Jubilee tiles in honour of late Queen Elizabeth unveiled

MORE than 100 people attended the unveiling of tiles inspired by the late Queen Elizabeth II at Goring village hall on Saturday.

Artists ranging from toddlers to retirees completed the pottery at a workshop during the Goring and Streatley Gap Festival in 2022 which was to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

The 180 colourful tiles, which measure 10cm2, were created using leaf and plant prints and arranged in four plaques of 45 pieces.

The installation, which is on the outside the walls of the garden room, was made possible due to funding from Goring Arts Society arts volunteers project, which aims to encourage young people to take part in creative artistic activities across all arts.

Four potters, Sarah Rushbrooke, Bridget Thompson, Mel Greenaway and Jac Fitzjohn, were involved with the planning of the workshop and firing of the tiles.

The former GAP visual arts co-ordinator, Jane Dipple, said festival organisers originally wanted to make the installation one big panel, but it was too heavy to do. She said: “It’s fantastic to have it mended somewhere where it’s appreciated and we wanted people to come back and see what they made.

“Everyone was struck by how beautiful it was. They were excited by it and couldn’t believe how wonderful it looked. We were pleased to see it was in a safe location.”

Lauren Jones, 38, an assistant human resources manager, attended the workshop two years ago with her daughter Rosa, Ms Jones lived in Goring at the time but has since moved to South Stoke. She said: “The workshop was relaxed and had a fun atmosphere, which made it accessible for Rosa.

“It was really lovely to see the tiles on display. It was such a long time ago and we wondered if we would see them up. So many people put so much work into putting them up too.

“We went through our phone to look at what they looked like, and she was really happy, but she didn’t remember until I got the picture up.”