Solace: Day 4

The Burleigh Pottery at Middleport

It was another early start for us to travel up the canal to the winding hole, then back down to Middleport Pottery. High-quality ceramics have been manufactured here for 160 years and this is the last factory in the world to be using underglaze tissue printing which is an English process over 200 years old. 

In 1851 Burgess & Leigh formed a partnership to take over the factory, now known as Burleigh. The tableware is sold by top retailers around the world. The pottery also makes Denby and Poole pottery. The modern Poole pieces are all hand painted by one lady!

We found this out on a tour of the pottery which took us to see every part of the production process. This was an absolutely fantastic experience, especially as I used to love making pottery at school and at adult evening classes.

Late in the afternoon, we continued our journey down the Stoke locks towards the marina. Again I was at the helm navigating the locks. I'm just amazed at how much I'd learned just by watching and listening to The Late Mate at the helm. OK so folk hire boats with absolutely no experience and get by on holiday, but we part own this boat so I don't want to take it back to the marina battered. Small bumps are par for the course, but I want as few as possible. We know one hire boat owner who blackened the lower part of his boats every fortnight because of rough handling.