Our final Roakebook of the year brings us to the Pottery in Niton on the far south side of the Isle of Wight to meet business partners Sara Watson and Scarlett Felstead. The pair began running clay classes at the beginning of this year, and since they’re both customers, and the Roake Studio Christmas party is taking place at the Isle of Wight Pottery (watch this space for the results!), we thought we should find out more…

The pottery - a stand alone building that used to be Niton’s butcher shop - is at the centre of the small but bustling village.

It is just a short drive from our own studio in Ventnor (although it used to be even shorter, before coastal erosion claimed the main road between the two). Our arrival coincides with the school drop-off; Niton Primary school is just around the corner and many of the children are regulars at Sara and Scarlett’s classes. “My kids are grown up now and I had missed being really hands on with kids,” says Sara, who is sporting her favourite Elsie jumper and has her hair tied back with a Lizzy brass hairpin. “You will have a day when it’s quite quiet and isolated, which is nice, and then we’ll have days when there are twelve kids in here throwing clay at one another - that contrast is really nice and keeps it really fresh.”

The pottery’s owner, Neil Tregear, is well-known for his distinctive handmade stoneware pottery (pictured above), and Sara and Scarlett had worked for him for years making and decorating ceramics, before they decided to start a business together. “In February, Neil wanted to step back a little bit from the business, so he said that we could hire the studio space from him and do what we wanted, really,” continues Sara. “And we thought ‘oh, I wonder if anyone will come in for classes’. And here we are!”

It turned out to be the perfect partnership, with skill sets that compliment each other (Scarlett studied product design at university, while Sara homeschooled her three children) and an understanding of the daily commitments that they both need to juggle with their working days. “It’s exciting to be able to have our own business,” adds Scarlett. “I think we’ve got a massively win-win situation here; it does feel really lucky because it’s very unique. Most teaching studios wouldn’t be able to offer what we do because it’s not financially viable. But because we’ve got this set up with Neil’s work - which sells - plus the studio and all the facilities, we can do it.”

Scarlett wears our Nicole jacket in Sage Grey

The local environment plays a big part in the way Sara and Scarlett run their business. It’s hard for it not to, when you live somewhere as beautiful as the Isle of Wight. “Being on the Island shapes our working day,” says Sara. “Particularly in the summer because we’re both like, ‘right, swim before work’. If it’s a lovely day, we can decide to work outside. It’s a real Isle of Wight thing, to have the summer as a distinct time when you live your life in a different way.”

This in turn makes protecting the environment all the more important at the pottery, which recycles all of its scrap clay - trimmings from pots and pots that go wrong all get reused. “The great thing about clay is that even if it’s totally dry you can soak it in a bucket and it turns back to liquid,” explains Scarlett. “Then we just get the moisture out of it and it just keeps going round and round.”

The workshops bring everyone from hen parties to holidaying half-termers to the pottery, but it’s the regular classes with local children that really bring a smile to the faces of the pair when they talk about them. “What I’ve learned is that so much of it is about the process, not about the end result,” says Sara. “It’s really cool to have something you’ve made that’s a real object, but the actual process is really valuable for kids as well. And some just want to be on the wheel and watch it spin and make spirals, and we’re really happy with that.”

“There are a few boys that perhaps haven’t fitted into other environments; their parents might have found it difficult to find a club or something that they like,” continues Scarlett. “And because we’re both quite chilled, we’re like ‘yeah, come and make whatever you like! Make a big splat if you want!’” In turn, the local children have a sense of ownership of the pottery; many walk past on their way to school and see their own handiwork displayed outside on the front step, and Sara chats to them and their parents on her walk to work each day. “It is really special,” she says.

Interview by Hannah Rochell

The Roakebook: Isle of Wight Pottery