Crafters to crown Coronation weekend at Living Crafts festival in Hatfield Park

Artists and makers from Grandey’s Place Heritage and Craft Centre, near Bishop’s Stortford, will be joining a host of other creatives at a festival in Hertfordshire over the Coronation bank holiday weekend.

Three Queen Elizabeth Craft Scholars at the centre in Green Tye – letter carver Wayne Hart, ceramicist Bryony Applegate and stained glass specialist Tom Vowden – will be among the makers demonstrating their skills to the thousands of visitors who are expected to attend the four-day Living Crafts festival in Hatfield Park (Friday to Monday May 5-8).

Upholsterers Trisha Anderson and Elaine O’Donovan, potter Helen Baron and bespoke metal workers and mould makers Daniela Rubino and Lauren Wilson complete the line-up of local talent at the event, which is one of the largest craft fairs in Europe.

“These events really do offer the chance for craftspeople like me and my colleagues to showcase our skills and demonstrate the processes we use when we practise our crafts,” said Wayne, who created the memorial stones at Westminster Abbey to writer C S Lewis and actor Sir John Gielgud.

“And it’s a great way for the public to gain an insight into the huge variety of traditional British crafts.”

Craft enthusiasts will also be interested to hear that Grandey’s Place is to hold a free summer open day on Sunday June 25. For more information and to book a parking space, visit www.grandeysplace.co.uk.

For more details about the UK Crafts Festival, visit www.livingcrafts.co.uk.