DARTMOOR Arts and Crafts Show got off to a good start last weekend with large daily attendances from visitors across the South West. Joint organiser Victor Briggs from Gunnislake, who is editor of Workbox Magazine, said many visitors hailed it as the most comprehensive gathering of craftspeople in the area ever seen on Dartmoor and were returning for a second, or even third, visit. Approximately 50 artists and craft demonstrators have gathered at Princetown Primary School for the show, whose other joint organisers are Nancy Briggs and Ann Silcox. Arts and crafts have included paintings and painters, lacemaking, pottery, scrimshaw, wood turning, jewellery making, weaving and spinning, parchment craft, stained glass making, knitting and sugar craft. Special displays have included work by City and Guilds students for their final assessments, and Tavistock-based Goosey Quilters? annual exhibition of stunning quilts. There has been a display of items made by inmates of Dartmoor Prison and schools have also exhibited. The principal beneficiaries are Princetown Primary School and local artists, craftsmen and women. A competition on the theme Wistman?s Wood is open to adults and children, with prizes in each group to the value of £200 for the winning entries depicting ideas of the wood. The show is open until Saturday, August 19. Next year?s show will be from August 9 for ten days and will feature a full programme of free short workshops and taster sessions for all ages on a wide variety of arts and crafts.
