Why the owner of a once bustling Victorian dairy wants to bring creativity back to this sleepy part of Nottinghamshire

Long gone are the 19th century days of coal-miners going to work and back, the simpler days of horse-drawn carriages, cobbled streets, friendly greengrocers and green space in abundance.

But while technology was obviously not as impressive back in the 1840s as it is today, the creativity and ingenuity of those who lived through that bygone era was every bit as good.

That was very much on show at Portland House over on Salmon Lane in Annesley Woodhouse where the sights, sounds and wonderful smells of an operating dairy and a framesmiths were in evidence after it was built in 1842.

The surrounding area was also once home to a butcher's shop and a blacksmith’s forge, making Salmon Lane an important centre of local trade, craftsmanship and community.

Fast forward more than 180 years and that creativity and community pride will once again be back on show in this historic building in a very different format.

That is because Jazzmine Malcolm, who now lives in the beautiful Victorian property, will be running creative art workshops in a section of the building as part of her new business venture.

But as Jazzmine, a former pupil at The Minster in Southwell, explains, there’s far more behind her ambitious scheme than just earning a few quid.

“My aim for this space is to bring back a bit of life to the community again and make it a creative hub for local people,” she said. “It’s for people to come and slow down their everyday life, to connect with their creativity, to come in here not really knowing what they are doing but then leave feeling fulfilled knowing they have created something amazing and learned a new skill.

“It’s about creating, connecting and slowing down, this is what this space is for.

”My vision has never been simply to open a creative studio. It has been to breathe new life into a building that has served generations of local people, carefully restoring its character while creating a place where the community can once again come together to make, learn, celebrate and connect.”

It’s a natural progression for the Nottingham-born art lover who admits she is happiest when she’s fiddling away with her creative hat on.

“Going way way back to Primary School I was always creating and at after school class I was getting out all sorts of crafts, painting, making little toy models and things like that,” Jazzmine adds.

“It started at a really young age and then in secondary school I did textiles, at college I did fashion and learned how to sew, before learning the marketing side of things at university.

Workshops will kick off in earnest in September and include a regular Wednesday coffee morning style workshop where guests will learn a variety of new skills such as wreath making, candle making, painting and how to recycle and repurpose old items such as wax into new candles.

But if the extent of your design-making skills extends as far as colouring between the lines or sticking shapes on to cards, then fear not, there’s still a space for you.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect, you can just come and create,” says Jazzmine. “It’s not about perfection, it’s about the experience and creativity. It’s about doing something different and connecting with your friends or new people that you meet. It's good for your mental health and good to express yourself in that way as well.

“It gives me a lot of pride and joy to see someone who comes in and is not that confident and then they go away feeling proud of something they have created, and I can see that in their face. They are genuinely proud of what they have made.”

“It has a lot to do with mindset as well. If you think you can't do it and then someone tells you that you can do it and it looks great, it really does shift how you feel about it and your perspective on things.”

For further information on the workshops, and how you can get involved, visit www.augustinevents.co.uk