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The
Staffordshire Potteries
Day Trips in the Northwest of England
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The
Potteries - Six Towns
The famous
six towns of Stoke-on-Trent, immortalised by the writer Arnold
Bennett (though he created a fictitious five towns), have a
tradition of fine pottery-making going back over 300 years.
These six towns - Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and
Longton - span an area running north to south for about 10 miles
following the River Trent and the Trent & Mersey Canal, and
all now fall within the City of Stoke-on-Trent - these are the
Staffordshire Potteries.
The
Potteries are an easy day trip out from Manchester. By car or
by train from Piccadilly
Station, they are about an hour's travelling time.
Easily accessible from the M6 motorway, or by the main A34 trunk
road which runs directly into the centre of Stoke.
Fine
decorated pottery wares have been made here by companies whose
names are now synonymous with history and quality - Wedgwood,
Minton, Spode, Royal Doulton and Copeland among them.
Book
a Hotel in the Staffordshire Potteries
It
is not coincidental that the Potteries came to be in north Staffordshire,
for the surrounding towns had ample supplies of coal, clay and
water on their doorstep. By the 1680s the area had emerged as
the main pottery centre in Britain. By 1760, Josiah Wedgwood had
already become a master potter to Queen Charlotte, (wife of King
George III), and later set up his first pottery factory at Middleport
and later at Etruria. The Etruria "Bone & Flint"
factory has recently undergone extensive restoration, financed
by the Heritage fund, and was re-opened to the public in 2002.
James
Brindley & the Trent & Mersey Canal
Canals
arrived in the late 1770s creating a lifeline to the Mersey in
the Northwest and the River Trent and the Humber estuary in the
east, so that raw materials and finished goods could be transported
quickly and cheaply to all parts of Britain, and thence on to
the world. James Brindley's
Trent & Mersey Canal runs directly through the potteries,
and on its course lie most of the main factories; built in 1777,
it is one of the oldest in Britain.
The
bottle-shaped brick kiln ovens sprang up all over the region,
and many still survive, giving the Potteries their distinctive
character. A walk along the towpath of the Trent
& Mersey Canal
from Longport Marina ( just off the B5051 road and immediately
accessible from Junction 16 on the M6 Motorway ) to the top of
Stoke Locks at Etruria Junction (a short walk from the A53 Etruria
Road or accessed by car from Lower Bedford Street) is a virtual
walk through the history of industrial Staffordshire.
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Bottle Kilns
in Burslem
The original Middleport Pottery alongside the Trent & Mersey
Canal
Bottle Kilns below Stoke Lock No.3 on the Trent & Mersey Canal
The James Brindley Monument at Etruria Junction
The old Wedgwood Bone & Flint Mill at Etruria
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Tourist
Information in Stoke
All
in all, there is plenty to see during a day trip. Visit the
Stoke Tourist Information Centre to pick up town maps and tourist
guides, or get them from any of the following museums and galleries.
NOTE:
The towns have about 30 Factory Shops all selling their own
distinctive brands of pottery and ceramics. These include Argyle
China, Aynsley China, Bridgewater Factory Shop, Churchill China,
Cobridge Stoneware, Compton & Woodhouse, Hartley Greens
& Co, Moorcroft, Moorland Pottery, Portmeirion Potteries,
Royal Doulton, Royal Stratford, Royal Winton, Staffordshire
Tableware, Tams and Wedgwood-Waterford Factory Shops.
Also enquire about Factory Shops at the Tourist Information
Centre.
Stoke-on-Trent
Information Centre
Quadrant Road, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 1RZ.
Tel: 01782-236000. Fax: 01782-236005
Email: stoke.tic@virgin.net. Website: www.stoke.gov.uk/tourism
Group
Travel Guide
For those intending to organise party trips to the Potteries,
telephone for the free Group Travel Guide on: Tel: 01782-232701.
Buses Around
the Potteries
The local bus company, First Bus PMT, organises special buses
and bus routes at certain times to help visitors around the
potteries. For information, please contact: Tel: 01782-207999.
Taxis
A taxi stand is available from outside the Railway Station
Qualified Official Guides
Qualified Visitor Guides are available for pre-booked and
escorted tour. Contact Stoke-on-Trent Tourist Information
Centre (above) for details.
Map
of Stoke-on-Trent Region
To see a
large scale road map of the Potteries click HERE.
This is a very large format and may take a while to load fully
- please be patient.
Places of
Interest and Things to Do in the Potteries
Royal
Doulton
Nile Street, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 2AJ. Tel: 01782-292434
Email: visitor@royal-doulton.com. Website: www.royal-doulton.com
Visitor Centre open Mon-Sat from 9.30am-5.00pm, and Sundays from
10.30am-4.30pm. Factory Shop and Factory Tours available - prior
booking essential. Set in the original Victorian building,
world's largest collection of pottery figures. Also theatre, museum,
restaurant.
The
World of Spode
Church Street, Stoke-on-Trent ST4
1BX. Tel: 01782-744011
Email: visitorcentre@spode.co.uk. Website: www.spode.co.uk
Visitor Centre & Shops open Mon-Sat from 9.00am-5.00pm, Sundays
from 10.00am-4.00pm. Please ring for Bank Holiday opening times.
Audio-visual presentations, museum, conference facilities, guided
tours, hands-on workshops, gift shop and licenced restaurant onsite.
The
Wedgwood Story
Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent. Tel: 01782-204218. Fax: 01782-374083.
Website: www.wedgwood.com
Large Factory/Museum/Tours about 4 miles south of Stoke centre
at Barlaston. Open Mon-Fri from 9.00am-5.00pm, Saturday and Sunday
from 10.00am-5.00pm. Visitor Centre includes factory tour, exhibitions,
shop, licenced 200 seater restaurant and smaller bistro.
The
Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Bethesda Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 3DE. Tel: 01782-232323.
Email: museums@stoke.gov.uk
Website: www.stoke.gov.uk/museums
Open from around 10.00am-4.00pm in winter and until 5.00pm in
summertime, afternoons on Sundays. Please phone for precise opening
details.
Displays of Staffordshire ceramics (naturally). Interactive displays,
crafts shop, souvenirs, books, etc.
Gladstone
Pottery Museum
Uttoxeter Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 1PQ
Tel: 01782-319232. Fax: 01782-598640.
Email: gladstone@stoke.gov.uk.Website: www.stoke.gov.uk/gladstone
Open Wed-Sun from 10.00am-4.00pm, except Christmas and New Year.
Pottery throwing and decoration demonstrations. Exclusive Chintz
Tearoom.
Etruria
Industrial Museum
Lower Bedford Street, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 7AF.
Tel: 01782-233144. Fax: 01782-233145.
Email: museums@stoke0001.stoke-ccgov.uk.
Website: www.stoke.gov.uk/museums.
Open Wed-Sun from 10.00am-4.00pm. Recently closed for extensive
refurbishment, due to reopen late autumn 2001.
Britain's only surviving steam powered potter's mill with 1820s
beam engine, located in the old Bone and Flint Mill below Stoke
Lock No.2.
Visitor Centre with changing exhibitions. Blacksmith's forge and
canal-side setting. Mill in steam from April to December. Designated
an outstanding Museum.
See also:
Street Map of Etruria and environs.
The
Dudson Museum
The Dudson Centre, Hope Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 5DD
Tel: 01782-821075.
Open Mon-Fri from 10.00am-3.00pm. Exhibition of 200 year old family
tableware pottery. Visit the bottle kiln, and see exhibits of
Dudson pottery including figurines, jasperware, stoneware and
hotelware. Café and shop on site.
Potteries
Antique Centre
271 Waterloo Road, Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 3HR.
Tel: 01782-201455. Fax: 01782-201518.
Email: info@potteriesantiquecentre.com.
Website: www.potteriesantiquecente.com.
Open Mon-Sat from 9.00am-5.30pm and on Sundays from 10.00am-4.30pm.
A good place to buy pottery antiques - large selection of local
pottery including Doulton, Wade and Wedgwood, etc. Also antique
furniture, jewellery and other collector's items. Specialise in
local manufacturers.
Ceramics
Search
(Top of Hill Antiques) Bursley
Pottery, 12-14 Nile Street, Burslem,
Stoke-on-Trent ST6 2AF. Tel: 01782-834506.
Email: ceramic.search@mcmail.com. Website: www.ceramicsearch.co.uk.
A search service for out-of-production collectibles (Wedgwood,
Doulton, Beswick, Moorcroft, Wade, Coalport, etc. Also collectibles
on sale including furniture and antiques in 12 Georgian showrooms.
Feel free to browse.
See
Also:
The Great
British Antiques Web
Website: http://www.gbaw.co.uk
Email: enquiries@gbaw.co.uk
Contact details: PO Box 64, Kingswood, Bristol BS30 9ZT.
Telephone: 0117-904 9994.
Extensive information of the British antiques market including.......
Dealers, Fairs, Centres and Shippers together with a Free Message
Board, Trade News and even a selection of Hotels and B&B's
in some of the best antiques areas of the country.
Search
for Doulton
Website: http://www.search4doulton.com
Email: enquiries@search4doulton.com
Contact details: PO Box 64, Kingswood, Bristol BS30 9ZT.
Telephone: 0117-904 9994.
Exclusively for worldwide collectors of discontinued Royal Doulton,
Beswick and Royal Crown Derby. Trade & Private Sales of Discontinued
Pieces, Order New Online, Message Board, Fairs & Events, Reference
Books, Specialist Worldwide Dealers
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