Ickenham Candle Making Workshop: Three Candles on a Friday

Wick & Ceramic, a pottery-painting studio at 53 Swakeleys Road, Ickenham, Uxbridge UB10 8DG, turns its tables over to candle making one Friday evening a month. The two-hour session runs from 6pm to 8pm, costs £55 per person and sends you home with three eco-friendly soy wax candles rather than one, plus a complimentary drink while you work. The next dates are Friday 13 November and Friday 4 December 2026. Booking is required, and the studio takes a £15 non-refundable deposit online to hold your place.

Ickenham is a village-feel corner of the London Borough of Hillingdon at the far western end of the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines. The postal address says Uxbridge, but the studio sits inside Greater London, seven minutes' walk from Ickenham Underground station. West Ruislip, on the Central line, is a 12-minute walk away, which gives east London visitors a single-train route out.

Most days Wick & Ceramic is a pottery-painting and clay studio. Its programme includes wheel-throwing experiences, a four-week throwing course, a Pottery & Prosecco Night, children's clay clubs and seasonal pieces such as ceramic pumpkins for half term. The website advertises more than 200 five-star Google reviews. Alongside the monthly candle evening, the studio also runs a Signature Workshop that pairs wax burner painting with wax melt making.

The candle class description is specific about the method. Instructors guide you through preparing the wax and wicks, then mixing your chosen scents from a selection of essential and fragrance oils into plant-based soy wax. The workshop FAQ lists soy wax, fragrance oils, wicks, glass jars and dried botanicals as the materials on the table, so expect to decorate the surface as well as scent the wax.

Making three candles in two hours changes how you approach the evening. Rather than agonising over one perfect blend, you can treat the trio as a small collection: one fresh scent for the bathroom, one warm blend for the living room and one experiment. Or make a matching set to split as gifts, which is why the December date is worth considering for Christmas presents.

The website shows £15 at checkout, which can make the class look cheaper than it is. That figure is a non-refundable deposit. The full price is £55 per person, so the balance is settled with the studio. If you are booking for a group, count the full £55 per head when splitting costs with friends. The online calendar sometimes displays dates as unavailable when places remain, so if a Friday you want looks full, ring the studio on 07948 255222 before giving up.

The studio pitches the class at friends, dates, hen parties and team socials, and private group sessions can be arranged outside the monthly Friday slot. With a complimentary drink included and a 6pm start, it works as an after-work plan for people living in west London or the Chilterns side of the Metropolitan line.

Outside the candle evenings, the studio's published opening hours are Tuesday 10am to 6pm, Wednesday 10am to 8pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10am to 6pm, and Sunday 10am to 4pm. It is closed on Mondays except during school holidays. The contact page invites people to pop in and ask about bookings in person, and it warns that phone lines get busy on weekends and holidays, so a weekday call gets through faster.

Arriving by Tube, walk from Ickenham station toward the village centre, where the old village pump stands on a small green at the junction of Swakeleys Road and Long Lane. St Giles' Church, with parts dating back to medieval times, is just beside it. By early November it is dark well before 6pm, so anyone who wants to see the village should arrive a little early and walk the green before class.

Swakeleys House, a Jacobean mansion, and Swakeleys Park lie a short walk east of the studio. The park, with its lake and riverside path along the Pinn, is a pleasant walk on a weekend morning if you come back to pick up a pottery piece. For dinner after the 8pm finish, the pubs and restaurants around the village green are the closest options.

This is not the place for a fragrance-theory deep dive. It is a relaxed, sociable evening with a drink, a decorating table and three candles to show for it, at a lower cost per candle than any central London class. The trade-off is the journey and the schedule: one Friday a month is a narrow window. If those dates do not work, Earl of East's one-hour class in Quadrant Arcade off Regent Street runs more often and sits on the same Piccadilly line, at Piccadilly Circus.

Address: Wick & Ceramic, 53 Swakeleys Road, Ickenham, Uxbridge UB10 8DG (London Borough of Hillingdon). Candle class: Fridays 13 November and 4 December 2026, 6pm to 8pm. Price: £55 per person including three soy candles and a complimentary drink, with a £15 non-refundable deposit paid online. Phone: 07948 255222. Studio hours: Tue 10am to 6pm, Wed 10am to 8pm, Thu to Sat 10am to 6pm, Sun 10am to 4pm, Mon closed except holidays. Stations: Ickenham (seven minutes' walk), West Ruislip (12 minutes). Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a table near the village green.