Cheapside Business Alliance is delighted to be sponsoring Handmade City, a week-long programme of events for this year’s London Craft Week (Monday 11th – Sunday 17th May)!
This exclusive programme for London Craft Week 2026 celebrates stories of original craft and creative practice in the City of London. The experiences have been developed by craft curator and creative director, Catherine Lock, in collaboration with her community of expert talents.
The programme includes:
Cheapside Craft Club – Historic ‘Nosegays‘ Workshop
Thursday 14th May | St. Mary-le-Bow |1:00 – 1:45pm
Join us for this free workshop and learn how to make your own ‘nosegay’, a small bouquet of flowers and scented herbs used by City-goers in the 18th century to ward off foul odours.
Led by the talented Billy Hillhouse, a London-based florist who’s done work for Burberry, Sotheby’s and the Tate (to name a few), this is a great opportunity to learn more about the history of floristry in the City, and how people lived their daily lives!
Free Basket-Making Demonstrations
Thursday 14th May – Sunday 16th May | St. Mary-le-Bow | 12:30 – 1:30pm
Join us at St. Mary-le-Bow for a free traditional basket-making demonstration from Hilary Burns MBE, one of the UK’s leading basket makers and a Yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers.
Hilary will be demonstrating the techniques used to make the traditional daily baskets of the City’s historic salesmen and street pedlars.
No need to book – drop-in anytime from 12:30-1:30pm between Thursday and Saturday!
Handmade City Walks – Paid activity
Monday 11th – Sunday 17th May | Farringdon to Bank | 10:00am – 12:30pm
Guided by Catherine Lock, this walk explores the creativity that shaped pre-electricity London: the invisible hands and minds who crafted its unique spirit of place. Starting in medieval Clerkenwell and journeying to the Enlightenment-era City, we shall meet unsung talents – monks and jesters, stonemasons and basketmakers, apprentices and imagineers.
Each stop illuminates a different aspect of their creativity, from purpose to materials, ingenuity and original thought. Listening for ancient bells, seeking out gilded treasures and encountering contemporary talents along the way, we shall discuss why these stories of original creativity matter today, and ask whether a hand-formed city is a more human city.
The walks on Thursday, Friday & Saturday will end at St Mary-le-Bow where basketmaker Hilary Burns MBE will demonstrate the making of traditional baskets from historic City life & trades.
Handmade City Workshop – Paid activity
Thursday 14th – Saturday 17th May | St. Mary-le-Bow | 10:00am – 12:00pm, 2:30 – 4:30pm
Join this workshop to make a strawberry seller’s traditional, split-willow ‘Pottle’ and return from the City with your very own, very useful Craft Week souvenir!
Under the great bells of St Mary-le-Bow, Catherine invites you to once again join renowned basketmaker Hilary Burns MBE, who will bring the basketry traditions of Cheapside street pedlars – Muffin Men, Flower Girls and Chair Rushers – to life, and teach you her tricks of the trade.