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| Stoke pottery gets boost from Prince's Regeneration Trust | Stoke pottery gets boost from Prince's Regeneration Trust |
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| Renovations have begun at one of Britain's last working Victorian potteries, in Stoke-on-Trent, where money from the Prince's Regeneration Trust is helping to fuel a slow, but promising, turnaround in fortunes. | Renovations have begun at one of Britain's last working Victorian potteries, in Stoke-on-Trent, where money from the Prince's Regeneration Trust is helping to fuel a slow, but promising, turnaround in fortunes. |
| Created by the 50 skilled potters working there, teapot designs unchanged for 150 years and floral patterns which go back even further are trading briskly from the pottery, which has twice been saved from closure or submersion into modern, mass-produced ware in the last seven years. | Created by the 50 skilled potters working there, teapot designs unchanged for 150 years and floral patterns which go back even further are trading briskly from the pottery, which has twice been saved from closure or submersion into modern, mass-produced ware in the last seven years. |
| First, a couple of ceramics experts, William and Rosemary Dowling, mortgaged their home and plunged their savings into the decaying site at Middleport in Burslem, one of the "five towns" made famous by the author Arnold Bennett. Then, after their revival of sales and recruitment of new staff fell victim to internal fraud, the trust stepped in as the leader of an £8.5m consortium. | First, a couple of ceramics experts, William and Rosemary Dowling, mortgaged their home and plunged their savings into the decaying site at Middleport in Burslem, one of the "five towns" made famous by the author Arnold Bennett. Then, after their revival of sales and recruitment of new staff fell victim to internal fraud, the trust stepped in as the leader of an £8.5m consortium. |
| Some concessions have been made to the 21st-century market, such as the conversion of leech jars into flower vases and ceramic footbaths into breadbins with wooden lids made by an artisan joinery nearby. | Some concessions have been made to the 21st-century market, such as the conversion of leech jars into flower vases and ceramic footbaths into breadbins with wooden lids made by an artisan joinery nearby. |
| But the old Stoke vocabulary of saggers, sledges, mangle towers and biscuit-firing kilns rings out around the redbrick Middleport works, with its bottle-shaped kiln and canal wharf, as loudly as it did in Bennett's day. "Old designs but new customers," said Jemma Baskeyfield, an archivist at Denby, one of the UK's big pottery players, which bought Middleport from the Dowlings in 2010 but could not fund restoration of the buildings, which include a vast but rusty Lancashire boiler and a steam-powered beam engine which ran until 2007. | But the old Stoke vocabulary of saggers, sledges, mangle towers and biscuit-firing kilns rings out around the redbrick Middleport works, with its bottle-shaped kiln and canal wharf, as loudly as it did in Bennett's day. "Old designs but new customers," said Jemma Baskeyfield, an archivist at Denby, one of the UK's big pottery players, which bought Middleport from the Dowlings in 2010 but could not fund restoration of the buildings, which include a vast but rusty Lancashire boiler and a steam-powered beam engine which ran until 2007. |
| "The Victorians loved them when Middleport first started making them – the famous blue-and-white china which turns up in bits when you dig the garden," she said. "They were inspired by the Orient and now things have gone full circle. Designs such as Asiatic Pheasants are hugely popular in Japan and Korea these days." | "The Victorians loved them when Middleport first started making them – the famous blue-and-white china which turns up in bits when you dig the garden," she said. "They were inspired by the Orient and now things have gone full circle. Designs such as Asiatic Pheasants are hugely popular in Japan and Korea these days." |
| As Baskeyfield speaks, a party of Japanese tourists mulls over the current range in the visitor shop, including a "Highgrove hens" selection added to the long-standing lines. The factory's old hand-painted sign, "Strangers not allowed on this works", has been stood on its head. | As Baskeyfield speaks, a party of Japanese tourists mulls over the current range in the visitor shop, including a "Highgrove hens" selection added to the long-standing lines. The factory's old hand-painted sign, "Strangers not allowed on this works", has been stood on its head. |
| The Prince's Regeneration Trust – founded by Prince Charles in 2006 – has pitched in by buying the buildings last year and paying for their restoration and the adding of a visitors' cafe, school party suites and community centre for Burslem.The renovation hopes to spread to nearby terraces of workers' houses, left in limbo by housing regeneration which ran out of funds. | The Prince's Regeneration Trust – founded by Prince Charles in 2006 – has pitched in by buying the buildings last year and paying for their restoration and the adding of a visitors' cafe, school party suites and community centre for Burslem.The renovation hopes to spread to nearby terraces of workers' houses, left in limbo by housing regeneration which ran out of funds. |
| That had the merit of removing the threat of bulldozers, just as the trust's intervention has at the mill, but | That had the merit of removing the threat of bulldozers, just as the trust's intervention has at the mill, but |
| the underlying purpose at Middleport is hard-headed rather than sentimental. Ros Kerslake, the trust's chief executive, said: "This was never just about buildings or heritage machinery, wonderful though those are. It is about what goes on inside them, the skills which make the business flourish. | the underlying purpose at Middleport is hard-headed rather than sentimental. Ros Kerslake, the trust's chief executive, said: "This was never just about buildings or heritage machinery, wonderful though those are. It is about what goes on inside them, the skills which make the business flourish. |
| "They are skills which have been seriously endangered.There have been times in recent years when local people had begun to give up hope of the next generation getting jobs in the potteries at Stoke." Foreign competition, changing production methods and health regulations – which have seen the town's 2,500 picturesque but smoky bottle kilns shrink to only 45 – left the outlook bleak. | "They are skills which have been seriously endangered.There have been times in recent years when local people had begun to give up hope of the next generation getting jobs in the potteries at Stoke." Foreign competition, changing production methods and health regulations – which have seen the town's 2,500 picturesque but smoky bottle kilns shrink to only 45 – left the outlook bleak. |
| But Middleport's sales of Burleigh ware, named after the factory's founding company, Burgess & Leigh, rose 16% last year and extra staff were taken on to cope with diamond jubilee orders – another tradition, going back to Queen Victoria's 60 years in 1897. | But Middleport's sales of Burleigh ware, named after the factory's founding company, Burgess & Leigh, rose 16% last year and extra staff were taken on to cope with diamond jubilee orders – another tradition, going back to Queen Victoria's 60 years in 1897. |
| Among the recruits was apprentice Helen Jones, 18, whose mother, Mandy, is a long-serving member of staff in the pottery workshops. | Among the recruits was apprentice Helen Jones, 18, whose mother, Mandy, is a long-serving member of staff in the pottery workshops. |
| She is delighted to prove the point that new opportunities can still exist in Stoke's former staple industry, though she shares the modesty of colleagues who carry out the five separate, intricate processes to produce 5,000 items a week. Would she fancy a job hand-finishing patterns on Asiatic Pheasants tea services? "Oh no," she said. "That's art." | She is delighted to prove the point that new opportunities can still exist in Stoke's former staple industry, though she shares the modesty of colleagues who carry out the five separate, intricate processes to produce 5,000 items a week. Would she fancy a job hand-finishing patterns on Asiatic Pheasants tea services? "Oh no," she said. "That's art." |
| So it is, and Middleport's former employees include famous names in ceramic design such as Charlotte Rhead and Harold Bennett; but there is no reason why the future roll call should not include Helen Jones. Guided tours of the factory constantly marvel at the skills involved in the underglaze transfer system, done entirely in house and one of the last of its kind in the world. | So it is, and Middleport's former employees include famous names in ceramic design such as Charlotte Rhead and Harold Bennett; but there is no reason why the future roll call should not include Helen Jones. Guided tours of the factory constantly marvel at the skills involved in the underglaze transfer system, done entirely in house and one of the last of its kind in the world. |
| Watching the deft cutting and application of transfers, and the steady hands and paintbrushes of ceramic artists, Naomi Gallimore, who takes round visitors, says: "The commonest comment we get at the end is: 'I'll never look at a plate in the same way again.'" | Watching the deft cutting and application of transfers, and the steady hands and paintbrushes of ceramic artists, Naomi Gallimore, who takes round visitors, says: "The commonest comment we get at the end is: 'I'll never look at a plate in the same way again.'" |
| The restoration has also brought an unexpected bonus in the form of an "Aladdin's Attic" – three cobwebby floors of the factory which form an exceptional proof of the virtues of not throwing anything away. Stacked on the principle that they might be useful one day, Middleport has the largest collection of pottery moulds in the world, 19,000 items accumulated since production started. | The restoration has also brought an unexpected bonus in the form of an "Aladdin's Attic" – three cobwebby floors of the factory which form an exceptional proof of the virtues of not throwing anything away. Stacked on the principle that they might be useful one day, Middleport has the largest collection of pottery moulds in the world, 19,000 items accumulated since production started. |
| Scores of Winston Churchill Toby jug designs, columns of ones for plates and a tottering castle of domed and pinnacled jelly moulds: and like the skills of Stoke's pottery workers, they too are coming back into use. Among the items going back to Japan with the day's batch of tourists were jugs, bowls and teacups re-issued by Middleport from a series of moulds brought back into use. | Scores of Winston Churchill Toby jug designs, columns of ones for plates and a tottering castle of domed and pinnacled jelly moulds: and like the skills of Stoke's pottery workers, they too are coming back into use. Among the items going back to Japan with the day's batch of tourists were jugs, bowls and teacups re-issued by Middleport from a series of moulds brought back into use. |
| More will follow as the huge collection is catalogued, and supplemented by newcomers such as the Highgrove hens. Plus souvenir ware – baby bowls or beakers – for the next expected royal occasion. | More will follow as the huge collection is catalogued, and supplemented by newcomers such as the Highgrove hens. Plus souvenir ware – baby bowls or beakers – for the next expected royal occasion. |
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