Liz and Frances' Story

Our Coin Street story goes back a long way — almost to the beginning, in fact. 

We often visited Gabriel's Wharf in the early days (late '80s), enjoying the slightly improvised feel of the place and the boho mix of riverside space, independent makers and friendly restaurants. Then, in 1995, we had a pop-up shop on the Wharf — before the term was even invented — selling Liz’s studio pottery to very enthusiastic visitors.  

Towards the end of our stay, there was almost a fight over the last olive bowl when one customer swooped on it, but another objected ‘Excuse me, I saw that first!’, ‘Sorry,’ the first one snapped, ‘I’m buying it!’.  Luckily, we had an alternative, so peace was made in the end. It was all good experience, we had a lot of fun and made good friends, and it's a time we always remember as special. 

Over the intervening twenty-something years, we re-visited Gabriel's Wharf many times, and in February 2001, Liz had a month-long solo exhibition in the gallery@oxo too. It's a big gallery for one potter to fill, and it opened up some exciting developments in the work; it was also very inspiring to be beside the river on the arty South Bank again.

A few years later, in 2008, Liz had a three-month residency in the National Poetry Library just along in the Southbank Centre, focusing on Frances' book, Journey from Winter, and a lot of the work in her resulting collection was a direct development of some of those Oxo ideas. 

Then, six months ago, when we were talking about the possibility of opening a new pop-up, we remembered that original Gabriel’s Wharf pop-up and wondered if we could do it again? Fortunately, it turned out that for Christmas 2023 there was space for us to have A Winter Feast seasonal pop-up. 

Now in 2024, we're back on the Wharf full-time with a new shop, Potters' Yard Arts, crammed with joyful pots and artist's books, reflecting the river and the seasons. We've already met visitors who remember us from the old days, and we've made many new friends in this welcoming community of independent designer-makers, still so vibrant and diverse, after all these years.  

So, the story goes on…