Mr Ashbee would approve

In the true spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement, creativity has kept the Chipping Campden community ticking over during lockdown

- Tracy Spiers

I take a stylus and in childlike fashion have fun with the new interactive digital information boards telling the story of Chipping Campden’s inspiring craft and design. They’re proving to be a hit with locals and visitors alike and they mark the start of a fresh chapter for Court Barn, a delightful museum which celebrates the rich creative legacy of this Cotswold town.

A £65,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund enabled the museum to undergo a refresh project which was due to be completed in March, just as COVID-19 lockdown was announced. Many museums have struggled to open and those that have allowed the public in, have turned off their interactive displays to prevent hands touching screens. The decision to use styluses – which can be wiped down after every use – therefore has proved a genius solution in the circumstances and Court Barn, which finally reopened in August, has helped rekindle a love for the town’s history and helped people come out again – albeit masked.

Creative people will continue to create no matter what is happening around them and in fact they often become more prolific in times of change and crisis. It’s a year since I have visited this enterprising community and none of us could have foreseen what we or our High Streets would have to contend with. And yet this town’s innovative creative courage lives on. I am sure British architect and designer Charles Robert Ashbee who brought 50 arts and craftsmen to Chipping Campden in 1902 and thus introduced the town to the Arts & Crafts Movement, would be proud that his legacy lives on.