Last week, I was sent a screenshot of a facebook post showing that, at long last, Weatherby was in fact under demolition. It felt like a heavy loss upon reflecting it... a building that has been embedded in the very heart of exploring in Stoke on Trent, the building that refused to die. Towards the end of it's life, the "Stoke A Team" group chat would often remark just how the thing was still standing, defying both modern planning and safety rules and regs as well as Gravity itself!
It is very hard to convey or comprehend just how amazing the place was the first time I ever saw it, so much so that when I went to the Gladstone pottery museum a few years later, I was amazed how similar Weatherby's internals were to a space set up to convey what a Victorian pottery was like! It was one of those places that had barely modernized, never thrown anything away, and in some cases, had virtually never given anything a lick of paint since George V's coronation. You could climb up and look on a shelf above a door and there would be a letter from 1924 under the dust, literally every corner had some kind of object from another time.
One of the Stoke lads suggested I put a post together, and to honour the building that has brought us so much pleasure over the years, I thought I would....
Some history from thepotteries site: J H Weatherby & Sons (Ltd)
It is very hard to convey or comprehend just how amazing the place was the first time I ever saw it, so much so that when I went to the Gladstone pottery museum a few years later, I was amazed how similar Weatherby's internals were to a space set up to convey what a Victorian pottery was like! It was one of those places that had barely modernized, never thrown anything away, and in some cases, had virtually never given anything a lick of paint since George V's coronation. You could climb up and look on a shelf above a door and there would be a letter from 1924 under the dust, literally every corner had some kind of object from another time.
One of the Stoke lads suggested I put a post together, and to honour the building that has brought us so much pleasure over the years, I thought I would....
Some history from thepotteries site: J H Weatherby & Sons (Ltd)
- In 1882 John Henry Weatherby was a junior partner in the earthenware company of Whittaker, Edge & Co. at the Hall Fields pottery which was newly built in Hanley.
- In 1891 John Henry Weatherby left the Whittaker partnership and for a year operated on his own account from part of the Pinnox Works in the nearby town of Tunstall.
- Between August 1891 and April 1892 Weatherby registered four pattern designs while they were at the Pinnox Works in Tunstall.
- Early 1892 Weatherby transferred his business was to the existing Falcon Works in the High Street, Hanley - this works was adjacent to the Hall Fields pottery where he had previously been a partner.
- The first pattern design registered at the Falcon Pottery was in November 1892.
- In 1892 the works had 4 kilns and one in the process of being built, by 1900 there were 8 kilns and in 1906 a large entrance range was built to the works with 3 stories and 23 bays. From 1925 to 1961 there were 5 bottle kilns, these were replace by electric kilns following the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968. One of the coal fired kilns was retained, having being last fired in 1965, and in 1989 this became a listed building. By 2012 the outside brickwork of this remaining kiln had collapsed.
- The works remained operational during the Second World War under the Domestic Pottery (Manufacture and Supply) Order. In 1947 John H Weatherby was the Managing Director and J. S. Weatherby the Sales Manager.
- Weatherby first made domestic ware such as basins and ewers, later moving into tableware and giftware.
- In the 1950s a number of pottery companies began to make a range of animals hoping that people would go on to collect several in a set. Weatherby produced a series of sturdy comical animals which they called Zookies. An advertising leaflet from 1957 read "People who buy one, buy another and another and buy them for their friends too!". Weatherby made Zookies into the 1960s, but by 1970 production had ceased.
- They also produced such items as 'Chuckleheads' (cups and saucers shaped like animals), 'Beasties' (dinosaurs), commemorative items, dwarf figurines and tableware (including a range of small trays) often decorated with 1960s favourite images such as gonks and daleks.
- In 1960 John S. Weatherby and John L. Weatherby were listed as Joint Managing Directors and J. S. Weatherby as the Sales Manager.
- The company also entered the market for hotel ware – which eventually contributed ultimately to its downfall from tough competition from home and abroad.
- Weatherby were prolific manufacturers producing 1000s of patterns ranging from white ironstone, collectables and dinner ware through to souvenir ware and Fortnum & Mason pudding bowls.
- From 1975 to 2000 Weatherby also produced ware for the American importers JONROTH. The pieces are mostly not marked Weatherby, but carry the JONROTH mark alone. JONROTH took the last order produced by J. H. Weatherby & Sons in April 2000
- In April 2000 the company chairman, Christopher Weatherby, the great-great grandson of company founder John Henry Weatherby, announced the winding up of the company. At its height the company employed 200, but the figure was down to 50 in 1999 and stood at 10 at the time of closure.
- After the closure of J.H.Weatherby in 2000 Jonathan Weatherby took over producing for JONROTH, working with a very limited staff at the Falcon Pottery - operating as a decorator under the name of Jonathan Weatherby at Falcon Pottery.
My story with the building begins in 2006. I hadn't done much industrial exploring at that point, we were still tear arsing round the asylum list. I had however had an eye on Cliff Vale pottery, and one sunny summer's day, after mooching in Cliff Vale for a couple of hours, I went for a poke about. Now you couldn't really miss Weatherby, it stood proudly on a hill overlooking the ring road. The first time I went to look at it, it appeared almost as if it may be in use in some capacity, but you could peer into the cellar windows and see stacks of plates and other goodies, so I made it one of those stop offs we all have when in the area.
One afternoon, I had a drive up to it, to find it had an "AIR SPACE" signage over the door, the gates were open and there was some kind of exhibition going on. I parked up and galloped over to the door. "Admission's free, come in" a dreadlocked crusty fello in some kind of hemp poncho welcomed me into the exhibition. I don't know art... but I do know what I don't care for....
But I politely wandered around the "art", and then made my way into the courtyard, where nobody seemed to be paying much attention to what seemed to be their only critic. In the end I thought "sod it", made for a door, it was open, and I was in.
What I found in the sprawling rooms was nothing short of incredible.......
I made my way to the top floor, and found virtually the whole level was lined with shelves which were packed with un-glazed pottery. Cups, bowls, plates, ornaments, vases... you name it, it was in there somewhere.
We now of course understand this is the biscuit warehouse - when you place an order for 10 cups, 10 bowls etc, they are picked from the already fired stock and glazed to suit the requirements.
Fearing I may not have much time before I was booted out by crustys, I carried on to the level below.
The mould maker's shop was just as incredible. Unchanged since the place had been built, and packed full of moulds and materials.
Ware boards, lined with master patterns for every shape and size of cup bowl and plate one could imagine.
Remember when there were Evertaut chairs just lying about!?
I made for the kiln before I left, but that was still boarded up at that point. At this point the arty types were packing up so I waved goodbye and left....
Well after the exhibition wrapped up, I think the place was then just left for dead. No security or anyone keeping an eye on it, and it wasn't very long after (2007?) that all the roofing slates vanished, and that essentially sealed the fate of the building. By the time I re-visited in 2008, it was a very different place indeed....
The missing roof was slowly but surely destroying the place. A lot of pottery had been smashed by the kids - but how many plates and cups can you really smash before you get bored of it?!
There had been no ceremony in stripping the roof, whole sections were missing in places.
Despite this, there were still areas that remained untouched since production had stopped.
And to my delight, the bottle oven was open!!!
Now at this point I noticed a hole in the hovel of the bottle oven, with cracks radiating off it. I made a point the following week of calling Stoke council to inform them of this worrying hole, and also making the point that a listed building is sat with no roof covering, which is against the law. I followed this up with an email, and despite chasing it up for a while I never did get any sort of acknowledgement that they would follow it up... This proved to show how little care the official bodies that are supposed to protect listed buildings really have
