Alan and I stayed with my cousin Gordon and his wife Eileen in Derbyshire for two days. On Monday October 4th, a lovely Autumn day, they drove us through the countryside over to Stoke-on-Trent, about an hour away. This pottery factory town used to be a dreadfully dirty industrial place where all the kilns burned coal. But since 1965 when the clean-air act was enacted things have changed. The air is clear, yes, but switching to natural gas to fire those kilns did not save the industry. Gradually more and more of the world-famous potteries have either closed or now manufacture all their wares ‘off-shore’.

In previous visits we’ve enjoyed tours of Spode and Wedgwood factories and the Hanley Pottery Museum and Gladstone Pottery Museum. The first two are closed now. Gladstone is a highly recommended stop if you ever get to Stoke-on-Trent, with its demonstrations of all parts of pottery manufacture, intact bottle kilns, a lavatory museum (really, smell included!), super tile collection and a feeling of stepping back a century or more. It was one of the last factories to operate in original premises in 1965 and a decision was made not to tear it down. This a photo taken on our 2005 Pottery and Archaeology Tour.

We did go to the Hanley Museum again on this trip. It has a fine brick mural of local pottery history above the entrance. The work is very much like that of Medicine Hat’s James Marshall.

Downstairs there is a good collection of mainly British ceramics, giving an overview of its history. I enjoyed examples of slip-painted earthenware, much from Devon. There is an interesting stained glass window which was designed to tell the Stoke-on-Trent pottery story.

Historic and contemporary salt-glazed pieces are shown in one case. I KEEP finding splendid Walter Keeler pots!

Our next visit was to the Dudson Museum where the bottle kiln is the gallery. It has been in the Dudson family for 8 generations and still manufactures ware for the Travel and Catering Industry.

Here is a travelling salesman’s suitcase, intended for the Canadian market. I recognised some coffee shop cups.  

Dudson Museum on the left.

Our final stop for the day was the Moorcroft Heritage Visitor Centre which incorporates one of their bottle ovens. Their familiar colourful, tube-lined ware made an impressive display. This company does have a factory nearby which one can pay to tour. They didn’t allow photographs in their showroom.

Our return drive took us over the lovely Peaks District. It was good to get to know another part of rural England.

Just to acknowledge that we were staying in Derbyshire I am including a photo of my cousin’s collection of Crown Derby birds. The factory is making an effort with these and some contemporary vase forms I saw in London to be relevant to 21st century collectors.