Bottle Kilns and Pretty pottery

Hey!

Today's post is really I guess about something that represents my regional identity in a way. Coming from a very 'Stokie' family (In that both my Mum and Dad come from Stoke-on-Trent, if you're not local, this is an unusually unorthodox 'city' in that it is formed of 6 towns), yet growing up in Staffordshire means that I'm really intrigued by the industries that shaped my family's past. This industry being of course, the pottery industry. If you drive around Stoke you can still see the massive bottle kilns that fill the sky line, but if you live local you'll know these are crumbling and most definitely few and far between. I'm a little strange, I guess in that when I see anything crumbling or disguarded, I need to know why something that used to be kept in really good condition, was left for ruin. This is the same for old houses, old public foot paths or even old doors with missing keys. I don't know why it just fascinates me- who used to use these things? Was it part of their day-to-day life? It makes me sad to think that maybe these little things that often go unnoticed in their decay, used to form the basis of  a person's working day. Anyway.. I digress:D. Apparently, in the hey-day of the pottery industry there were over 4,000 bottle kilns. As many as 2,000 were still standing in the 1950s, yet the 'clean air act' and cheaper pottery being available for import meant the ultimate death for bottle kilns. According to an online article, there are 47 kilns now remaining, some in good condition, some in poor- but all are listed and protected.
This weekend just gone was really the point in which I'm ashamed to admit I thought: 'woah, hold on, I need to take more of an interest here', after going to a craft fayre run from inside Middleport pottery. It was a really lovely event, with lots of local artists and craftspeople advertising their independant businesses, yet it was so interesting to walk around the actual place. In parts you could see local artists producing pottery and walk around a sort of museum area for my absolute fave pottery ever- Burleigh. (If you haven't seen it honestly look it up, it's so pretty!!). I loved that the cobbles we were walking on had been walked on by hundreds of pottery makers over hundreds of years and that this industry came from no where else but my City, I found it so humbling and pretty cool.


Thanks for reading,
Molly