Has anybody taken the tour of the Spode factory? Was it worthwhile? Any comments or suggestions of any other good tours in the Potteries area would be appreciated - thank you.

I don't know anything about the Potteries, although I have visited some of the seconds shops in Stoke.

I would recommend the Royal Worcester factory in Worcester for a visit though.

what city is it in?..just curious.

Most of the porcelain factories are in and around Stoke-on-Trent in the Midlands.

www.visitstoke.co.uk

www.spode.co.uk

Worcester is around 70 miles further south, but a much nicer and more attractive city. King John is buried in the CathedraL.

www.worcesterporcelainmuseum.org.uk

My wife and I took the factory tour at Wedgwood several years ago and really enjoyed it! I remember having fairly low expectations--I think there was a small museum of historic pieces and an area where an introductory film was shown, but the best part was the walk through the factory.

It was completely self guided and you kept between taped lines on the factory floor. I was impressed with the extent of the accessible areas. The guidelines were to not distract the craftsmen but many stopped us as we walked by and were eager to speak about their jobs, plus there were many well written descriptions and displays explaining the various steps of the process.

We spoke for a long time, for example, to a man who was detailing a West Highland terrier onto a Jasperware mantel clock. He ended up finding out for us who the clocks were for (they were not for sale from Wedgwood directly) and we were able to get one later from that company. At the end of the tour you ended up in a nice shop--no special bargains there, at least as I remember.

I don't know if the other potteries' tours are as well designed, but we really enjoyed Wedgwood!