Stoke-on-Trent and The Potteries aims to be one of the jewels in the crown during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
Dubbed the world capital of ceramics, and the spiritual home of the UK’s pottery industry, it is a leading destination when it comes at looking for distinctive ways to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime event.
And if proof were needed, The Potteries proved the crowning glory for the Queen herself when Stoke-on-Trent company Halcyon Days was invited to Windsor Castle recently for a 70th-anniversary viewing of some of its hand-crafted pieces.
One of the world’s leading producers of English fine bone china, Halcyon Days was founded in 1950, two years before the Queen’s coronation, and has three royal warrants.
The company was due to host the Queen at its Stoke-on-Trent factory in 2020, but that trip was cancelled because of the pandemic, so the company came to her, delighting Her Majesty with a collection of hand-decorated teapots and enamelled trinket boxes.
The Queen was shown the firm’s first ever “year box” – from the Silver Jubilee of 1977 – and viewed piecesfrom Halcyon Days’ new Platinum Jubilee pieces, which are dark blue and painted with platinum flowers of the realm, now available to buy to mark the Monarch’s major milestone.
She was also treated to a demonstration of traditional enamelling and gilding by hand as part of the event held in White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle.
For those keen to commemorate the Queen’s special anniversary, Stoke-on-Trent and The Potteries has plenty more for royal collectors.
Thanks to the success of TV show The Great Pottery Throw Down, its world-famous brands and heritage attractions have never been more popular, and now two of the area’s leading names have created ceramic tributes for the Platinum Jubilee.
Emma Bridgwater offers a commemorative range of her distinctive designs and has also teamed up with The Queen’s Green Canopy campaign to raise funds for up to 70 new woods being planted as part of the initiative to mark the Jubilee. (www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/pages/jubilee).
Moorcroft – which this year also marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of its founding father, William Moorcroft – has released a special Jubilee Collection featuring Treetops and Kenya designs, inspired by the destination where Princess Elizabeth was staying when she became Queen (www.moorcroft.com/c1/c2/platinum).
The area as a whole offers anyone potty about pottery a chance to not only buy, but get behind the scenes tours of some of the nation’s most famous ceramics brands – and even have a go at throwing, or decorating, a pot.
Nudging its way to the top of the list of must-see “potbanks” in The Potteries for 2022, however, is marvellous Moorcroft in its own anniversary year.
Said to be the finest art pottery in the world, with every piece of ware – to this day – still being made entirely by hand in Burslem, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent.
A visit to this historic factory in the so-called “Mother Town of The Potteries” offers everyone the chance to see for themselves 100-plus years of designs, using the same techniques first tried out by William Moorcroft more than a century ago.
And visitors can also step inside one of the landmark buildings of The Potteries – the historic grade II listed bottle-oven, which also houses the factory shop – and go behind-the-scenes on a factory tour.
The on-site Museum, meanwhile, houses fascinating pieces of Moorcroft in their original and famous Liberty Cabinets, and allows visitors to view the history of ceramic art through the ages – from Art Nouveau, and Art Deco, to the designs of today. To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the birth of founder William Moorcroft, Moorcroft has created a page of designs inspired by The Potteries, including the William 150 Collection.
Wedgwood and Emma Bridgewater are just some of the other famous names where visitors can see how commemoratives are created – in a city where it’s also possible to buy souvenirs and collectables in around 20 factory shops including Portmeirion, Churchill and Aynsley.
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery is another venue on the unofficial “Royal Route Around The Potteries”, along with award-winning Trentham Estate which earns its place on the list thanks to the fact that in 1152 King Henry II reclaimed Trentham Manor for the Crown and created a Royal Deer Park (which can still be seen to this day).
Other anniversaries being marked in The Potteries during 2022 include the 50th anniversary of the death of Clarice Cliff, the 120th birthday of Susie Cooper, and the 75th anniversary of the death of Charlotte Rhead.
For all tourist information relating to Stoke-on-Trent and The Potteries, visit www.visitstoke.co.uk
Photo, above: Emma Bridgwater Platinum Jubilee collection
