Rachel Graham visited Ashdown Pottery in the tiny East Sussex village of Fairwarp, which comprises two large workshops beside the couple’s upside-down house. Indeed, this was a major factor in choosing the property when they were looking to relocate and start a pottery business. Bill had been a GP, and Anthea had an antiques business, and opening the studio fulfilled a decades-long need for both of them.
Bill took up the story: “We’ve been together for about 10 years, and when I retired from my previous profession at 60, we decided to both do a degree in ceramics at Farnham – and had an absolute bal l– but this was always with the intention of opening a business.
“We bought this house just before lockdown, and the degree finished just as lockdown was starting, so we were able to spend the time setting up the business, which was amazing. If we had missed that window by a month or two, we wouldn’t have got the house, and we would have lost 18 months through lockdown.
“I got into ceramics as a child because my mother was a craft potter who illustrated onto porcelain, so I grew up surrounded by ceramics and knew some basics. I then became a doctor, which precludes having any sort of life, so I didn’t do anything for a very long time!”
Anthea explained: “When I was a teenager, I desperately wanted to learn to draw, but I was told I had to do Latin instead. I’ve been a frustrated artist for a long time! I
