Saturday 15th March. Ten of us boarded the coach for a day out in that well known tourist trap, Stoke on Trent. Our first stop was Etruria which our leader assumed was to see the famous Wedgwood factory. Sadly that was demolished some years ago, what we actually enjoyed was a journey back in time to understand how they put the bone in china courtesy of a guided tour of the last steam powered potters grinding mill in Britain. After being regally entertained with complimentary tea, coffee and chocolate biscuits we moved on to lunch at the Gladstone.
Having met our guide Phil, we watched an introductory video before a highly entertaining tour of what was originally a Victorian jobbing pottery complete with bottle ovens, live demonstrations and original machinery. There was time at the end to view some of the exhibitions including tiles, the history of the loo and the obligatory shop. If you’re still not sure what a saggar bottom knocker is then you’ll never know what you missed!
