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Title edit
British arts and crafts from Living Heritage Craft Shows
Description edit
1980 was a defining year for British crafts. It was the year when a small entrepreneurial organisation called Living Heritage Craft Shows started running a series of indoor craft exhibitions at sports centres and other indoor venues across the country. The venue was the Derby Assembly Rooms. After a 4.30am start in the freezing cold of February, the event was set up and included nearly 140 sets of tables that were to become the stands for some of the country's finest craftsmen, artists and designers.
Living Heritage's owner at the time, Mark Hulme, had spent most of the previous year convincing individual craftsmen to support his idea of bringing their skills to the general public. The exhibitors were as nervous as the company about the next two days. Would anybody actually pay the admission price? After all was this only a glorified market? Would anyone actually come? The advertising had been done in the local newspapers and staff were planning to "sandwich board" in Derby City Centre later that day!
They needn't have worried! That weekend over 16,000 people enjoyed a festival of the very best of British craftsmanship and the company struggled to contain the enormous queues as they "clicked" one person in as one person left. It got better: they brought Maidenhead to a standstill, got told off by the fire brigade in Stoke and completely filled over 20 venues that year with public and exhibitors alike. The craft industry was born and it was here to stay.
Languages edit
English
