218 - An Introduction to Modern Calligraphy

On a crisp morning in Broadway, England, Rachel of Cotswolds Calligraphy lays out nibs, holders, and ink beside plates of biscuits and a steaming kettle. Her Introduction to Modern Calligraphy is a relaxed, 2.5-hour workshop that turns a simple table into a small studio where novices and curious makers learn how to form letters with a dip pen. The location is on a bright and airy second floor in Broadway; the room is accessible by steps and stairs only, and class size is limited to eight, keeping instruction personal and focused.

You begin with a calligraphy kit—yours to take home—stocked with worksheets, a pen holder, a nib, black ink, pencil, gift tags, and a blank greeting card. Rachel starts by demonstrating tool setup and maintenance, then guides students through the foundations: lowercase shapes, basic strokes, joining letters, and constructing common greetings. The pace is deliberately unhurried; calligraphy is presented as a slow, meditative craft where deliberate pressure and rhythm matter more than speed.

If you finish early, worksheets and gift tags give room to practice forming phrases and finishing a card to take home. The workshop is as much about craft as company. With refreshments included, conversation drifts between technique and local creative life.

Rachel’s teaching draws on the tactile quality of steel nibs and the satisfying contrast of thin upstrokes and solid downstrokes. That physical feedback—the scratch of nib on paper, the bead of ink—is what makes this workshop stand out in a region known more for walking trails than for maker classes. Broadway sits inside the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a short drive from honey-stone villages and open countryside.

This workshop gives visitors a quieter, indoor way to connect with local material culture: handcrafted lettering rather than landscape photos. Practical details: minimum age 12; allow five minutes extra for check-in; meeting point information is not provided in the listing; the workshop room has stairs only. Why book it? For travelers looking to slow down between hikes or country drives, Rachel’s workshop offers a compact, hands-on creative reset.

You leave not only with new skills but with a properly assembled kit and the confidence to continue practicing at home. Whether you want to write better cards, start a hobby, or simply spend a calm morning learning something tactile, this class delivers patient instruction, quality materials, and a genuine local maker experience. Find more at www.cotswoldscalligraphy.com.

Sessions run small to encourage one-to-one feedback; expect hands-on corrections, demonstrations, and pacing tailored to your level. Bring reading glasses if you need them and arrive prepared to pause, practice, and ask questions; the rhythm of ink, paper, and focused breathing is the quiet work that turns awkward letters into deliberate forms.