#weeping window

“The horse is less to the Arab than clay is to the Bursley man. He exists in it and by it; it fills his lungs and blanches his cheek; it keeps him alive and it kills him” Arnold Bennett.

At Middleport Pottery, believed to be the inspiration for Providence Works in Anna of the Five Towns and a frequent destination of mine; (1) January 2016, (2-5,8) November 2015, and the rest last Sunday.

This is a venerable site, Burgess & Leigh being founded in 1862 and the present site (also called Burleigh as a composite of its founders’ names) dating back to 1888. It sits on that artery of local industry, the Trent and Mersey Canal which is even older, the first sod having been cut by the great Josiah Wedgwood in 1766 and the completion in 1777.

It almost fell into desuetude but was rescued by Prince Charles, who in 2011 invested with his Prince’s Regeneration Trust, now part of the Prince’s Foundation, (he does a lot of underappreciated good work, most notably in Liverpool) and Middleport has thrived ever since as a working pottery, cultural site, tour venue, shop and more.

As you can see, the famous Weeping Window is here, brainchild of Paul Cummins  and Tom Piper, to commemorate the centenary of World War 1; it will only be here for another ten days, so I exhort everyone to go as soon as possible, though if you can’t make that the excellent tours are ongoing.

The artists have done a great job- compare (8) from November 2015 with the recent pictures- and this will hopefully put Middleport on the map (it was rammed, but far better than being underappreciated!) and encourage people to go on the tours and buy the terrific wares, of which my favourite is the Asiatic Pheasant.