Stoke on Trent

Stoke on Trent! It was time for a trip to pottery heaven. I usually go to Stoke about twice a year to satisfy my addiction to English China! We travel up to this northern city and then back to London in one very long day. It is about three hours driving time in each direction. This trip was the first time in nine years of making the journey that I stayed overnight. I have always wanted to do a longer trip to satisfy my curiosity about some of the potteries that I never get around to exploring on a one day trip. Polli, Holly & Kelle were my shopping companions and you won’t find nicer women to shop with anywhere! They are always so encouraging and supportive of even the dumbest purchases I make!

The Stoke on Trent potteries are finding it very hard to compete with the Asian market and are suffering. Two or three of the potteries we wanted to visit are now sadly closed down. My usual itinerary takes me to the factories of Royal Winton, Wedgwood/Waterford, Hartley Green (Leeds Pottery!), Portmerion (at least three of their factory shops!), Spode and Burleigh. Because we added another shopping day, we were able to visit Churchill’s, Emma Bridgewater,

Moorland, Moorcroft, Anysley, Dudson and Staffordshire Enamels. My conclusion about the new shops? We haven’t been missing anything and I won’t be adding any of them to my usual shopping itinerary. I did not discover anything exciting nor did I buy anything in them. We did, however spend alot of time (& money!) in my two favorites places; the Portmerion shops (I think we went to four out of the five shops in Stoke!) and Burleigh!

I do want to say something about the workers (mostly ladies!) in the factory shops in Stoke. To the last, they are always welcoming, knowledgeable and helpful. I don’t think I have ever met an unkind one. I appreciate the extra effort they make to help you locate that one special item you are looking for; searching the backroom or even the factory itself. This is especially true of Burleigh! I hope they all keep their jobs forever.

The really surprising news of the trip was Spode. In the past we would spend a lot of time at Spode having lunch and shopping in the various buildings. The factory is now greatly diminished and a sad shell of its former self. It was hardly worth the stop, prices were very high and the days of 1£ plates are long gone! Spode is moving production to China late this summer and rumor had it that they are planning on building a hotel & other shops on the site. No one was quite sure what it all meant but it certainly wont be the same. I couldnt help thinking that it was a good thing Eileen (the queen of Spode!) wasn’t here to see this! She moved back to the USA last year and it is unlikely that she will be here for the sad day when Spode is completely gone!
For the first time we did go to the Potteries Museum in Stoke with the purpose of seeing a beautiful mosaic installation by Emma Briggs (Mosaic Workshop) that was recently placed in the entrance hall. It is very large and made with bits of pottery factory backstamps interspersed through out the piece. For pottery fanatics it is a homage to all that is ceramic and beautiful!

I am always grateful to get back to London after experiencing the bleakness of this industrial city in the midlands. I imagine what Stoke must have looked like at the height of the industrial revolution. The grayness of the English sky, the pollution caused by smoke pouring out of the furnaces. The cold and the rain. I am glad that I don’t live there but I am always looking forward to a return trip.