In partnership with Bovey for Business & Craft Festival, step into Bovey Tracey this June and discover a celebration of craft, creativity and local history.
From May 29 – 30 June, follow the Town Trail through Bovey Tracey’s independent shops and spaces, where exceptional contemporary makers from Make Southwest are paired with fascinating historic venues. From handwoven textiles and vibrant ceramics to glass, botanical printmaking and more, each stop reveals both outstanding making and the stories of the buildings that house them.
Grab a map, go to each venue, get your map stamped and you can be entered into a great prize bundle, kindly donated by each Trail venue.
A perfect way to explore the town, support local businesses and experience the creativity at the heart of Devon.
Pick up a map from Trail venues: The Cheese Shed, Make Southwest, Clive Parker Optician, Bovey Larder, Grace and Favour Home, Pom Stitch Tassel and from Bovey Tracey Information Centre.
Jessica Cutler at The Cheese Shed
Jessica’s handwoven pieces are made in her studio in Bickleigh, Mid Devon. Inspired by Devon’s changing landscape, her work reflects its colours, textures and patterns. Sustainability is central to her practice, with every piece biodegradable and made using 100% wool and reusable materials.
The Cheese Shed was originally Bovey Handloom Weavers, established in 1938 by Angus Litster, who brought his hand loom from Scotland to Bovey Tracey. Before becoming a weaving shed, the building was a blacksmith’s forge.
Staying Alive at Make Southwest
This exhibition shines a light on some of the Southwest’s most endangered crafts. Fourteen master makers share their skills and stories, showcasing traditions shaped by the region’s land and sea, from boatbuilding and ropemaking to basketmaking and tanning.
The Southwest’s coastline and farming heritage have sustained these crafts for centuries.
The exhibition is housed at Riverside Mill, once home to the Bovey Tracey Pottery Company, founded in 1843. Since becoming MAKE Southwest in 1986, it has been a leading centre for contemporary craft.
Emmy Palmer at Clive Parker Opticians
Since moving to Plymouth to study at Plymouth College of Art, Emmy Palmer has drawn inspiration from the city’s waterfront, coast and moors. These influences are reflected in her distinctive glasswork.
After winning a scholarship with Teign Valley Glass in 2006, Emmy graduated in Applied Arts specialising in glass. During her degree she began combining knitted metals with blown glass, a technique she continues to refine. Following a break to focus on family life, she returned in 2022 through BBC’s Make It At Market.
Her work is shown in Emlyn House, where Bovey Tracey residents have had their eyes tested for more than 50 years.
Yuli Somme at Bovey Larder
Yuli transforms everyday woollen objects into pieces of beauty and purpose. Her careful sourcing of wool, based on provenance and environmental stewardship, is central to her practice.
For over 20 years she has also created wool shrouds for natural burial, offering ecological alternatives that bring comfort and dignity at times of grief.
Bovey Larder was once an off licence owned by grocer Percy Peters. It later housed Midland Bank and, more recently, The Cheese Shed.
Pauline Zelinski at Pom Stitch Tassel
Pauline trained at West Surrey College of Art and Design before dedicating herself to ceramics. Her work is defined by vibrant colour and pattern, inspired by forms found in nature. She works from her Devon studio and exhibits throughout the UK.
Pom Stitch Tassel occupies a building once home to a watchmaker’s shop, reflecting Fore Street’s lively history of makers and traders.
Princetown Press at Grace & Favour Home
Princetown Press creates botanical ink artwork and letterpress publications using traditional printmaking techniques and inks made from foraged Dartmoor materials. Each piece is rooted in place and shaped by the changing seasons.
Alongside fine art and commissioned publications, the press offers workshops reconnecting people with hands-on making.
Grace & Favour Home occupies a building that later served as a bank until 2018, before becoming today’s creative retail space.
