Greystoke Craft Garden Formerly Cafe

It's been a busy busy Summer at the Cycle Cafe, with many varied Quirky courses taking place (often two at a time) and some amazing pieces made.by some very talented students ..here are a few pics from the many we have taken ... and more to come over what promises to be a busy August!

Always lovely to have Woolly Annis taking her #needlefelting workshops here at Greystoke - this Owls day was amazing

Just love the look of this amazing workshop with Lorna Singelton later in June at her own studio in South Cumbria. A month later on Wed 25 & Thu 26 July Lorna will be coming to Greystoke to take a 2 day Hazel framed basket making course for us. Students will start with the freshly cut hazel sticks, prep and split the sticks using knife skills taught by Lorna and then the next day you will weave them into a fabulous basket. Full details are here http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/workshops2.h tm#hazelbasket - really looking forward to this workshop Lorna Singleton - to book please contact annie@quirkyworkshops.co.uk or go through website.

Just a few spaces left this Sat 23 June for the brilliant Needle felt Hares course with Annis- (here are some pics from the last course on the late Bank Holiday Monday which was a fab day) running from 9.30am -4.30pm ish the day costs £68 including a lovely 2 course Aga lunch, fresh coffees etc &a cream tea plus a materials charge at the end to pay to the tutor Annis (£18)
NOTE : To book please email annie@greystokecyclecafe.co.uk or call 017684 83984 - as unfortunately, we can't guarantee we will see booking requests messages left within this post, so best to message directly to be sure. This day is ideal for beginners and you will leave with an amazing soft brown needle felted hare made by your own fair hands under the watchful eye of designer/ creator Annis McGowan.

Two new spaces Discover Pen and Wash this Sunday nr Ullswater The Lake District Below are results of various 'Beginners' painting days with local tutor Margaret Jarvis. These courses are very popular, with careful and well-prepared group instruction in the morning which moves effortlessly through first principles of Pen and Wash (aka Ink and Watercolours). Students then choose their own subjects from various resources supplied to test out their new found skills. On sunny da...ys many go into the gardens to try their hand at sketching buildings, walls and garden features. The standard of work is amazing, as shown here work from previous beginner attendees.
Margarets next class here on Sunday 8th July now has two new spaces - also taking place again on Thursday 11th October. For details of all Margaret's classes please see http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/art.htm#begi nnersart
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...nr Ullswater. Artisan Cheese-making at Home course, Sun 10th June. Make your own delicious home made cheeses! Please see http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/cookery.htm# cheeserachael for full details or call 017684 83984 to book £75 inc a lovely 2 course Aga lunch 9.30-2.30pm Suitable for beginners.

Nr Ullswater ..4 new spaces for this hugely popular Herdwick Doorstop needle felt workshop with Annis McGowan next Saturday 12 May. This class is a rescheduled date from April and so we now have 4 spaces free. Please see http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/textiles.htm #doorstop for full details or call 017684 83984 to book - they won't last long so be quick! £68 inc a lovely 2 course Aga lunch - materials are extra. Suitable for beginners

Close to Ullswater, Lake District an 'Intro to Stone Carving'- (Sculpture or Relief) 3+ day workshop over 2nd May Bank with Simon Keeley. Starting 5pm ish Sun 27 May meet Simon over a cuppa to discuss ideas & he will help you create your maquette (clay model) ready for the next day. Then follows 3 days 9.30 -4pm working either outside in the garden, under cover or in our stone barn at the Cycle Cafe, learning the craft of stone carving & getting lost in the stonemasons spa...ce! By the end of the 3 days, your piece should be pretty much complete, created and all carved by you. Everything provided, £330 inc lovely 2 course Aga lunch each day, fresh coffees, cream tea etc . Stone may be an additional charge. Greystoke has several lovely B & B's and a pub serving food. See http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/workshops2.h tm#sculpturekeeley for all details - 3 spaces remaining.017684 83984
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A brilliant Applique Tiles day yesterday with Gwen Bainbridge and some very talented students.

Pewter smithing & Cuttle-fish casting Quirky Workshop at Greystoke ...this exciting new workshop day was led by jeweller Ella Macintosh who works out of the Manchester arts centre in the Northern Quarter. Ella arrived with plenty of equipment for all students to carve their designs into the cuttlefish, to then be later with molten pewter. It seems like an amazing substance with magical properties ... no wonder the alchemists were excited about it. In medieval times it contai...ned lead, though today's modern forms are lead free, though still very dense. Ella returns in November for a repeat of this course including Xmas decorations if you wish. She will also return on Friday 20 July to make some pewter vessels embellishing sheet pewter with lovely leaf, lace or flowers (or anything suitable) patterns imprinted using rolling mills. These are then turned into lovely pots and vessels. It promises to be another fun day - spaces are filling already on both courses so don't delay too long before booking.
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We had a fabulous day with the very clever Sonja Tileard on Friday making all these lampshades in the two half day sessions.
The next date for this course is Tue 26 June.
In the morning we'll have stencilled lampshade making (9.30 -1pm £40) with Sonja and then after lunch a repeat of today's session, bring your own fabric or use Sonja's. (1pm to 3.30pm £35 )
... Kits (30cm shade and light lunch included)
In both sessions you will learn to make your own hand-rolled drum shade, then you can then go home and make many many more! 😁
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Near Ullswater, this Friday 6th April am or pm. a Quirky Workshop at Greystoke. Join lampshade expert Sonja from 'White & Green ' for her short course and learn to make your own 30cm drum lampshade. Just £35 inc the kit + light lunch. Bring your own material (1/2m full width) or Sonja has some choices for a few extra £'s Runs 10am-12.30pm or 12.30pm to 3pm . Limited spaces Please see http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/book.htm#how tobook to book or call 017684 83984. Thank you

We're looking forward to Sonja Tilleard ~ who runs the wonderful home gift ware shop called 'White & Green' in Cockermouth ~ visiting Greystoke on Fri 6th April to take some lampshade making sessions. The morning course runs 10-12.30 including a light lunch at the end and the afternoon session runs 12.30 to 3pm with lunch at the start. Students will make a 30cm drum lampshade , the kit, lunch and tuition is included in the price of £35. Bring your own material (approx 1/2 metre) or buy a short length from Sonja for a little extra. Larger shades are available if you pre order. Please contact Annie 017684 83984 or see our website http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/workshops.ht m#lampshadeshortWG for further details and to book -

We had a really interesting Ink and Bleach workshop last week with Patsy Derry- here are some of Patsy's pics

Strip & Build A Bike workshop at Greystoke nr Ullswater Penrith Sun 11 March or Sat 10th March with Dan Richards (a Cytec 3 mechanic) - just a few spaces left £78 inc a 2 course Aga lunch, fresh coffee etc.
Learn how to service your own bike - strip/replace cables, brakes,re-calibrate gears, mend chains, check headsets, cranks etc etc . Also Ladies beginners bike evening in April see http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/workshops.ht m#bike

Willow Courses this May nr Ullswater & Eden Valley - get ready for your garden this Spring - we're delighted to announce the return of our popular Willow Wigwam workshop, with Cumbria's own willow expert Phil Bradley at Greystoke, and by My time we should be in the garden again. A week later, Phil returns to take another popular course making Willow Hare sculptures, suitable even for beginner's with Phil's expert teaching style to ensure everyone stays on track.
Wed 16 May ... Willow Wigwams for the garden. Learn the steps to weaving your own large 5-6ft wigwam which will last for years. Perfect for any climbers you grow this year and beyond - clematis, sweet peas, beans and all climbing legumes etc etc.
Thursday 24 May Willow Sculptures Hares ... with Phil guiding you all the way, create and weave your own life size Willow Hare for your garden (or inside if you prefer! )
Both willow days are 9.30 -4.30pm £78 inc a lovely 2 course Aga lunch, fresh coffee and cream teas . Both courses are suitable for beginners.
Please see http://quirkyworkshops.co.uk/workshops2.h tm#will for all details and to book .
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Some inspiring local art and craft for sale at Rheged's Christmas Fair this weekend- including Gwen Bainbridge Ceramics 😍💚

Karen arrived and 10 inspired fused glass students had a fab busy day today making many pieces and filling two boxes each with their creations. Everything has gone back down to Higherford for firing and we look forward to their return from Karen's in a week or so and we can then post some pics!! 🙂🙃

A winterey but 'kiln warming' #Raku workshop here on Sunday

Yesterday was my first visit to Greystoke for a rug making course with Heather Ritchie. It was fabulous!!. Great teacher, inspirational woman, and a very TALENTED. Her rugs are amazing when you actually see them. The whole day was fabulous shared with other lovely women. The refreshments and lunch were exceptional and the overall hospitality..just warm and lovely. The day was filled with laughter...

I travelled over 2 hours to get there and am already choosing my next course. Can't find fault with anything. ...loved it. Thank you.

Wonderful place to stop for lunch. Amazing food and lovely people.

Wind set up. Great host (Annie). Lovely food and fantastic felting workshop with Annis.

Top cycle cafe in the country by far, top food top service top staff

Took a wrong turn somewhere which fortunately brought us here for a much needed pit stop, lovely place, great food and awesome people. Thank you

The best course I have ever been on and the welcome and food was fabulous!

The Greystoke Cycle Cafe offers a breathtaking range of enjoyable and interesting courses in the beautiful Penrith area, head here for a warm welcome from Annie and a taste of bread-making, need-felting, willow weaving or stained glass, it's all there and much much more! Keep up the good work!

Tastiest treats and friendliest staff of any café I've been to!

Such a welcome sight at the end of a long cycling day! Lovely food and great hospitality, a must stop off point. Oh and Kofi the cat of course

Spent three fabulous days at the Quirky Workshop - stone carving with Simon Keeley. What a great venue, food, company and expertise from Simon. See you next year!

Silver clay workshop today. Fantastic, delighted with the results. Food & hospitality wonderful, as ever! Xx

Remember happening upon this place by chance on a very cold, wet and extremely windy C2C ride. Great welcome and hospitality and given blankets and throws to warm up and dried out all our wet gear. Lovely place, very friendly people and great food, especially the cakes! Never has getting back on the bike been so difficult!

Quirky by name and its true! What a great place for everyone. Creativity, athleticism and amazing food!

My sister and I visited today to take part in the Willow Deer making course and we loved it. Phil Bradley was great at guiding us through the process of willow weaving and the lunch and refreshments we received from Annie were great. The glorious weather certainly helped make it a great day too, but best of all we got to take home our finished deer sculpture. We will definitely be back!!!

My husband has stopped here on numerous occasions with his biking friends. So when travelling home from the Lakes we decided to call in for a lovely Cream Tea, sat in the garden in the beautiful sunshine. Thank you...We will be back soon on our bikes

Lovely homemade food for lunch and afternoon tea :-) sitting out in the garden enjoying the sunshine whilst on a two day workshop x

Lovely day of raku firing with great instruction, delicious good, and lovely group of people. Thank you x

If you are a cyclist you must stop off here . Hospitality second to none .

I spent a day at the cycle cafe on a ceramic quirky workshop. The day was perfect with a fantastic host who served delicious food in a beautiful setting. I am booked on to another course so that speaks for itself! Perfect!

I have been twice now for willow weaving and the whole day is amazing from start to finish.

I attended the 'whittle a bird in a day' workshop with Dave. It was fabulous. Clear and friendly instruction enabled us all to produce quality birds. Lunch was excellent too... soup, Greystoke mess...yummy! Highly recommend. ������

I attended Margaret Jarvis' Watercolour Workshop on 6th August and was inspired. Margaret is a magnificent coach, imparting tips and techniques with patience and humour. I have been painting ever since. Fellow students were great company and the food was fantastic home cooking.

Had a great weekend making a long bow. Very welcoming place with great food and a lovely host. Thanks for the gluten free cookies too Annie :D

Had a fantastic day with wonderful people, course was great and the food was amazing :)

Had a fantastic day making a beautiful willow angel. Lovely day and such a fantastic place. Thank you x

Had a fabulous day today at a needlefelt workshop. Gorgeous setting and simply fantastic hospitality. Gorgeous home baked food eaten in the lovely Annie's kitchen. Workshop was great, teacher was fab and my hare now has pride of place. Thank you all!

Greystoke cycle cafe is set in such a beautiful location. Annie and all the staff were so welcoming. The food made me want to move in with them. The 'bird in a day' course was so much fun, David is such an incredible teacher and artist. I would highly recommend a visit and doing a course, I will definitely be back. Thank you xx

Great place. Lovely views. Lovely food. If you're a cyclist use it. If not use if too! Lovely place lovely garden lovely staff.

Great day today at Greystoke Cycle cafe . Spent the day with my daughter on a Quirky Workshop Raku day. Had a great time glazing and firing pots. The tutor was really patient and enabled us all to take home 6 individual glazed pots. Lovely lunch in the garden. Plenty of chunky soup and bread followed by 2 puddings.! Afternoon tea with scones and jam and cream . A really good day with really good company Thanks.

Good old fashioned service. Great stuff•

Fantastic little stop on your bikes. Very welcoming. Tasty coffee, plenty of it and juice too! Highly recommended. The food and cake choices look amazing!

Cycle friendly and awsome chocolate brownie :-D

Awesome pitstop on #c2c #coast2coast

Attended the raku pottery day with my husband on th 3rd June. It was so much fun, beautiful venue, lovely food, and above all we left with some amazing raku pieces. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Attended a blacksmith course, great venue & excellent course

First rate

Amazing place - legendary hospitality - total relaxation - it's like a home from home - thanks guys!

Absolutely brilliant! Husband says best chocolate brownie ever and so welcoming. Thank you and we will be back!

A huge thank you for your hospitality when needed most. Lovely to find self serve hot drinks and shelter on route during our coast to coast ride. You made our group a very happy one near the end of a long day in the saddle. ☕