A TELLY favourite visited a Swindon green oasis for a day of pot-making.

Cáit Gould, a star of the BBC’s Great Pottery Throw Down, helped a dozen would-be potters spin creations out of clay at TWIGS community garden.

But it was a chance conversation on social media that introduced Cáit to the Cheney Manor garden and saw her throw her two wheels in the back of a friend’s car and potter down the M4 from Reading.

She happened to see a post on Twitter about TWIGS building a new motorless kick wheel on which to mould clay into pots.

“I was excited,” said Cáit. “I have fond memories of using kick wheels in India. I said to them, if you want any help get in touch.”

Unsurprisingly, TWIGS jumped at the chance.

So, on a sunny Saturday, Cáit found herself in an autumnal-looking Swindon garden with her hands wet with clay slip, helping with a fundraiser for the Cheney Manor project.

She told the Swindon Advertiser the group would spend the morning making their pots before firing them in a pit in the afternoon: “It’s a bit experimental. If you do lots of firings all the time you would be able to control it a bit better. It’s definitely the most inexpert and difficult to control way for me.”

Between making their pots, participants on the day-long course also tried their hands at making a Green Man figurine. Cutting outlines of leaves into clay around a centimetre thick, they created layers of foliage with which to decorate their traditional portraits.

Carol Tyson, 45, from Stratton, said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to really try something new in a really relaxing environment.”

Marlborough woman Kerry Hall, 50, added: “These are beautiful gardens, lovely staff and a lovely setting. It’s a very relaxing, very therapeutic – a space to feel artistic.”

For some, it was the first time they had worked with clay.

Not so for experienced Cáit, who developed a real love for ceramics as a student at Glasgow’s School of Art: “It ticks lots of boxes for me. You’re using your hands, you can be creative. There’s something wonderful about creating something and working with mud and your hands. It’s very centring, almost meditative.”

For more about TWIGS’ upcoming workshops, visit: www.twigscommunitygardens.org.uk.