Potters Camp 2024
Dates: Wednesday 31st July – Sunday 4th August 2024
Location: Stoke Farm, Battisford Tye, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 2NA
About The Site:
The Camp site is adjacent to an orchard which will attract bees and wasps. Most of the tents will be pitched in the orchard itself. If you are allergic to bee and wasp stings, please think carefully about whether or not you should attend.
The Camp site is on a field, and so is uneven. Please talk to us if this is likely to be a problem for you.
There is building work going on adjacent to the site, so the access route through the farm has changed. See the image below for how it works. There will be signs to show the route.
Useful information for camp
The first information sheet about Camp 2024 can be downloaded from here.
A useful checklist with ideas about what you might need for camp can be downloaded from here. Put together by first timers from 2023.
Some general notes on aproaches to glazing your pots can be downloaded from here. If you are planning to put pots in the soda or wood kilns, ignore the comments about putting resist (wax or shellac) on footrings, as the pots need to be wadded to stop them sticking to kiln shelves, and the resist stops the wadding adhering to the pots.
Latest view of the site showing building work and the new access track to our site. Follow the red line.
Accommodation:
Camping in tents will be between the rows of trees in the apple orchard. There is also space for a limited number of caravans and campervans, which will be different from last year’s arrangement. However please note that there will be no electric or water hook–up available. The power supply to the kiln site is limited and will be required for the communal facilities. Please include details of your accommodation needs on your booking form so we can work out where to put everyone. Last year some people found Airbnb accommodation locally. Additionally, there are reasonably priced hotels in Needham Market and Stowmarket if you want a bit more comfort.
Toilets and Showers:
We have showers and toilets on site, plus a hired portable toilet block nearby in the farmyard. We are also hoping to build a second earth toilet behind the mound.
Food:
There will be tea and coffee making facilities in the static caravan and a communal supply of milk plus cold water. You will need to provide your own breakfast and lunch each day. There are no facilities to heat food, but hot water will be available. There will be extra freezer space for ice packs. We are planning to provide a simple communal meal each evening for all, as we did last year.
Firings
If you want to participate in the firings you will need to bring a selection of bisque-fired pieces to camp with you. We suggest 20-30 small to medium pieces. Smaller, upright pieces with a stable base stand much more chance of getting into a group pack. Platters, plates, wide bowls and awkward shapes will get left out of the kilns. Make sure you use stoneware or porcelain clays only. If in doubt Earthstone Original (ES5), B17C, Special Fleck and Royale porcelain (available from our clay dumps) all work well in all our kilns. There will be more details of firings and the pots you can bring nearer the time.
The aim of the firings at Camp is to provide learning experiences for everyone, so you are encouraged to engage with the firing supervisors and participate in helping and observing the various firings.
Gas Reduction – we have several gas kilns and will supply a range of glazes for you to try. Any of the stoneware clays or porcelain supplied by the AP clay dumps will be suitable.
Wood Firing – there will be a range of shinos, glazes, washes, wood and soda ash available. There will also be opportunities to help wad pots and do a shift stoking the
kiln.
Experimental Wood Kiln – We plan to fire the small wood kiln we built at camp last year, but will try a few modifications to see if we can get to higher temperatures this time! Sone help will be needed to do some building work.
Soda Firing – We have adapted Tony Pugh’s gas kiln for soda firing. There will be shinos available for coating the insides of your pieces and some coloured vitreous soda slips for outside decoration. We will need a team to wad the pots and there will be opportunities to spray in soda when the kiln gets up to temperature.
Smoke Firing – we will do smoke firing in oil drums filled with wood and sawdust on the Saturday morning. Rounded medium or large forms, which have been well burnished, yield the best results. A reduced bisque temperature helps to retain the burnished finish but is not essential. White, off-white or light-coloured clay is ideal.
Raku – Raku firings will be different this year. Continuing Raku firings every day has been very disruptive, so this year we will be having a limited amount of Raku firing, based around a ‘masterclass’ approach on one day only, plus, we hope, some other demonstrations. We believe this will still provide opportunities to learn about and participate in Raku firing, without it becoming a firing service! We provide a range of Raku glazes. Any reasonably robust clay, up to and including porcelain, is appropriate.
Paper Kiln – Richard Innes has agreed to have another go at building a paper kiln this year and we hope it will provide a fitting centrepiece to the Saturday night entertainment. It was great fun to build last year and a chance to release your inner child and get muddy! It was also a thing of great beauty to watch throughout the firing despite the rain and we hope that it will be enjoyed by many more this year.
Workshops
We hope to organise a number of workshops and demonstrations. We are also on the lookout for any Campers who have a particular technique they could showcase for others. Please contact us if you would like to offer.
Entertainments
We will be making our own entertainments. If you play, bring an instrument! Out of consideration for our neighbours, music will need to be acoustic only. We aim provide a focus for Saturday evening, out in the middle of the site.
Enquiries
Please look at the website first. If you can’t find the answer there then email [email protected].
