A degree in Geography/Mathematics and an initial career in accountancy/administration eventually led me to my true vocation! I went on to study textiles in Loughborough followed by an MA (Tapestry) at the Royal College of Art. Work commitments then took our family around England, before we finally settled near Chipping Campden, where I am proud to be a maker in an area steeped in such a rich Arts and Crafts heritage. My Cotswold workspace is packed with numerous ideas, colourful fabrics, threads, cable and wires.

John's pots are all hand-thrown, and the focus has always been on pure form. John uses celadon, ochre and shino glazes, made from wood ash and clay, ingredients local to the studio. Decoration is kept to a minimum. "I am excited most by the work of Bernard Leach, Hamada Shoji and the Eastern School of pottery. The strength of their pots lies, I feel, in their quietness. A newly built kiln has enabled me to start soda-firing." John's work has been widely exhibited in leading galleries including Gallerie Besson, Contemporary Ceramics and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Alpha House in Sherborne, Primavera in Cambridge, Rufford Ceramics Centre in Nottingham, as well as other important galleries. It is included in many collections at home and abroad. He is a Fellow of the Craft Potters' Association (CPA), and a member of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen.

I have been a maker since childhood and have always tried to invent useful things. I now make pots and would like them to be useful. My own enjoyment of food makes me want my pots to inspire people to make good food, present it on interesting pots and to eat it in convivial company. Let's live life with style and enthusiasm! I am a born enthusiast and want to encourage everyone. I work on my own, and like to keep to very simple raw materials. I work with one clay body, two coloured slips and three decorative techniques which gives me more than enough to learn to control! I rely on skill and experience to produce the range of textures, colours and finishes on my pots. I am continuously experimenting. As a country potter I like to create pots that have an old fashioned country feel to them yet still retain their elegant lines.

John Randle started The Whittington Press in 1971 in the Cotswold village of Whittington, the result partly of an early enthusiasm for Caslon type, Albion presses and hand-made paper, and partly the wish to escape from London publishing jobs at the weekend. At that time, in 1971, Richard Kennedy had just finished illustrating and writing (in that order) his A Boy at the Hogarth Press, which took us a year of weekends and holidays to print on an 1848 Columbian hand-press, and which we published to general acclaim in 1972. The Press has now published some 150 titles, including belles lettres, collections of wood-engravings, bibliographies of other presses, type specimens, and our internationally-acclaimed review for printers and bibliophiles, Matrix, now in its twenty-first year. We have always kept our numbers small, so we can concentrate solely on the end product. Rose Randle does the administration, John Randle the printing, Miriam Macgregor is compositor, and Peter Sanderson the typecaster. John Randle is president of the Fine Press Book Association, an international group of printers, collectors, librarians, booksellers and others interested in fine printing.

Caroline Richardson graduated from The School of Jewellery in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter in 2004 with a first class honours degree in Jewellery and Silversmithing. Since graduating she has exhibited at the New Designers show in Islington and the prestigious Metal Gallery in Mayfair and was awarded The Assay Office Prize for contemporary silversmithing. Working alongside Hart Silversmiths Caroline hand crafts beautiful and timeless pieces in precious metals and gemstones. Her work is available for her studio in the Silk Mill, where she also creates bespoke pieces for commission.