It’s 30 years since a small group of artists, makers and designers moved into a cluster of buildings just off Pateley Bridge High Street. 

The newly-created hub aimed to provide individual workshops for craftspeople to grow their businesses while being part of a wider collective and shared experience.  

The premises, on the site of the former workhouse complex in King Street, was owned and used by the district council to house everything from bin lorries to rat catchers. But they were just what jewellers Ian Simm and Debby Moxon had been looking for. 

‘We found a space that was just the right size’

Ian and Debby were already part of a creative hub based at the Duncan Craft Workshops, a former Otley wool mill that was being converted into offices.

At just the time the group was beginning its search for a new home, the council was looking for its first tenants for the converted municipal buildings. It was a perfect match. Ian said: 

“There were four businesses that came from Otley and we were looking for four different-sized workshops. When we viewed the site in Pateley Bridge, we couldn’t believe that each of us found a space that was the just the right size.” 

Three decades on, and King Street Workshops are widely known as a place not only where local craftspeople can flourish, but also where visitors and customers can see them at work. Ian said: 

“Pateley Bridge is a place people always come to if they are visiting Yorkshire. We get tourists watching us work and asking about things.” 

Makers at work

Ian and Debby create handmade jewellery for commissions as well as selling pieces from their workshop and in galleries and craft shops across the UK.

They are one of the few jewellers in the country to specialise in heat-treating, marking and texturing titanium, a dull grey metal which, when heated, transforms into a spectrum of lovely colours.

Their business, Moxon and Simm, is the last of the original King Street group, after glassblowers Andrew Sanders and David Wallace retired last year. As craftspeople have moved on over the years, new ones have seized the rare opportunity to be part of this rarely-found type of creative hub.

Alongside Debby and Ian, there is currently the ceramicist Fiona Mazza, mosaic artist Ruth Wilkinson, furniture maker Augustus Stickland and sculptor Joseph Hayton. 

Joseph moved in 13 years ago and has found the workshops suit his business perfectly. His current unit is large enough for the specialist equipment he uses, as well as giving him space to display his work. He said: 

“There are not many places like this around that are open to the public. Most of us have a showroom as well as a workspace. The unique thing about this place as opposed to art galleries is that you can see how we work.

“When visitors drop by, I always show them the tools and describe how I do things. If you are interested in how things are made or you want to commission a piece you can see behind the scenes.” 

Sculptor Joseph Hayton in his workshop.

Like most businesses, those at King Street Workshops took a bit of a hit during the pandemic but the customers and tourists have returned. Joseph said: 

“Pateley Bridge is quite a busy little place, particularly through the summer. We get a lot of tourists visiting us, people wandering in from all over the place. The workshops are interesting places, they’re a creative space and a great place to visit.” 

Joseph mainly works to commission, with projects ranging from stone lettering to garden sculptures in stone or bronze. He has customers from the local area, across the UK and, occasionally, abroad. He is currently working on a very large ornate fireplace for a property in Rome. He added:

“King Street Workshops have been great for me; most of my business has come through being at this site. It’s got a creative ethos and it’s great to work alongside other people who are making things. It’s a shared experience and a brilliant little community.”

Ian, Debby, Joseph and the others will be celebrating three decades of the King Street Workshops at the beginning of June, inviting people to watch them at work and view displays of their creations.

The gallery on the site will also host a retrospective of sculptor Roy Noakes, who lived in Nidderdale in his later years.

Photo: Some of the craftspeople currently based at the King Street Workshops, from left, Augustus Stickland, Fiona Mazza, Ian Simm, Debby Moxon and Joseph Hayton.

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Residents woke up yesterday morning to find Ripon wrapped in a white blanket, as the first significant snowfall of the winter covered the city.

The Stray Ferret was on hand to capture images from the Millfield play area at Bondgate Green, as parents and children played, to Spa Gardens, where Mick Burns’  striking Alice in Wonderland sculpture was transformed into Alice in Winterland.

Families braved the winter weather for some weekend fun at the Millfiled play area

Spa Gardens will become a focus of Christmas celebration from December15 to 17, when an array of illuminated decorations will light up the parkland area.

The free family-focused festive event, open from 2pm until 8pm on each of the three days, will offer entertainment and visual delights, with a number of displays, alongside Santa and his sleigh.

The wonderland sculpture which features Alice and other characters from her adventures, is a lasting reminder of the city’s link to the world-famous books of Lewis Carroll (AKA Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) whose father was a canon at Ripon Cathedral and the author was a chorister.

The artwork, unveiled  in 2013 and extended by Burns in 2014,  was caught in the winter chill yesterday, but will be bathed in light for the wonderland event.

A wintry Ripon Cathedral, viewed from Minster Gardens

In Market Square, the city’s Christmas tree and reindeer decoration, provided a fitting festive setting for Ripon Town Hall.

The stylish Georgian building (pictured) was built in 1799 as a townhouse for Mrs Elizabeth Allanson and assigned to the corporation in 1897 by her heir the first Marquess of Ripon, who served as the city’s mayor for two consecutive terms from 1895.

The life and work of George Frederick Samuel Robinson, Ripon’s most high profile politician, who also served as Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1880 to 1884, is celebrated with a statue in his honour in Spa Gardens (pictured below)

Yesterday, his towering figure could be seen in the Narnia-like setting of the gardens, surrounded by evergreen trees coated in snow.

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Hammer and chisel on stone. Those three basics have not changed much in thousands of years, but this hidden gem Pateley Bridge sculptor hopes to carve his name in the history books.

Joseph Hayton is based in the King Street Workshops. It was once a base for bin lorries and rat catchers but is now a crafts hub where people work on and sell their creations.

Starting out as a stonemason, Joseph soon got a taste for more intricate work and he turned to sculpture full-time 10 years ago.

Ever since, he has picked up plenty of awards and also built up a stunning collection. Joseph is moving towards more abstract themes but has always been fascinated by faces.

Photographs may have dulled the effect for some, but when people wander into the workshop they are often taken aback by how realistic the sculptures are.

When Joseph sat down for this interview he was still thinking about his next piece. As he moulded out a small piece of clay, he told the Stray Ferret:

“I am becoming a bit name in the world of carving and sculpture. How can I say it without sounding like a ****? I have a bit of a reputation at the moment and it continues to grow.

“The thing is with this job, and any creative job, there’s a weird way of thinking. You are never quite happy, it’s almost like an addiction.

“I always have to march forward, nothing is ever quite good enough. I do not really feel proud, I just feel like I need to make more pieces and get better.”

In most art forms, people can either use a rubber or more paint to cover up any mistakes. But you cannot add more stone to a sculpture.

This is probably the most common question that people ask of sculptors. So how does Joseph prevent serious mistakes?

“It’s a bit like when you drive. When you are driving down a country road and you cannot see what is coming, you go steady and you are cautious.

“That is just like when you are carving out the end of a nose or an eyelid. You are very, very steady because you know it can go wrong. Slow right down, use smaller tools.

“On the other hand, when you are roughing out you know you can use bigger tools and work more quickly. If I do go wrong I can change things slightly.

“But the big mistakes like knocking a huge lump off, they do not happen because when you know there is a possibility of that you slow right down.”

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Sculptures can capture a person or a moment in history. They are difficult to change, but the conversation around them can.

The most obvious examples over the past year have been the tearing down of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol and the plan to put up a new statue of Margaret Thatcher in Grantham.

It is a difficult subject to broach, but customers have asked Joseph about the topic a lot recently. So what does he think?

“I try not to get involved in the politics of it all, it’s a tough question to answer. If someone approaches me for a sculpture I will make it.

“People often get ask me about it. I think we should put the statues into context, put up a new plaque and raise awareness. It’s very interesting.”

This is part of the Stray Ferret’s ‘hidden gem’ series, highlighting small, independent businesses. They need to be tucked away but growing in popularity with an eye-catching and unique product or approach. Send us an email with your nominations.