I spent a couple of nights in Stoke on Trent before meeting up with Brenda. Stoke itself is a very run-down area with boarded up shops and some dodgy looking people. I found some very good accommodation though in an airbnb mini-apartment which was part of the Spode Pottery Museum. That was fascinating and I learned how they created the blue and white patterns on the crockery. A very fine picture was etched on to a flat metal base. This was then used as the template. It was inked, then very thin paper laid over it and pressed to transfer the ink to the paper. Next stage was to cut around the paper and lay that on the crockery to transfer the picture. After the paper was washed off, the crockery was fired to finish it off. Such a clever process. I had never even thought about how pictures such as the willow pattern got on to the china.
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| decorated basin |
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| inked paper sheet above, finished plate below |
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more beautiful Spode crockery
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Brenda and I met up and headed off on a NON-working holiday for a couple of weeks. First stop was Trentham Gardens near Stoke on Trent. With a hotel on the doorstep, and a cute little shopping village as well as the gardens it was a world in itself.
There were fairies to be found around the gardens. This one was sitting on a roof.
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| This fairy was on a stand that allowed her to swing around with the breeze. |
The lake and much of the garden was designed by Capability Brown. A small ferry boat took us from one end of the lake to the other - approx 20 minute ride. Most of the buildings on the estate fell in to disrepair when the country house was abandoned due to the River Trent being so polluted by the potteries around Stoke.
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| One of these two fairies is called 'Poser' |
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| another fairy, skimming over the lake |
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| The wildflower meadow still had some colour |
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| More flowers in the woodlands |
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fairy relaxing by the lake
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| Yet another area of the gardens, planted with swathes of grasses and bushes |
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| and then there's the formal Italian style gardens |
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| exhausted but very happy after spending 4 days exploring the gardens and surrounding shops and cafes |
The lake and much of the garden was designed by Capability Brown. A small ferry boat took us from one end of the lake to the other - approx 20 minute ride. Most of the buildings on the estate fell in to disrepair when the country house was abandoned due to the River Trent being so polluted by the potteries around Stoke.
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