A superb kiln-side review of a pilgrimage to Britain’s ceramic capital. ‘I keep coming back to the memory of the 100 Years, 100 Faces celebration. Stoke-on-Trent does pride right; if only we could adopt this on a national scale.’

My latest column focuses on the unveiling of the #100Years100Faces centenary mural and why its most enduring legacy will be how it can inspire the next generation of young place-makers to pick up the baton and shape the next chapter in Stoke-on-Trent’s illustrious place story.

As those who attended the unveiling event heard, the #100Years100Faces mural showcases our unique city as ‘a history of heartbeats knitted together with theatre tickets, penalty shootouts, helping hands, and smiling kilns.’

An accessible, aesthetic work of art, the #100Years100Faces mural is a living to tribute to the inspirational individuals who have left their mark on our world craft city. The publicly nominated people depicted will provide a hundred conversation themes and serve as an enduring #SoT100 legacy.

“The opportunities for cultural exchange and research collaboration will also strengthen Stoke-on-Trent’s position as an international centre for ceramic excellence - supporting the world craft city agenda and Stoke-on-Trent’s ambitions to achieve UNESCO creative city status.”

University of Staffordshire VC, Prof Martin Jones: “It was Thornhill’s wish that the collection be used for educational purposes and partnering with the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery will allows us do that by making it more accessible to both scholars and the public.”

Johnny Vegas: “There’s so much space in ceramics for everything, for exploration, and it’s a skill set that we just cannot afford to key go of. “It’s great to celebrate it but the celebration had to continue once the (British Ceramics Biennial) festival ends.”

City of Fire and Beautiful Bricks’ Exhibition at The Glosthouse, Longton. Stoke-On-Trent. www.theglosthouse.co.uk An ongoing exhibition of Works both new, and never before exhibited. Painting : Drawing : Collage. Poetry : @minxyowlwriter.bsky.social #Stoke100 #SoT100

A celebration of clay, craftsmanship, skill & artistry in a city that has clay deeply embedded in its identity. Clare Wood: “Through British Ceramics Biennial we are maintaining national and international interest in Stoke-on-Trent and its ceramics.”

‘As well as the Biennial which has been running since 2009, the Staffordshire city is celebrating its centenary in 2005. And it is just over a year since Stoke-on-Trent was awarded World Craft City status, which is recognition of its global importance as a centre for pottery production.’

Just Be There, a collaborative artwork crafted by Johnny Vegas, described as ‘an avenue of hugs captured in clay’ to be showcased at the forthcoming British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent.

It’s black over Bill’s mother’s! A Mirror to Nature @newvictheatre.bsky.social

You're a gentleman, Paul - thank you very kindly indeed.. My very first creative incursion into Stoke-On-Trent.

THE POTTERIES BOTTLE OVEN - the 'go-to' resource site for information about the bottle ovens and kilns of the Potteries, Stoke-on-Trent Want to know about bottle ovens and kilns? This is the place! bottleoven.blogspot.com More links in bio

Bottle Oven Day is a chance to share the Magnificent 47 again! @ianrpearsall.bsky.social

Priestley continued: ‘unless you are prepared to take a deep and lasting interest on what happens inside those ovens, it would be better for you to take the first train anywhere’. Bottle ovens featured prominently in our application to become a designated World Craft City.

It’s August 29th. It’s Potteries Bottle Oven Day. And it’s the day to recall how J. B. Priestley on his English journey in 1933 proclaimed: ‘the pottery kilns and ovens ... without these great bottles of heat, there would be no Potteries. They represent the very heart and soul of the district.’

Our small but mighty city’s unique identity, global renown as a centre of ceramics excellence, creative ecosystem, entrepreneurial endeavours, and acclaimed universities’ research impacts means Stoke-on-Trent punches above its soft power weight.

Delighted to hear Claybody Theatre will continue to be based at The Dipping House on the former Spode pottery site. Looking forward to seeing many more place-based productions ‘shaped from the unique cultural heritage and contemporary lives of the people of Stoke-on-Trent & North Staffordshire.’

The Arts Keele Three Counties Open Art Exhibition at Fenton Town Hall has a “real mix” of art on display, from paintings, to photography and a motorbike installation. @amigonidavid.bsky.social

Well done Stoke-on-Trent for wonderful British pottery.

Universities are adding chief marketing officers to their leadership teams, even as budgets shrink. Research shows investing in a CM boosts enrollment by 1.6% on average, but their impact on endowments is less clear. A professor who researches leadership structures explains:

Emma Bridgewater: ‘Stoke-on-Trent is steeped in so much history with regards to the pottery industry and we think that is something worth writing on every single piece of ware we produce.’

Made in Stoke-on-Trent pottery was showcased to a global audience as Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enjoyed a brew from Emma Bridgewater mugs.

Lemmy’s birthplace in Stoke-on-Trent, like Shakespeare’s in Stratford is more than just a geographical marker; Burslem is like a nurturing, healing, rejuvenating, wellspring. We should revere and celebrate this place. It’s not what’s passed, it’s what’s next. Lemmy Forever.

Why Lemmy is to Stoke What Shakespeare is to Stratford-upon-Avon open.substack.com/pub/theknotg...

It’s wonderful to see the statue of the patron of Stoke-on-Trent’s greatness, Josiah Wedgwood, is one again proudly welcoming commuters emerging from the Jacobean-styled railway station.

An omnipresent, edible emblem of the region’s foodscape, I recall an old University of Staffordshire colleague suggesting the oatcake can be considered as a cultural condensation of ‘Potteriesness’. #OatcakeDay

Have oatcakes ever not been great? It’s Friday. It’s August 8th. It’s officially #OatcakeDay - a celebration of the food of the Gods, the epitome of culinary cultural capital. ‘The famous Staffordshire oatcake is nothing less than a food hero - it has achieved iconic status.’

It’s Oatcake Day eve so it’s time once again for a little oatcake-inspired poetry from the acclaimed poet and North Staffordshire Polytechnic alumnus Ian McMillan.

Eerily beautiful and sad in equal measure, the dilapidated ruins ofVarosha inevitably bring up difficult questions about the future of the former crown jewel of Cyprus’s tourism industry. #DarkTourism #Varosha

A poignant day out from Protaras. Crossing the border into Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus to visit Famagusta & the former resort town of Varosha, once considered the jewel of the Mediterranean, which became a derelict, fabled ghost town overnight following the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island.

As a ‘craft beer tourist pilgrimage destination’, the beer festival’s significant place-making role must be championed as a post-centenary legacy event for narrating connections between all the region’s craft beer brewers and their incremental contributions to local economic and tourism development.

Throughout the past four decades efforts to embrace and cultivate a ‘made in Stoke-on-Trent’ sense of place have been prominent in Titanic Brewery’s marketing and product development accentuating local landmarks and symbols, historical events and stories, indigenous people and civic pride.

Emma Bridgewater on why it’s crucial that her products were made in Stoke-on-Trent: “I knew when I first came here I wanted to make one of these factories come alive again … It wouldn’t have happened anywhere else. We have a highly evolved ceramics expertise here.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Having been presented in the House of Commons on March 5 and its second reading initially scheduled for April 25, then July 11, I hope the Ceramics (Country of Origin Marking) Bill will finally pass through the deferred second reading stage on September 12 before proceeding through Parliament.

“Stoke-on-Trent’s reputation as the home of ceramics is something to be proud of, and we’re committed to helping young people connect with that legacy while gaining the skills to thrive in modern creative industries.” #WorldCraftCity

Stoke-on-Trent 6th Form College’s Lesley Morrey: “This T Level represents a significant step forward in our mission to provide high-quality, future-focused education that reflects the identity and needs of our city and beyond.” #WorldCraftCity

Pop yourselves over to ‘The Mother Town’ Burslem #StokeOnTrent to view a collaborative exhibition with @philshallcross.bsky.social - a body of work I call ‘SuperImpositions’ .. an ongoing creative adventure on the wall at www.barewall.co.uk/collections/... #Stoke100 #SoT100

Emma Bridgewater: “I always knew, from my first trip to Stoke, that it would happen. I knew in this city - where people held in their hands the skills and in their heads that traditions - was where my naive idea would become a reality.”

Officially, brew-tifully amazing! Stoke- on- Trent is now a Guinness World Record holder in its centenary year of celebration! www.stoke.gov.uk/news/article...

It’s a brew-tiful day for a Guinness World Record in the spiritual home of British ceramics, a city fuelled by creativity, self-expression, humour and lots of tea served in ‘Made in Stoke-on-Trent’ backstamped cups. #SoT100

Curated by Prof Tiejun Hou, Jingdezhen Ceramic University and Prof Neil Brownsword, University of Staffordshire. Following our recent accolade as World Craft City, this centenary year exhibition marks the beginning of collaborations between two historic centres of ceramic production.

Guinness World Records may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but in the spiritual home of British ceramics, a city fuelled by creativity, self-expression, humour and lots of tea served in ‘Made in Stoke-on-Trent’ backstamped cups, we’re all up for it in our centenary year of celebration!

Commissioned as part of Stoke-on-Trent’s centenary celebrations, Willow Pattern Ceramics and Stories of ‘Other’ explores the enduring legacy of the Willow pattern - one of North Staffordshire’s most iconic and globally recognised ceramic designs. #WorldCraftCity #SoT100

Andy Edwards is a hugely talented sculptor. His meticulous research into the stories behind each of his evocative ‘moments of history’ creations ensures they become places of ritual for people to come together. As a lifelong Lemmy fan, this was particularly special for him. #LemmyForever #Burslemmy

The #LemmyEncore fans gathering will look to bring the crowds back to Burslem’s Market Square in August. #LemmyForever #LemmyPlaza #Burslemmy

Though IS hasn’t been so well received here in S-o-T