Apron on, hands poised, sitting at a potter’s wheel, and I’m ready to make my first creations at the World of Wedgwood on the outskirts of Stoke.
My one-hour class is with a master of the craft – and being old enough to remember The Generation Game and its contestants’ mishaps with wet clay, I’m keen to pay close attention to what she has to say. Which I do, with a not so bad end result either: two passable items – a breakfast bowl and a nice little vase.
In June, Stoke-on-Trent will celebrate 100 years since the ‘Six Towns’ – Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton – were granted city status, with a raft of special events such as historical art exhibitions, musical performances and organised walks round the sites, including its famous bottle kilns.
If you visit, the place to start your tour of ‘the Potteries’ must be the World of Wedgwood.
Neil Clark explores Stoke-on-Trent as it celebrates its 100th anniversary as a city. Above is the Gladstone Pottery Museum, which Neil describes as ‘fascinating’
You are greeted by a statue of the great Josiah, who made his surname the byword for quality ceramics in the 1700s, as it remains today.
From 1769 until the 1930s the Wedgwood works were at Etruria, about eight miles away, but in the late 1930s they began the move to the present site.
Today, the factory has about 70 employees, and you can sign up for tours of historical displays of porcelain, some more than 250 years old.
In the restaurant I recommend tucking into its ‘Classic Afternoon Tea’, all served off the very best bone china, naturally.
‘If you want to reconnect with Britain’s industrial heritage, then there is so much history here,’ says Neil. Above is Hanley city centre
The ‘Six Towns’ are all worth exploring.
Hanley has a beautiful Victorian park, Fenton has a magnificent 19th century town hall, while Longton is home to the fascinating Gladstone Pottery Museum – a Victorian coal-fired factory with huge bottle kilns and where the Great British Pottery Throwdown is filmed.
If you want to reconnect with Britain’s industrial heritage, then there is so much history here. So next time you are driving along the M6, do pull off at junction 15.
Where to stay: Doubles from £92 B&B at the Upper House, built in 1845 for Josiah Wedgwood’s grandson Francis (theupperhouse.com); doubles at the Hilton Garden Inn in Hanley from £70 (hilton.com). Pottery lessons are from £32.50 (worldofwedgwood.com). For more information, go to visitstoke.co.uk.
