Lincoln Cathedral

The towers of Lincoln Cathedral and the old town wall show the wonderful antiquity of Lincoln.  The Cathedral dates from the twelfth century, the wall is from even earlier times.  The flying buttresses are supporting the ten sided Chapter House which houses some marvelous stone carvings.

More Robin Welsh Work.

Another candle holder by Robin Welsh in the Lincoln Cathedral and very tall bottle of his in David Binch's collection.  It was good to see that modern ceramics are being used in ancient buildings and collected in the UK.

Candle Holders

Visiting the Lincoln Cathedral in the UK was one of many highlights of my trip to England in March.  These magnificent candle holders in the cathedral were made by potter Robin Welsh.

Michael Cardew

I have been reading Michael Cardew's biography, "The Last Sane Man" by Tanya Harrod which reminded me of his visit to Hawke's Bay and short stay with us in 1968.  He introduced us to using iron slip and is seen here decorating one of his jugs in our workshop.  He demonstrated in Napier and the pots he made there were finished and later glazed and fired at our pottery.  Most of the pots went to the H.B. Museum and Art Gallery but Michael said we could keep this jug for doing the glazing and firing.

Some Corrections

This picture is of some more of Tony Hill,s collection of pottery.  I have been in touch with Tony and asked him to identify the pieces shown last time on my blog.  The slip decorated plate is by Douglas Fitch who has a very good web site at douglasfitch.co.uk.  The little houses are a student piece but he cannot remember who it was.  The miniature casserole and cups and saucers on the previous blog were made by Seth Cardew, not Michael.

More from Tony's Collection

I wish I knew more about these two pieces.  The housing construction was an incredible structure made of clay and the slip decorated plate was also wonderful even though the background was very unfortunate.  I do not know who made either piece but will try and find out and post it later.

Michael Cardew Pots

These pots were in Tony Hill's collection that I saw while in the UK.  The platter was typical of Michael's work but I had never seen any of Michael's miniatures before.  They were exquisitely made and decorated.

Kilns and Pots

The Brookhouse Pottery of David and Margaret Frith had several wood fired kilns two of which are shown here.  David had also built a very large gas kiln to fire large platters.  The lidded jar is one of David's in David Binch's collection.

More from Brookhouse Pottery

More from David and Margaret Frith's Brookhouse Pottery showing some of the workrooms and display rooms David has built.  Inside their workshop I am watching David finish some work.  Two large gas kilns are in the background.

Our Visit to Wales

The main reason for our visit to Wales was to visit David and Margaret Frith at Brookhouse Pottery. Their house and workshop were wonderful old stone buildings complimented by new display rooms and kiln sheds built by David.  Both Margaret's and David's pots were top quality and it was a pleasure to be in their company for a couple of days.