VICTORIAN POTTERY - THE BRITISH MIDLANDS / CERÁMICA VICTORIANA - LA TIERRA MEDIA BRITÁNICA.

Hi my dear friends. Are you fond of pottery? Pottery, for me, is a beautiful art, and there are many countries which make typical and traditional pottery;  among them, Spain, with its marvellous Talavera Pottery but I'll tell you another day. Today, we are going to know a bit more about "Victorian Pottery".  I hope you'll like it!


Hola mis queridos amigos. ¿Sois aficionados a la cerámica? La cerámica, para mí,  es un bonito  arte, y hay muchos países que fabrican cerámica típica y tradicional, entre ellos España, con su maravillosa Cerámica de Talavera pero eso os lo contaré  otro día. Hoy vamos a saber un poco más sobre "Cerámica Victoriana".  ¡Espero que os guste! 


Info: from Speak Up magazine.
Photos: ctcsc.org  /  burleigh.co.uk  /  preloved.co.uk  /  pinterest.co.uk  /  amazon.co.uk

VICTORIAN POTTERY  /  THE BRITISH MIDLANDS

Travel back in time to discover Britan's golden era.  A recently restored Victorian factory in the English Midlands gives you that opportunity.



THE EMPIRE

The year is 1888.  Queen Victoria is on the throne and Britain is a super-power with an enormous empire that governs a quarter of the world's population.  There is great prosperity for some British people, thanks to trade and commerce.

THE WORKING CLASSES

But many people work long hours in poor conditions.  In the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire a ceramics company, Burgess & Leigh, built a factory to produce a distinctive blue and white pottery called Burleigh.  The name came from a combination of its two founders -Burgess and Leigh-  and the factory was called the Middleport Pottery.  The pretty blue and white design was inspired by the Orient and it was very popular with the Victorians.



PROGRESS

Middleport was seen as a "model pottery" in its days as it tried to improve conditions for its workers. The area was immortalised in local author Arnold Bennett's 1902 novel "Anna of the Five Towns".



HARD TIMES

In recent years, however, this Victorian Pottery has faced closure. Many of the buildings were in a bad condition.  Foreign competition was strong.  Prince Charles' Trust -The Prince's Regeneration Trust -came to the rescue and gave about 9 million pounds for its restoration.  The factory was modernised while keeping much of its original appearance.  It was reopened by Prince Charles.

FACTORY TOURS

Stoke-on-Trent (the nearest railway station) is 90 minutes from London and it is worth the journey.  Factory tours offer you the opportunity to see the clay being formed, fired and decorated, using the same traditional techniques as when the Pottery first opened in the 19th century.  The tour also includes Middleport Pottery's steam engine, which once powered the whole site.




LOCAL HERO

Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) was from the Potteries area of Stafforshire. He wrote about Burslem, the town where the Middleport Pottery is situated, in his classic book "Anna of the Five Towns".  Burslem is one of the "Five Towns" but Bennett changed the name to "Bursley".

There are really six towns, but Bennett thought that "five" sounded better.  "Clayhanger" and "The Old Wives' Tale" also talk about life in the Potteries. Several of Bennett's books have been made into films.

FINE CHINA FACTS.

**Burleigh china has been used in two TV series: "Downton Abbey and Sherlock.

**The designs are popular these days, especially in Japan and South Korea.

**Middleport Pottery has the largest collection of pottery moulds in Europe.


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VOCABULARY

-FACTORY:  fábrica.
-MIDLANDS: área central de Inglaterra.
-TRADE: comercio.
-POTTERY: cerámica.
-TO FACE CLOSURE:  afrontar el cierre.
-TO BE WORTH:  valer la pena.
-CLAY:  arcilla.
-TO FIRE: cocer.
-STEAM ENGINE:  motor a vapor.
-ONCE:  una vez.
-TO POWER: alimentar.
-WHOLE:  entero.
-SITE: planta.
-CHINA:  porcelana.
-MOULD:  molde.

HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!