Yattendon Winter Market 2026 Modern Makers Collective is delighted to announce our 7th annual Yattendon Winter Market:
Traditional Skills, Contemporary Designs, taking place on 14+15 November. The village hall will once again transform into a vibrant showcase of work by 24 exceptional artists, designers, and craftspeople.
Nov 14 + 15, 2026, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Tickets £3
The entrance fee will help to raise funds for Yattendon Village Primary School
Yattendon Village Hall, Church Ln, Yattendon, Thatcham RG18 0UE, UK
Make a traditional Cumbrian Mell Doll Harvest Trophy with Penny Maltby. On- line workshop Thursday 19th November 2026 7pm-9pm UK time
£35 includes a two-hour live online workshop with Penny Maltby and a materials kit posted to your UK address. Suitable for beginners. Your kit will be sent one week before the class.
The workshop will be delivered via Zoom. Attendees will be sent a joining link.
Did you have apples growing in your garden or on your allotment? Would you love to create a heritage straw dolly which celebrates the apple and learn more about the customs of harvest.
Join straw artist Penny Maltby on Thursday 19th November, 7pm–9pm UK time, for an online event to celebrate the Autumn harvest and the humble apple. Learn about harvest customs and corn dollies before having a go using heritage wheat straw and make your very own Cumbrian Mell Doll Harvest Trophy.
Perhaps you are craft curious, enjoy working with natural materials, marking the seasons or would like to take your first steps into straw plaiting, then this fun online workshop is for you. The workshop is suitable for beginners and anyone with an interest in harvest and working with natural materials. Penny will also guide you on ways you can adapt these techniques to other materials.
📦 Kit Dispatch – Once you have booked your place, your kit will be sent to you one week before the class.
what's included –On booking you will be asked for your address so that a kit which includes the items you will need to take part in the workshop and this will be mailed out to you in advance. Please note this is only available to UK addresses. Please contact me prior to buying a ticket if you wish to attend the class from outside the UK and have your own supply of suitable wheat.
Some pre workshop instructions will also be emailed you in preparation for the class, which includes a small list of items you will need to provide yourself such as scissors, an old tea towel and somewhere suitable to soak your straw, such as a large sink, long planter, large plastic container or even the bath. You will also need to provide an apple, a cooker or an eater, the larger the better!
HUMBLE COUNTRY CHRISTMAS MARKET at West Wycombe Walled Garden27, 28 & 29 November 2026
A brand new late night shopping evening will kick-off this year’s event from 4-8pm on Friday 27 November. Join us at dusk for a truly warm festive welcome & the perfect chance to find all your Christmas presents under one cosy roof! Watch this space for more details of this exclusive shopping evening – come with friends and soak up the first chance to shop the stalls & the best time to snap up some special offers!
(More details coming soon….tickets will be limited and will go on sale from July & will include your complimentary glass of mulled wine on arrival!)
The wonderful festive atmosphere will continue all weekend with the Christmas Market open on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November from 10.30am – 4.30pm daily.
FREE ENTRY for visitors all weekend and plentiful car parking.
Christmas Artisan Market Wednesday 2nd December 11am - 3pm
Free entry
location : Now Building & The Green Room Cafe, Thames Valley Park.
RG6 1RB
Make a folk angel with Penny Maltby Friday 4th December 2026 - 10:00 to 16:00
Kelmscott Manor
Kick off Christmas at Kelmscott Manor with one of our festive craft workshops. Join Penny Maltby for a day of creativity with straw and make a Straw Folk Angel with fabric accents to decorate your home, give as a gift or use as a tree topper.
The day will also include making some fun small straw adornments to hang on the tree or adorn a handle or mantlepiece.
Some manual dexterity is required for this workshop, and it is suitable for beginners, those who have worked with straw before and anyone with an interest in craft and working with natural materials.
£95 per person.
Previous events
Previous events 2026
Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, Victoria Baths, Manchester
Oxfordshire Arts and Crafts Summer school - 3 day bookmaking and 1 day straw plaiting
Modern Makers Summer School - make a folklore crown
Harcourt Arboretum - drop in family event
Oxford Botanic Gardens -make a corn dolly
2025
Church Farm, Sunningwell Christmas Fair. Beautiful and Useful Craft Fair. Modern Makers Winter Market, Yattenden. Oxford Esty Christmas Market.
New Carnival, Isle of Wight - straw masterclass
New Brewery Arts drop in straw workshop as part of the Cirencester History festival. Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair.
Modern Makers Collective Summer School - Make a Decorative straw folk chandelier.
Oxford Summer School - Creative bookmaking and straw work.
Drop in family events at Harcourt Arboretum, Pitt Rivers Museum
2024 Past Events
Church Farm Christmas in the Barn. Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. Sandy Lane Farm Market. Milton Cotswold Market. Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. Modern Makers Winter Market. Made by Hand: Heritage Crafts and Skills at the Weald and Downland Museum. Harvest Knot workshop, Kelmscott Manor.Urban Village Festival. Oxford Harcourt Arboretum Spring Fair - drop in straw workshops.
‘Remembering the Past: Creating The Future’ Studio Neath.
Edgelands, Prism Textiles
2023
Straw Skills workshops at various locations across the year including Oxford Summer School, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxfordshire Basket Makers, private events and commissions.
2022
‘Straw Skills Workshops’ - through 2022: contact pennymaltbymaker@gmail.com for themes and dates.
‘I am a work in progress’ at The Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths University, 7th February - 25th March 2022
Associate Artist on “I am a work in progress” / The art of living with(out) drugs. This is a collaboration between a researcher, two artists, Isla Miller and Penny Maltby, and seven research participants. It forms part of an early-career research project led by Dr Fay Dennis and funded by the Wellcome Trust entitled ‘Mapping bodies and care practices: Making people who use drugs matter’
2021
In Search of Possibilities’ 21st - 31st October 2021, Prism Group Textiles Exhibition, The Art Pavilion, Mile End, London E3 4QY
‘Straw Skills Workshops’ - including corn dollies, Julbock (Swedish Christmas goat) - public and corporate (June - December 2021)
2020
Contributor to ‘Out of the Blue’ by Susan Aldworth, part of the ‘Illuminating the Self' Exhibition at The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle. 18th Jan to 9th May 2020
Link to notes from some of the 100 embroiderers who contributed to the project.
2019
‘AA2A Exhibition’, End of residency exhibition at Bucks New Uni, High Wycombe. Part of the Artists Access to Art Schools residency Scheme.
2018
‘Our Place’, The Gallery, The Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford.
'The Art of Labor' Selected artist ,San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, California 95113, USA.
'In My Hands' Solo exhibition Magdalen Road Studios, Oxford.
Prism Textiles 'Transient' Hoxton Arches, Arch 402. Cremer Street, London E2 8HD
'Processions' Selected Associate Artist to work with Modern Art Oxford to create a banner commissioned by The Artichoke Trust for PROCESSION on June 10th 2018
2017
'We Made This' , Pop up Exhibition, The Haven,Church Lane, Banbury May, 2017, Graduate Exhibition
2016
'Third Space' - OVADA, Oxford July 1- 17, 2016, group exhibition.
'Artopology', The Adavo Collection, Pitt Rivers Museum ,one day pop up group exhibition in conjunction with Ovada.
2015
'Thinking/making, Does making help creative thinking?' Curious Projects Gallery, Eastbourne.Selected exhibition.
‘Milking the Dairy Industry’ Castle Quay, Banbury, group exhibition.
'Reinventing Research, The messy process' The Glass Tank, Oxford Brookes University, April 21-May 1 2015. Selected exhibition
'BABE' Arnolfini Centre for Contemporary Arts, Bristol.
2014
‘Visualising the Invisible' Castle Quay, Pop-up Exhibition, Banbury.
2012
Windsor School of Textile Arts Summer Show
PUBLICATIONS
Bookmarks Project, XIII, XIV, XV. (2015-2017) in conjunction with UWE
Artists Book Yearbook 2016-17
biennial reference publication focusing on international activity in the field of book art .
Memberships
Heritage Crafts, Oxfordshire Basketmakers, Basketmakers Association, Guild of Strawcraftsmen,
Selected Memberships
2024 - Design Nation 2017 - Prism Textiles.
