.”

Over 500 people from the local community joined the Chesterfield Canal Trust and a number of archaeologists to take part in the Last Cuckoo Project.

At the beginning of the year it was reported that the Chesterfield Canal Trust acquired funding from the Aviva Community Trust of £10,000 for the Last Cuckoo Project – an archaeological dig at Staveley – where it is believed that at least one Cuckoo boat, unique to the canal, could be found.

The dig, which took place over two weeks in August, unearthed a variety of material including pottery and bottles and – as expected – three boats, one which has been reported as almost certainly a Cuckoo.

The dig has received enormous community support. The funding for the project was made possible by the project gaining 9,500 votes in a public vote. The public support continued with over 500 places on the dig being snapped up by members of the community – including a number of local children.

To celebrate the findings, the Trust organised an open day, which was also well attended with over 300 people being given a guided tour of the trenches and the teams findings. The dig also gained regional coverage with a feature on BBC Look North.

As the project was an archaelogical dig and not a restoration project the findings where reburied. However the Canal Trust will be working hard to ensure that the findings are remembered.

Rod Auton, a representative from the Chesterfield Canal Trust, said:-

“There was never any possibility of lifting an incredibly fragile 70’ boat, then storing and preserving it, so everything was reburied at the end of the dig. When the restoration of the Canal reaches a certain point, they will be dug up again because there will be moorings on the site.

“However, part of the grant has been reserved to create an information board on the site, so that the whole event will be remembered in the time being.”

The Trust wishes to pay particular thanks to Mark Walker for his months of planning on the project, Elmet Archaeological Services – led by Christine Rawson – who had vast experience of community archaeology, T.C. Harrison/JCB who lent the Trust a mini-digger for the whole fortnight and Henry and Lorraine Day who allowed the Trust to use their field for camping, car parking and accommodation facilities.