Take a look inside new expanded St Leonards ceramics studio

The Mudworks is now based in London Road, St Leonards and is run by Chantelle Duncan and Isabella Campi.

It started off in a small garage unit in Harold Mews after the pair met just weeks before.

Chantelle said: “Isabella Campi and I met during lockdown and the stars seemed to align for us when we decided to open a small pottery both for ourselves and other ceramicists.

"We opened The Mudworks six weeks after meeting in February 2021. At that stage we were only able to have one extra person in per day. However in June 2021, as lockdown eased we started doing pottery classes.

"They filled up instantly and since then we have had 50 people regularly using the studio. Suffice to say we very quickly outgrew our small garage unit in Harold Mews.

“We had been looking for extra space for several months and had had several carrots dangled but they fell through. The old bathroom shop on London Road in St Leonards had been vacant for some time, so in January we approached the letting agent and were delighted to be awarded the lease to open the Mudworks there.

"The space is three times the size of our current unit with beautiful light pouring in through three enormous south east facing windows. We will now be able to offer the community more pottery classes than we were previously able to manage.”

The studio opened at its new premises at the start of May.

Chantelle added: "We are keen to engage with local schools and hope that the studio can be used for other community projects. At the moment with the Great Pottery Throw Down in people’s minds, as well as people having turned to crafting since Covid, it’s hugely exciting to be able to offer up our studio space to creatives and people looking for something gentle and social.

"We will be adding an extra pottery class on Tuesday evenings as well as extra places on the Wednesday and Thursday classes that we already run, as well as expanding our membership. And in time taster classes, throwing workshops and children’s classes. We’re an easy-going lot and there is a lot of laughter and banter among our members and students.”