The best design events for day trips: craft and fine arts exhibitions within easy reach of London

Before the summer is out take a day trip and find design inspiration at one of the many craft and fine arts events within easy reach of London.

Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford NG34 7TW. Two hours by train from Euston, then a 10-minute walk, or do the 125-mile drive.

By the riverside, this converted Lincolnshire warehouse is a huge space for changing art and design exhibitions, full of shows, studios, workshops and a lovely café.

It’s the HQ of Design-Nation, whose 200 members are top UK designer makers.

This summer’s special show is Hatch ’19. Meet artists and designers and attend demos and workshops.

A short walk along the River Slea is fully restored historic Cogglesford Watermill, while a 20-minute drive away is 15th-century Tattershall Castle.

Nearby are Cranwell Aviation Heritage Museum and RAF Waddington, a working air base, and of course Lincoln itself, with its famed Cathedral and Castle.

West Hoathly Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 4NE. About an hour by train from London Victoria to East Grinstead, with a cab rank for the last two miles.

Tickets: adult, £12.60, child, £6.30, family, £31.50. Free parking.

This house was designed by Philip Webb (1831-1915), known as the father of Arts & Crafts architecture, and it has original interiors by William Morris (1834-1896), designer, maker and entrepreneur.

Summer icing on the cake for this Arts & Crafts heaven is Morris & Co: Inspired by Nature, a focus on those ever-popular patterns of leaves, flowers, fruits and birds, still on sale today.

Explore their inspirations and masterly pattern repeats, and see how Morris valued traditional skills such as natural dyeing and tapestry weaving.

Make your own Morris moment as you design a wallpaper.

Wander into the award-winning hillside garden with a Morris poetry trail, and there’s a children’s trail daily, £2, to hunt dragons and other Morris beasties in patterns in the house and garden.

At multiple Stoke-on-Trent venues. Just 90 minutes from Euston by train (September 7 to October 13).

If you love ceramics to use, collect, or simply admire, this five-week event will be a perfect time to visit “The Potteries” for an “ambitious and thought-provoking programme to highlight the heritage and cultural riches of this extraordinary city”.

Start your day in the China Hall at the former Spode Works, Kingsway, a 10-minute walk from the station.

In this vast and atmospheric old industrial space are 13 exhibitions, plus live workshops/demos and a shop.

Focal point is “Award”, with new work by 10 innovative ceramic artists, all competing for a £10,000 prize.

Alongside is “Fresh” showcasing 20 new graduates. Also on view are ceramics from China and Korea.

In the same building and directed by a sparky team of artists, Clay Quarter is a free interactive space where families can explore and experiment with unusual tools, with light and sound effects along the way.

You can see how china figurines are made, and create one yourself. Then walk or take a bus — free at weekends — to other venues such as Middleport Pottery, The Potteries Museum and Spode Works.

The World of Wedgwood is also well worth a visit, serving particularly delicious teas.

Until next Monday (Aug 26) at Thirlestaine Long Gallery, Cheltenham College, Bath Road, Cheltenham GL53 7LD. About two-and-a-half hours from Paddington by train, then a 15-minute walk or a five-minute taxi hop.

Tickets: adults £7, under-16s £3.50, catalogue £5. Free parking on site.

Here in the Cotswolds, Britain’s finest furniture makers are currently celebrating 25 years of this excellent show in an elegant neoclassical country house that’s now part of Cheltenham College.

Meet the makers of around 300 hand-crafted contemporary designs from more than 70 workshops. Plus, there’s a new platform for 20 emerging designer makers.

James Pillier is bringing his “live edge” tables from Oxfordshire, with dramatic tree-shaped tops.

Marc Fish creates audacious curves by laminating multiple veneers, sometimes thousands in a single piece.

Edd Lewis covers radiators with an open lattice of tree branches, while organiser Jason Heap is weaving beautiful frames from coloured timbers.

Nearby is renowned art gallery The Wilson, and The Daffodil Art Deco restaurant is recommended.

Waddesdon, Bucks HP18 0JH. About 65 mins from Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway, with free shuttle service. If you are driving, it’s just off the A41 between Bicester and Aylesbury.

Tickets to grounds: adult £11; child £5.50; family £27.50. Tickets to house: adult £21, child £11.50, family £53.50. Free for National Trust members.

In the late 19th century the wealthy, cultured and very genial Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild loved to entertain. So he built this fairytale château as a summer weekend retreat for the highest of Victorian society.

His lifestyle is preserved in a series of spectacular rooms with ornate mirrors, painted Parisian panels, 18th-century furniture, chiming clocks, Sèvres porcelain, marble and a table set for 24.

The stunning gardens, with a parterre and aviary, have gone tropical for summer, all hot pink, lime green and purple, with banana plants and canna lilies.

Kids will love the woodland playground. Explore the wine cellar with free talks and tastings.

Waddesdon Chilli Fest (Aug 31 & Sept 1) is a food and drink spectacular with traders from across the country, live music and family fun.