By Stephen Blease

Last updated 09:58, Friday, 25 July 2008

A trip to Holland 19 years ago changed the lives of Geoff and Christine Cox. It is the idea they had there that is bringing 200 ceramic artists from all over the world to Cumbria this summer for Britain’s oldest and largest pottery festivals.

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Showroom: Christine Cox displays her work

The couple, who live in Penruddock, are the founders of Potfest – two international festivals of ceramic art that have been held in Penrith for the past 15 years.

One takes place in Penrith’s Skirsgill auction mart – so it really is a case of china in a bull shop...

The idea of a festival started on a visit to the Dutch town of Eindhoven in April 1989.

Geoff, who is originally from Castleford in Yorkshire, and Christine, originally from Manchester, are full-time potters, and were having some success selling work at craft fairs in the south of England.

But what they saw at the Eindhoven fair astonished them. A winding street through the centre of the Dutch town had been given over entirely to pottery. Some of the most acclaimed ceramic artists in Europe were exhibiting and selling their work at more than 100 street stalls.

The work on show was not just the plates, bowls and fine porcelain pieces that most of us associate with ceramics.

There were ceramic fountains and sculptures, dishes that measured a metre across and even ceramic furniture.

And none of it was confined to a lofty gallery. It was all on sale in the open, where the artists could chat to buyers and to one another.

Why, the couple asked themselves, wasn’t there something similar in Britain?

Geoff, now 61, and Christine, 58, first met in the early Seventies when both were art teachers in Rochdale. Neither had trained in pottery at college, but began learning the skill in order to pass it on to pupils in their classes.

However Geoff had always planned to leave teaching before he was 40 and make a living as a full-time artist.

He explained. “When you are teaching creative skills you are giving out ideas to pupils all the time. I wondered: can I still do it myself, or am I just an ideas machine?”

So he and Christine took the plunge in 1985. Five years later, having always been attracted to Cumbria, they moved to the village of Penruddock, near Penrith.

They were selling work at fairs in the south of England and in 1989 were invited over to the potters’ market in the Netherlands.

“When we got there we were absolutely amazed,” Geoff recalled. “There were internationally famous people on stalls in the town centre.

“There was nothing like it in the UK. That was when we got the idea to try it here.”

It occurred to them that Penrith was roughly the geographical centre of Britain. “It is as easy to get here from northern Scotland as it is from the south coast,” he said.

Just as the fair in Eindhoven had been in the street, they wanted their fair to be in a basic setting which everyone could reach, rather than in a gallery.

And so they decided on Skirsgill auction mart in Penrith town centre.

“We wanted to make it more accessible to people who wouldn’t normally go to a gallery,” Geoff reasoned. “That was why we put it in the cattle market.”

The first Potfest event took place in 1994 with 100 ceramicists participating, mostly from northern England and southern Scotland.

This summer, they will fly in from all over the world, with potters from the Netherlands and New Zealand, Austria and Australia, Germany and Japan all showcasing and selling work here.

From the start, Geoff and Christine were determined there should be equality between the exhibitors. There was to be no hierarchy or selection process for those who came.

Each one, whether experienced and well known or just starting out, would be allocated the same amount of space – one pen in the auction market – in which to exhibit and sell work.

As Potfest grew and foreign ceramic artists began to visit, the range of work on show expanded. The overseas visitors would inspire UK artists to try new kinds of work, and those coming to see the exhibits would acquire a taste for the more exotic foreign items.

“Over the years the British exhibitors have started trying more adventurous stuff which they have learnt from the foreigners,” said Geoff.

“And a lot of people who used to think ceramics were just mugs and cups and plates are now interested in buying the new work.”

As Potfest in the Pens has expanded, Geoff and Christine decided to create another event, Potfest in the Park, held in the grounds of Hutton-in-the-Forest, four miles north of Penrith.

It is this event, the eighth so far, which begins today.

While Potfest in the Pens is open to all potters, Potfest in the Park is more exclusive, reserved for the most skilful and experienced ones.

“You’ve got to be in the top 10 per cent to get to Potfest in the Park,” Geoff said.

Potfest in the Park runs until Sunday. The work of around 100 top ceramic artists will be displayed and on sale in the grounds on Huttton-in-the-Forest.

Potfest in the Pens at Skirsgill auction mart will take place two weeks later, from August 8-10, and will feature around 120 potters, ranging from beginners to the more experienced.

As well as exhibiting and selling work, there will be demonstrations and pottery classes for interested adults, something Geoff and Christine hope to develop in future – perhaps setting up a pottery summer school around the two events.

“What we are trying to do is make it more interactive, with lessons and workshops,” Geoff explained.

“When these artists come from abroad they are bringing their particular skills. We really want to learn as much as we can from them while they are here.”

Potfest in the Park opens at Hutton-in-the-Forest today and runs until Sunday. It is open each day from 10am to 5pm and all work is on sale.

Admission costs £5 for adults and children go free.

Potfest in the Pens at Skirsgill auction mart in Penrith will run from Friday, August 8 until Sunday, August 10 each day from 10am to 5pm.

Admission is £4 and £3, children again free.