Ruthin Craft Centre — Attraction in Ruthin

Fantastic artisanship, fantastic exhibits, fantastic place. Wondrous designs and paintings by creative folk at the top of their game. If you are remotely interested in art and crafts, then this place should be a must on your list. Large free car park. Big modern building. Individual artist studios showcasing their works, though when I visited you could count on one hand how many were open. That was a plus in a way, otherwise I'd still be there now with my jaw on my feet! The works on display are powerful and inspirational. The largest area of exhibits to view was in the main gallery where the equally wonderful shop is. Lovely, friendly staff. Lots of art cards for sale too. When I visited, Jeremy Yates was exhibiting his brilliant and awesome paintings of mountains. Brought back some profound memories. Love this artist's works. I also loved Cleo Mussi's unique mosaics, intelligent, thought provoking and also with humour injected, which put a smile on my face. And as for the glassblowers Neil Wilkin and Rachael Woodman.... well, wow, blew me away. It is so uplifting to be able to see these fantastic creations. Ruthin Craft Centre is brilliant for Ruthin, a modern and well designed environment for sensational artists and just an utter joy to meander around. Blummin big bravo and wow from this reviewer who is for returning whenever I am in the vicinity. (Oh, and Café R...

Hmm, not quite sure what this premises is trying to be.

On my recent visit, it was nice to see classes being run for children to create art, which is a definite plus. There were also quite a few of the units dedicated to displays of what appeared to be a community art project, again another plus, which was quite interesting in itself.

Sadly there appeared to be a lack people actively making things, which is odd considering it is a craft centre.

The main gallery was interesting enough and there were some real stand out pieces. If these items have been created by artists in residence then clearly they're a talented bunch, but where were they?

The shop attached to the gallery was a little bit of an eye opener. The majority of the items on display were priced at figures that made you look at them twice to make sure you hadn't misread them.

Don't get me wrong there was a good selection of interesting Jewellery, ceramics and glassware, however some of the items pricing seemed to have been plucked out of the air. Very odd and seemingly at odds with the name and concept of the building.

It is still worth a quick visit, however I suspect unless you've got money to burn, you'll not pick up much from the shop.

Cafe at the premises looks lovely and was fairly busy, but I didn't have time to sample their...

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Pleasant but all a bit sad.

It was sad to visit the Ruthin Craft Centre. :-(

So many people had invested time, effort, money and heart into setting up shops and exhibitions that were attractive but ignored by the public, unfortunately.

I doubt if local people are much in the market for what they were selling, and this isn't Oxford with hordes of high-spending tourists milling around.

I looked hard to see something to buy, but there was nothing that I needed, and one or two attractive items that caught my eye were priced out of my budget for a sympathy purchase.

Sad, very sad.

If you can spare 10-15 minutes to go there, it needs customers. But there is now precious little to buy, with a lovely Jewellery shop just closed.

The concern I have is that the whole place will shut down, which would make the lovely Cafe-R homeless. It is the only thriving business there, and justifiably so since it is...