If you love your crafting, then November is the ideal time to visit Harrogate with two “can’t miss” events taking place this month.  And, of course, The Camberley, The Lodge and Camberley Cottages, are ideally placed as a base for your visit.  With comfortable rooms, delicious breakfast and a central location just a short walk, or a scenic drive, from the events.

Crafts in the Pen
Skipton Auction Mart plays host to Crafts in the Pen on 15 and 16 November.  This huge festive crafts fair draws visitors from across Yorkshire and beyond. There will be more than 230 artisan stalls, two cafés on site, free parking and a Santa’s Grotto (entry includes a gift).  It’s an annual highlight for lovers of handmade goods, and a great opportunity to pick up some one of a kind gifts for the festive season and beyond.  Tickets are just £6, making it the ideal event for anyone who loves handmade items but doesn't have the skills to create them.  You can find out more here.

Knitting and Stitching Show
The following weekend sees the Royal Hall, and Convention Centre play host to possibly the largest craft show in the North of England.  The Knitting and Stitching Show attracts visitors from across the UK and is the perfect place to find knitting, sewing, spinning, papercrafts and embroidery equipment.  You are bound to come away with lots of new ideas, and almost certainly some great additions to your crafting stash.  Whether you are looking for the perfect knitting yarn or you are in the market for a new sewing machine, quilting frame or cabinet, this show has just about everything you could possibly wish to see.  Taking place over four days 20 – 23 November, the venue is a short walk from The Camberley, The Lodge and Camberley Cottages, making us the perfect choice for your stay.    You can find out  more about the show, and book your tickets, here 

Harrogate
Harrogate is not just a place to bed down — it’s a destination in its own right. Renowned for its elegant Georgian architecture, independent stores, tearooms and thermal spa heritage, you can stroll through the Montpellier Quarter, relax in the Valley Gardens, or visit the famous Bettys Tea Rooms for a quintessential afternoon tea experience.

If you are visiting Skipton, the auction mart is on the outskirts, but do take the time to visit the lovely town with its historic marketplace and lovely cafes.  Skipton is just a 30-40 minute drive from Harrogate, or you can catch the Harrogate to Leeds train and change for Skipton. 

After a full day of browsing, you’ll appreciate returning to our cosy, welcoming guest house where you can rest, recharge, and perhaps enjoy a quiet evening stroll. In Harrogate, you have access to a wide range of cafes and restaurants.  If you’re unsure which to choose, we can offer personalised recommendations based on your preferences. Alternatively, you can explore our blog posts about great places we think you'll enjoy. 

Practicalities
With so many stalls at both events, we do recommend arriving early so you can enjoy a quieter browse before the crowds really build up. We also recommend bringing comfortable shoes.  There is quite a bit of walking about.  In our experience, we recommend going around the stands at least twice to ensure you see everything. 

You may also want to bring a sturdy bag for your purchases.  Whilst many stall holders will provide bags, from experience, we have found that taking your own reusable bag is always a good option.  Even if you don’t plan to buy much, you might find that you come home with a bit more than planned. 

We’re delighted to welcome visitors coming for a crafty break, and we’re here to help make your weekend as crafty as possible.  

Vision & Labour: Making Comics
The Art Of Avery Hill Publishing
An exhibition at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate
18 Oct 2025 to 26 April 2026
 
Kristyna Baczynski, Tim Bird, Katriona Chapman, Tom Humberstone, Charlot Kristensen, B. Mure, Owen D. Pomery, Claire Scully, J. Webster Sharp, Rachael Smith, Lizzy Stewart, Lucy Sullivan, Zoe Thorogood, Donya Todd, Tillie Walden, George Wylesol.
 
Harrogate’s Mercer Art Gallery has teamed up with indie publisher Avery Hill Publishing to create an exhibition showcasing some of today’s most exciting comics creators. Opening in October in time for this year’s Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival, the exhibition offers a fascinating glimpse into the work of leading comic artists, and an important snapshot of the UK comics landscape over the past decade.


From the early superhero comics of the 1930s underground comix scenes of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, to the rise of manga and Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning Maus in the ‘90s, generations have grown up reading comics. It is a medium that inspires diverse groups of people to a life-long love of reading, and has filtered into education, health, public art, video games, movies, and many more parts of life today.
 
Comics writers and artists work in a wide variety of ways, from solo creators who write and draw their own books, to collaborations between several creators. Comics can be short, accessible stories of just 30 pages, or lengthy graphic novels, hundreds of pages long. It is a medium with something for everyone—literary fiction, memoir, non-fiction, sci-fi, horror, and more. As it grows, so does its recognition, with graphic novels winning prestigious awards and being adapted to film and TV.
 
On display in the exhibition will be original artwork by sixteen diverse artists, shown alongside the finished books. The exhibition will offer insights into the creative process of making comics, and the different working practices of each artist, ranging from meticulous ink drawings to spectacular digitally created imagery, including video footage of the creators at work. There will also be photo opportunities with life-size recreations of some of the book covers, an interactive game designed by artist and designer George Wylesol. The various design elements pulling it all together are by comics artist Kristyna Baczynski who has created infographics, including a description of the various stages of journey from the original idea of the creator to the finished physical book
 
The audience will come away with an appreciation of the talent and vision of the creators and a new understanding of the labour involved in creating the art and making the finished book.

Karen Southworth, Exhibitions Curator at the Mercer explains “Through working with Thought Bubble and Avery Hill Publishing, we’ve come to appreciate that comics and graphic novels are a valuable, but often overlooked, part of our literary culture. We know this exhibition will inspire fans of comic art but we hope it will open lots more people’s eyes to discover this vibrant and accessible art form”. 
 
Avery Hill Publishing co-founder Ricky Miller says “This exhibition is an exciting way for us to extend our remit of helping new creators into comics and a great chance for us to look back on what we’ve created over the years. Somehow we’ve achieved this despite having no publishing experience, juggling demanding day jobs and major life-changes, in what was supposed to be a fun side-project that accidentally got out of control”.
 
The exhibition has been organised in partnership with Thought Bubble, the UK’s largest comic art festival which takes place in Harrogate annually in November. Thought Bubble’s Martha Julian says “To see the work of these incredible creators in one place should be grasped with both hands! Avery Hill Publishing have been a stalwart of the indie comics community for well over a decade, and we couldn’t be prouder to be including this celebratory exhibition as part of this year’s Thought Bubble Festival”.




 
                                                                                                                                 ENDS
For further information please contact:

Katriona Chapman at Avery Hill Publishing [email protected] and
Karen Southworth at the Mercer Art Gallery, North Yorkshire Council [email protected]
 
 
 
Notes to Editors

About Avery Hill
Avery Hill Publishing are a London-based independent publisher of comics, graphic novels and art books. Best known for being the first to publish work by breakout comics stars like Tillie Walden and Zoe Thorogood, they’ve gone on to develop an exciting slate of up-and-coming artists, a catalogue of diverse and compelling books, and have won numerous awards and acclaim along the way. With a love for the unusual and an eye for creators with potential, Avery Hill have carved a niche as a home for remarkable, offbeat books and are proud of their role in nurturing new talent.
 
More Info: Avery Hill Publishing
 
About the Mercer Art Gallery
The Mercer Art Gallery is Harrogate’s public art gallery. It opened in 1991, housed in the 200 year old Promenade Rooms, one of Harrogate’s first purpose built spa buildings. The Gallery’s name comes from the water-colourist Sidney Agnew Mercer who lived most of his life in Yorkshire and whose sons contributed funds towards the new art gallery. The gallery is managed by North Yorkshire Council; it offers a changing programme of temporary exhibitions  of modern and contemporary art alternating with displays of Works from the Harrogate Fine Art Collection, which is also available to view online at artuk.org, the digital home for art from every public collection in the United Kingdom.
 
More info:  Mercer Art Gallery


About Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival
Thought Bubble is THE Yorkshire Comic Art Festival! A week-long celebration of comics, illustration and more spread across the whole of Yorkshire, finishing in a huge two-day comic convention in Harrogate. We use our festival week to promote the power of comics! We believe they can inspire, educate and bring people together like no other medium, so whether you're a longtime fan of comic art or have never picked up a graphic novel before, you’ll find something for you.

More info: Thought Bubble Festival