Newsletter of the Friends of Gladstone Pottery Museum Uttoxeter Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs ST3 1PQ Telephone (0782) 319232

March 1993 In this issue :Director's report John Gould Carol Concert 1992 Diary Wants column Memorial Friends' membership edited by Phil Rowley

Friends of Gladstone Newsletter

Director's report I write this ensconced in my new office on the first floor of the White House (and feeling far from presidential !). After eight months of turmoil when volunteers and staff had to endure conditions of squalor not unlike those of a 19th century potbank, we seem almost back to normal. T he view fr o m my wind o w is o nly fractionally different from what it was before, and not one bit more inspiring ! But amongst the improvements is a new rest-room at the rear of the White House, where our guides can relax as they wait for parties to arrive. A great deal has been achieved, though not always visible to the untutored eye. The shell of the building is now secure, the roofs are watertight and the fire-escape no longer threatens to pull the main building awry. Facilities for visitors are already improved with new ramps and the lift to help the disabled and new toilets. It was never going to be an easy job to modify the building with the minimum of intrusion. Compromises have had to be made, but I hope that Friends, who in many cases have known the building fo r a lo ng t ime, will feel t hey are acceptable. Although the basic structural works are now complete, the programme is far from at an end . T he o ld fact o r y t o ilet blo ck is t o be converted to a store for heavy items of machinery and the entire visitor circuit is to be reinterpreted. The planning of these improvements is well under way : once again we are going to have a strenuous and interesting summer. The next phase of works will include some internal fitting out, for example to the shop and the reception area, but the funds for our new tea-shop/kitchen and exhibition/conference centre are not at present forthcoming. We are therefore d o ing o u r best t o mak e t he o ld facilit ies serviceable for the time being. Many friends will have noticed the large blue sign now erected outside the museum with it s t welve t winkling st ars. This reco rds o ur support from the European Commission : every po und t he Cit y Co uncil o r o t hers put in is

ma t c h e d b y a p o u n d fr o m t h e E u r o p e a n Co mmunit y. Tho ugh we have been slo w t o master the complexities of ‘Euro-babble’ and the ecu, this helping hand from Brussels has been crucial to our rescue. Perhaps it is a good moment to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of the project to date and for their forbearance in co nd it io ns o f so met imes near chao s. I am particularly grateful to the volunteers who soldiered o n in t he murky and so met imes arct ic atmosphere of the temporary reception in the Red House and the shop in its temporary Portakabin.

John Gould, Bev Hamnet and Chris Bloor It is with personal sadness that I have to report a further cutting back of our production unit. After long and detailed consideration of the options, the Trust was unable to do otherwise than in effect close down what we knew as the ‘factory’. We have kept three demonstrators Frances Hall, Betty Parkin and Maralyn Guy and Kevin Millward continues to provide demonstrations for us too. As far as the visitor is concerned, they will see the same techniques demonstrated and we shall still be making and decorating items for our shop and some outside commissions, but we ar e no lo ng er t r ying t o o p er at e o n a fu lly commercial basis. John Gould has been with the museum since it started and until 1990 combined the roles of maintenance as well as factory manager. He was very well-liked by everyone who came in co nt act wit h him and br o u g ht a wealt h o f technical knowledge to the museum. Bev and Chris had served the museum for several years in t he d eco r at ing sho p as hand - p aint er s and lithographers. They had very different personalities but were both always good-humoured and appreciated by our visitors. We wish all three well in the future - we shall miss them.

Gladstone Pottery Museum Trust In the short period of its existence the Trust has seen co nsiderable changes in it s membership. The following is an up-to-date membership list :-

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Friends of Gladstone Newsletter

Ron Southern (Chairman)

Carol Concert 1992

Andrew Dobraszczyc (Vice-chairman) Councillor Marian Beckett C o u nc illo r C hr is H a t ha w a y ( ne w member)

We were extremely lucky with 1992's Carol Concert which took place on Friday 4th December. Readers may remember that for about the previous 10 days the weather was almost constant torrential rain and high winds. In Wales there were serious floods, though none locally.

Councillor Jack Dimmock Councillor Alan Edwards (new member) Councillor Scanlon (new member)

As the week of the concert wore on, I became more and more convinced that it would be impossible to hold the concert in the pot-bank yard as usual. More seriously, because of the building work, it would not have been possible to use the tea-shop instead. I became resigned to the concert being a disaster - especially after heavy sleet on the Friday morning.

Councillor Edward Smith (new member) Mr. Graham Thorley (new member) Ms. Liz Shields (new member) Mr. Paul Niblett (new member) Mr. Phil Rowley (new member, representing the Friends of Gladstone) Mr. Robert Copeland The Hon. Hugh Gibson Mrs. Joan Levitt Flavia Swann Dr. Derek Tatton Cameron Hawke-Smith

As the day wore on, however, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. By the time the concert started it was dry, clear and frosty, the braziers were burning well to keep everyone from freezing and we had a most enjoyable and successful co ncert wit h almo st 250 peo ple attending. As always, our thanks go the all those w h o h e lp e d t o p r e p a r e fo r t h e e v e n t a n d particularly to the Salvation Army band. Thanks to them a good night was had by all.

John Gould I am sure thhat we are all sorry to see the production activities of Gladstone scaled down : however, having attended meeting of the Gladstone Trust over the last few months, I can assure you that all possible alternatives were carefully considered before the final decision was taken. At the first meeting of the Friends of Gladstone committee after the announcement, it was unanimously agreed to award John Gould life membership of the Friends for his dedication to the Museum over the whole of its life. We join with Cameron in passing on our best wishes to John, as well as to Bev Hamnet and Chris Bloor.

Diary Unfortunately, there was not sufficient support for the trip to the pantomime in January and it had to be cancelled. The Open Weekend which took place on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th March certainly

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seems to have been a success - sales in the tunnel were very brisk and the tea-shop was packed. Everyone I spoke to said how much they had enjoyed their visit. Even though entry was free, I am sure that a considerable amount of good publicity for the Museum was generated and many of those who only came for an hour may well pay a return visit for a closer look.

Memorial This memorial to the former owner of an earthenware shop can be found in a church in Chester :-

No w lo o king t o wards t he fut ure, t he Friends' committee are delighted to announce that a film-night called "A Glimpse of the Past" will take place on the evening of Wednesday 19th May at 7.30 pm. The well-known local personality Ray Johnson has kindly offered to show one of his fims and another of old Longton belonging to the Museum. It is planned to have hot drinks and oat-cakes during the interval. Normal admission charges will be £1 for adults and 50p for children and OAPs : however, Friends of the Museum will only be changed half price - please remember to bring your membership card. Furt her info rmat io n will be available fro m t he Museum nearer the date.

Beneath this stone lies Catherine Gray, Changed to a lifeless lump of clay. By earth and clay she got her pelf, And now she's turned to earth herself. Ye weeping friends let me advise, Abate your tears and dry your eyes; For what avails a flood of tears ?

As a fund-raising venture, it is planned to hold a car-boot sale on the Museum car-park on the evening of Wednesday 26th May. The start time will probably be 7 or 7.30 pm, but this still has to be finalised. Please look out for news in the local press or ring for further details.

Who knows but in a course of years, In some tall pitcher or brown pan, She in her shop may be again ?

A reminder to Friends who call into the Museum : the tea-shop is now open every day for t he su mmer seaso n. Do r een is o nce ag ain offering good home cooking and delicious cakes, with her helpers Shiela, Susan and Ivy.

Friends' Membership Now that the building work is complete, we can begin to make efforts to increase the membership of the Friends.

Wants column

I asked Angela if she had anything special she wo uld like t o see included in t he want s column for this issue and she came up with a very unusual request. Does anyone have any bottle-oven firemouth doors ? A few on the Gladstone ovens were replaced with modern constructions and I agree with Angela that the original design would look much better. Any offers ???

We should shortly have a notice-board in the new reception area where the newsletter and no t ices regarding fut ure event s et c will be displayed. I have almost finished producing a Friends information leaflet and a membership form which will soon be available in reception. In the mean-time, could I please suggest that existing Friends encourage anyone who is interested in the Museum to join.

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