mudbug

Planning trip to Great Britain and Ireland in April 2008. We hope to fly to London then use Britrail to go to Bath, St. Ives then back north through Cotswolds, maybe into Wales then on to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Would also like to take ferry to Dublin, Ireland for a couple of days. We hope to plan this trip ourselves rather than use agency as a few years ago when we spent most of time in London and SW England.

Any comments would be appreciated and any information on potteries in these areas as husband is a potter.

janisj

How long do you have for this trip? That is a WHOLE lot of territory unless you are talking about a month or more. And even w/ a month it would be pretty hard to visit 4 countries.

Also - nothing in your post mentions the potteries of your title.

Are you asking - where are potteries in those regions? OR - do want to know how to visit the potteries up around Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire/Derbyshire?

mudbug

Don't laugh--we plan to spend 2-3 weeks. We might stay in England and Ireland and not try Scotland this trip.

Because my husband is an artist and makes pottery, we would like to visit some local potters especially those that may have wood burning kilns to fire the pottery.

janisj

2-3 weeks is not long enough to "do" England. It is long enough to see 2 or 3 parts of England and a few days in London. If you focus a bit you could manage a few days in London, a few days in 1 area of England and a week in Ireland. But you would be cutting all three very short.

Plus - touring Ireland by train really isn't all that feasible. Buses maybe - but you can't just dash around Ireland on trains.

Or - if you really only mean Dublin - then fly over for a couple of days and don't mess around w/ ferries. You could do a week in London, a few days in the west country around Bath/Wells/Glastonbury/Bristol and then fly to Dublin from Bristol.

If you don't yet have your flights booked - do an open jaw into London and home from Dublin to avoid having to back track.

But first - you need to look at a map pinpoint more which part(s) of England you want to visit.

And sorry - I totally missed the last paragraph of the OP where you DID ask about potteries. There are potters/craft studios in ALL parts of each country. That won't be a problem.

bilboburgler

If he is looking for raku say he will need to be more diligent as that is not very common

sprin2

Mudbug, We're pottery enthusiasts ourselves and I'd suggest doing some google research to pinpoint potters whose style is similar or appealing. These two sites have good links.

http://www.studiopottery.co.uk/

http://www.ukpotters.co.uk/

Contact those you like and I'm sure they'll be very accommodating. We've found that potters love to talk and show off their studio and craft.

According to this website, http://www.theleachpotterystives.co.uk/
the pottery of one of St Ives most famous potters, Bernard Leach will be completed with its restoration in March 2008. It was in the beginning stages of the restoration and closed when we were there in 2006.

Bailey

Sprin2
Thanks for the terrific links!

Years ago we visited a wonderful gallery at a Mill near Dartmoor....I had never been able to find any info....and lost track of location....thanks to you I just found it!!

NanBug

St. Ives in Cornwall is a lovely seaside town with a very active art pottery scene.

Bernard Leach had a studio there, which is being restored, and there are lots of potter's studios that are open to the public.

A few excellent ceramic galleries in town, as well.