What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm

MAKE Southwest

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MAKE Southwest

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MAKE Southwest (formerly Devon Guild of Craftsmen) is a contemporary craft centre with galleries and shop in Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK. www.crafts.org.uk
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Our 3 galleries, shop and cafe are open Tue - Sat, 10am - 5pm. The Devon Guild is also a registered educational charity dedicated to creating the craftspeople and collectors of the future.

19/10/2026

Join MAKE Southwest Maker Member Blandine Anderson for a ceramic hand building workshop exploring the theme of trees.

Saturday 7 November
10:30am-4:30pm
MAKE Southwest
£95

Open to all abilities, participants will learn some of the basic hand building techniques using slab, pinching, and modelling methods.

You will have the opportunity to explore different forms and approaches, as well as using slips and texture for surface decoration.

Participants are encouraged to bring any visual ideas - photographs, drawings, collages, etc. of trees or similar forms that will help inspire and inform their making throughout the workshop.

All works will be bisque fired and can be collected after the workshop.

Please note, there will be at least a 3-4 week wait for works to dry out and be bisque fired in our kiln. All participants will be notified via email when their works are ready for collection from MAKE Southwest.

Firing costs are included in the workshop fee for x 1 medium-sized ceramic outcome (roughly 20cm x 20cm x 30cm).

Book your tickets now at the link 🎟️
https://makesouthwest.org.uk/all-activity/workshop-hand-building-trees

17/10/2026

Get to know two of our amazing volunteers, Marnie and Ellie!

Marnie and Ellie have been busy helping us with everything from exhibition set up and product photography, to shop curation and lending a hand at our Private Views.

As a charity, our volunteers are at the heart of what we do: connecting people with contemporary and heritage craft.

The run up to Christmas is one of our busiest and most exciting times of year, and we’re looking for extra volunteers to support us in spreading some festive cheer.

By joining us, you’ll help create welcoming and engaging experiences, connect with our community, and share the joy of craft with everyone who visits.

Whether you love working with people, beautiful craft, creative content, or practical behind-the-scenes tasks, there’s an opportunity to get involved.

We’re currently looking for:
- Visitor experience & gallery stewards
- Christmas retail gallery assistants
- A photography & social media volunteer
- A handyperson

You can find more info on our website, under the ‘support’ tab, and apply online.

A huge thanks to Marnie, Ellie, and all of our wonderful volunteers who generously support us 🧡

16/10/2026

It’s a ghouls’ night out at MAKE Southwest! This time of year, spirits can be crafty, but we’re craftier.

Children & families are cordially invited to ’s Creature Carnival! Make your very own mask and reveal your otherworldly self.

Idle hands can be busied with Halloween Papercrafts! Come and fashion your own spooktacular decorations. Think ghosts, ghouls, cats, spiders, witches, pumpkins, or whatever you can conjure up. Children and entities must be accompanied at all times.

What was that you saw in the corner of your eye? A ghost? Or a pigment of your imagination? Don’t panic, it’s just of , with a witch’s brew of plants and minerals, ready for you to make into your very own colourful inks!

Find out more and book your tickets at the link below 🎃
https://makesouthwest.org.uk/whats-on/events-and-workshops

15/10/2026

A reminder that our GMI Christmas Tabletop Sale is this Saturday! 💚🎄

Come and kick off your Christmas shopping at MAKE Southwest. It’s a great opportunity to start your Christmas gifting responsibly and sustainably, with a variety of gorgeous handmade crafts from our Pledged Green Makers!

📆 Saturday 17 October
⏰ 10am-3pm
📍 MAKE Southwest, Education Space
🎟️ Free entry

On a smaller scale this year, seven sustainable craft makers will be taking over our ground floor workshop space to bring you a variety of beautiful things - there will be something for everyone, whether you’re shopping for a loved one or treating yourself, and to suit all budgets.

All of our Pledged Green Makers have signed the GMI pledge to actively reduce the environmental impact of their making practice.

Come and find out how these makers are pioneering the Green Maker movement, while browsing a variety of unique crafts and supporting local small businesses!

Meet the Makers:
Sawyer

Dreaming.Lark

BuyLessBuyBetterBuyHandmade

12/10/2026

Was there something that caught your imagination in the Summer Show this year? If so, let the maker know! Vote for them for The Summer Show 2026 People’s Award.

Over 50 of our Maker Members exhibited in this year’s show, sharing work that represents new approaches they have taken in their practice over the last two years. It’s a wonderful way to find out what our makers have been up to in their studios and on residencies, and we love seeing where the spirit of innovation has taken them.

We’ve received such lovely feedback from our visitors, too, and while it’s difficult to pick just one maker for the award, if there’s a particular piece that resonated with you, do let the maker know by voting for them.

The maker with the most votes will receive our People’s Choice Award and win an automatic place in the Summer Show 2027.

Voting takes less than 30 seconds.

Head to the link: https://makesouthwest.org.uk/all-activity/maker-member-show-2026

1. Select your favourite exhibitor from the list.
2. Enter your email address (one vote per email address, your email is used only to prevent multiple votes and to send you confirmation of your vote.)
3. Press submit.

There is just one day left to register your vote!
Voting closes at 6pm, Tuesday 13 October 🗳️

08/10/2026

Meet woodworkers Peter Lanyon, Jo Weadon, and Sarah Protherough, three of our Maker Members, who are exhibiting in The Summer Show 2026.

Peter Lanyon () is exhibiting ‘Glade’, a lamp with pulsing lights, the realisation of an idea that has been developing in his head for over a decade. The mesmerising installation is the result of what Peter terms, ‘a steep learning curve’, a process which comprised bending and soldering copper shade rings, tightly coiling ash wood veneer, hollowing out up to two metres of bendy willow, and the development of the electronics and coding.

Jo Weadon is the maker behind Studio Arvor (), an environmentally and socially conscious furniture and home accessories company on the North Cornish coast. Jo is showing her dining table, ‘The Cove’, which was inspired by the North coast of Cornwall, and mimics the profile of coves and sea caves.

Inspired by the landscapes, folklore, and maritime heritage of Cornwall, Sarah Protherough () carves entirely by hand using only traditional tools and techniques from her studio by the sea in West Cornwall. Her work for the show draws on stories of fishermen, their journeys, and the mysteries of the sea, and marks her first ‘proper exhibit’ in a gallery.

Each year, we give you, our visitors, the chance to vote for your favourite maker or piece in the Summer Show. The maker with the most votes will receive our People’s Choice Award and win an automatic place in the Summer Show 2027. Cast your vote before voting closes at 6pm, Tuesday 13 October 🗳️

The Summer Show comes to a close end of day Saturday 10 October.

Open Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm
Free entry

📍MAKE Southwest, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK

07/10/2026

There are just three days left to enjoy The Summer Show 2026, an exhibition showcasing the new approaches by our Maker Members over the last two years.

Swipe to find out more about our Maker Member printmakers: Sue Potter, Molly Lemon, Jess Davies, and Princetown Press.

Sue Potter () is exhibiting a screen print, which is the result of recent experimentation with this process. ‘Connection’ encapsulates her interests in geometric designs, grids, patterns, and the repetition of component elements, together with the tension between positive and negative space.

Molly Lemon () specialises in wood engraving, and combined the reduction technique with multi-block printing to create her print, ‘Stay with Me’. The print is inspired by Molly’s poem of the same title.

Both Jess Davies () and Princetown Press () explore the history of Dartmoor. Jess studies the remains of Dartmoor’s stone hut circles, considering how the land is marked and shaped by human hand, while Emma Hogbin and Jon Palmer - the makers behind Princetown Press - investigate the pollen record of Dartmoor, connecting contemporary understandings of Dartmoor with traces of its distant past.

Each year, we give you, our visitors, the chance to vote for your favourite maker or piece in the exhibition. The maker with the most votes will receive our People’s Choice Award and win an automatic place in the Summer Show 2027. Voting closes 6pm on Tuesday 13 October 🗳️

Open Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm
Free entry

📍MAKE Southwest, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK

06/10/2026

Meet the remaining Summer Show exhibitors working in Mixed Media: Helen Snell, Helyne Jennings, Mandie Gillard, Sally Baldwin, and Becky Crawford. Each maker has carved out their own distinctive approach through experimentation with their chosen media.

Helen Snell () is exhibiting a laser cut satin piece referencing the craft of lace making. She incorporates vignettes from the engravings of Cook’s official artists who accompanied him on his three voyages. The work addresses the dualities perpetuated by contemporary legacies of a colonial past.

Helyne Jennings () explores the effects of imprinting onto fabric using wood, metal, time, and environmental decay. Natural recycled fabrics were transformed between sheets of rusted steel. As time passed, rust imprinted, decay set in, and the fabric became brittle and fragile. 

Mandie Gillard () works across monochromatic lino and embroidered pieces, which express her strong connection to Japan. Mandie’s work is the result of daily mindful practice of doodling in sketchbooks, stitching, and carving.

Sally Baldwin (.Art) is showing an award-winning costume that was first shown at a wearable paper art biennale in Tasmania. The piece was inspired by her residency in the Blue Mountains, NSW, just after the bushfires of 2019/20. The work highlights environmental fragility, while expressing hope for the possibility of renewal.

Becky Crawford () is exhibiting her largest suspended work to date. Inspired by dappled light beneath trees, the installation captures the shifting interplay of sunlight, leaves, and shadow through graduated tones of recycled plastic.

Each year, we give you, our visitors, the chance to vote for your favourite maker or piece in the exhibition. The maker with the most votes will receive our People’s Choice Award and win an automatic place in the Summer Show 2027. Voting closes 6pm on Tuesday 13 October.

Open Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm
Free entry

📍MAKE Southwest, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK

30/09/2026

Join us at MAKE Southwest for a Green Shoes book launch event 🥾🌿

Author Alison Hastie will be interviewed by our very own Exhibitions Manager (and ex-Green Shoes employee), Flora Pearson. There will be plenty of time for questions from the audience and Alison will be bringing a selection of tools and props to look through. Bring along your copy of the book to be signed, or buy one from us on the evening.

Green Shoes Book Talk
🗓️ Friday 30 October
⏰ 6-7:30pm
🎟️ FREE, booking required
📍 Education Space, MAKE Southwest

About the book:

Coming of age in the early 1980s, Alison Hastie always knew she was different from the conventional young people around her. One night a voice spoke to her in a dream, telling her to ‘make shoes’, and this is how she spent forty years of her working life.

Living on Dartmoor, travelling between the countercultural town of Totnes and the surrounding villages, Alison made a home and a life for herself based on the principles of second-wave feminism, the idea that small is beautiful, and a deep immersive commitment to craft. Her company, Green Shoes, was featured in the national and international press, and making shoes took her travelling as far as the north of Finland, but she remained rooted in her environment, family, and the women’s collective which, like the Ship of Theseus, was consistent in its values despite many changes of personnel.

Through personal tragedies, romantic relationships, motherhood, friendship, fire, flood, and professional highs and lows, Alison describes her place in the long line of West Country radicals, teaches us how to hand-make a shoe, traces the history of shoemaking in politics and religion, and above all, shows us the importance of being centred in place, time, and community.

Book your ticket now via the link:
https://makesouthwest.org.uk/all-activity/event-green-shoes-book-talk

📸 Alison Hastie photographed by Fern Leigh Albert

22/09/2026

Volunteer with us!

We’re a craft education charity passionate about connecting people with contemporary and heritage craft. Through our free exhibitions, workshops, and projects in schools and local communities, we create opportunities for people to discover, learn, and get creative.

Volunteers are at the heart of what we do, and we need your help in the run-up to Christmas! It’s one of our busiest and most exciting times of year, and we’re looking for extra volunteers to lend a hand, spread some festive cheer, and give our visitors a warm welcome.

By joining us, you’ll help create welcoming and engaging experiences, connect with our community, and share the joy of craft with everyone who visits.

We are looking for:
- Craft/Stock Processing Volunteer
- Visitor Experience & Gallery Stewards
- Christmas Retail Gallery Assistants
- Photography & Social Media Volunteer
- Handyperson

Whether you love working with people, beautiful craft, creative content, or practical behind-the-scenes tasks, there’s an opportunity to get involved.

To apply, visit the link below. You’ll find descriptions of each role on our Volunteers Vacancies form. Complete an ‘About Me’ form, select the role you’re interested in, and submit online.

More info and apply here: https://makesouthwest.org.uk/volunteer-with-us

We’d love to hear from you and welcome you to our friendly, creative team!

📍MAKE Southwest, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK

Address

Riverside Mill
Newton Abbot
TQ139AF

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm

Website

https://makesouthwest.org.uk/

Alerts

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