Reformer and mat classes in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. A fictional demo studio: nothing is booked or sent.
About
A small studio, taught slowly and carefully
Rowanby is one room off a Jesmond yard: reformers along one wall, mats along the other, and four teachers.
Illustrative photo, not a Rowanby client
Illustrative stock photo of a reformer room
The story
Why a yard in Jesmond
Ailsa and Priya opened Rowanby in 2021 in a ground-floor unit off Wendlow Yard, with six reformers along one wall and a mat floor along the other.
Joel joined to lead the mat classes and Martha to teach the weekends. Between the four of them the timetable now runs 29 classes a week, from 6:45am on weekdays.
Each kind of class has one person who plans it: Ailsa the reformer work, Priya pregnancy and postnatal, Joel the mat.
How classes run
Habits the studio keeps to
Your settings, written down
Teachers keep a card with your spring and headrest settings, so the next class starts where the last one ended.
Foundations before Flow
Reformer Flow is for people who have done four Reformer Foundations classes, so a Flow class never stops to explain the machine.
Mat and machine, one room
Mat Pilates runs in the same room as the reformers, with the same teachers, so moving between the two is easy.
Plain about what Pilates is
Our teachers are not doctors or physiotherapists and cannot diagnose or treat pain or injury. If something hurts, see your GP or a physiotherapist first, then tell your teacher what they said.
Teachers
Who teaches what
Sample portrait
Ailsa Marr
Co-owner · reformer lead
Teaches Reformer Flow, Reformer Foundations, and one to ones
Sample portrait
Priya Holroyd
Co-owner · pregnancy and postnatal lead
Teaches Reformer Foundations, Pregnancy and Postnatal Mat, Reformer Flow, Mat Pilates, and one to ones
Sample portrait
Joel Ridley
Mat lead
Teaches Mat Pilates, Reformer Foundations
Sample portrait
Martha Lowry
Weekend teacher
Teaches Reformer Foundations, Reformer Flow, Mat Pilates
Fictional profiles: the portraits are stock photos of models, not Rowanby teachers.
“I was nervous about the machines. Joel set the springs with me twice before I trusted them, and by the third class I was asking for heavier ones.”
Morven, GosforthComes to Reformer Foundations
Sample review
“The lunchtime mat class fits between meetings. The room is full, and Joel still notices when my shoulders creep up.”
Dev, HeatonComes to Mat Pilates
Sample review
“I started at five months and came back with my daughter asleep in her car seat in the corner. Priya changed every exercise around what I could do that week.”
Hannah, SandyfordComes to Pregnancy and Postnatal Mat
Sample review
“Ailsa’s Monday Flow at quarter to seven is the hardest hour of my week, and the quietest. I’m out by twenty to eight and still make my train.”
Callum, FenhamComes to Reformer Flow
Rowanby, Jesmond
Mornings, lunchtimes, evenings: find a class that fits.
Three Foundations classes for £45 for newcomers. Choose a time and send the request; we reply to say whether there is room.
This is a demonstration website. Rowanby Pilates is not a real business: calls, emails and social links don’t reach anyone, and no class request is sent, stored or booked.
