Burleigh Factory Tour Autumn 2019
When I hold a Burleigh dinner plate, something strange happens to me…
The smooth glazed clay perfectly weighted in my hand, the sensual curve of the dip in the well, this sensation transports me to another time and place. It is as if I can feel the hands of those who have taken the care to craft this single dinner plate. I feel the emotion. The vision. The artistry. I feel the human touch. The precision of those who know by feel and sense-almost instinct- when something is right and ready.
Much like I have learned the art of cooking from my mother and aunts. The kitchen is not only a place for time and precision in my opinion, but a place of sensuality. The aromas, the feel, the colors, the warmth, the look. The kitchen is my artist palate. It is where I create, I soothe, I delight, I nourish, and love.
I can taste when others’ foods are crafted with love, and like me, sense the timing of when something is done or not done. A truly gifted chef and cook prepares food by feel, sense, and instinct much like the truly gifted crafter of English pottery prepares those plates, cups, teapots, mugs and bowls which I delight in so much. I luckily toured the Burleigh factory in Stoke on Trent and was delighted to meet the men and women who have been crafting these wares—many of them for decades! It takes 25 pairs of hands to craft an individual Burleigh item before it reaches my hands and my home! Now that is care! Join me as I tour the factory and meet the many hands and enchanting titles of a bygone era to meet those who craft the wares.
We started off on our factory tour on a brisk Autumn afternoon with our lovely guide Jan, who after explaining the history of Burgess & Leigh Ltd company lead us into another world and time. We braved the gentle drizzle and walked past the bottle ovens. When Middleport Pottery was built on this site in 1889 they had seven bottle ovens. It was cutting-edge, a landmark pottery factory, known for it’s efficiency in layout and efforts for it’s workers. The layout, the purpose built factory was shaped to be efficient, bottle ovens in the centre and the flow of production from clay to finished items going through a large 'U' shape around the factory. It was also a better place for workers, who were in large well lit rooms, with cooking facilities for food, a bath house to keep clean, and good quality nearby housing. Steam power replaced the child labour used by many factories, and so the model factory of Middleport was seen as a modern step forward by the eyes of the people in 1889. Today only one bottle oven remains in homage. Thus, the “bee hive” symbol, the back-stamp used at Burleigh represents the efficiency and seamless flow of a bee-hive.
Jan briskly walked us up some stairs and into a doorway, like Alice ushering us through the looking glass, we left the Sliphouse and entered the Mouldmaking area where Chris, who oversees the “Blungers,” the making of the clay and the slip. All the clay used to produce Burleighware comes from Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. It is then churned with water and made into “slip”—a pouring clay—for hollow-ware, items which are “hollow” inside: cups, teapots, jugs, mugs, vases etc. which are poured or “cast” into moulds. If it is not made into slip and cast, it is compressed in the “Pug Mill”; made into long clay logs, to be formed and pressed into “flatware” such as dishes, serving platters and the like. These terms are like something from Harry Potter’s world: “Blunging,” “Sieving,” “Jollyer,” “Jiggering.” This is all an art form, as Chris must know by sense and feel when the clay is at the right consistency to become slip or compressed. If not he re-works it by adding water into the mix or drawing water out. This is not a process for a machine, but by man. An individual who instinctively knows when the clay is right and ready.
We walked past the thousands of blocks and cases of all the production moulds, made today by one man: Karl! The process was mind boggling, with all the many, many sizes and shapes! Some of the original moulds dated back a hundred years or more! Next, we met Steve the “caster” who pours the hollow-ware. After the hollow-ware pieces are left to dry, they are carefully removed from the Moulds and are placed on boards. Then when the boards are full, they are robustly lifted and loaded to the drying racks. In fact, every items is still numbered by the amount if items fitting on a board.
There are also men who are “Mould runners” who carry the moulds and dried plates back and forth in between processes. No conveyer belts here.
I teared up when I met Andy, the “flat presser” and “jiggerer”, he is the man who has been making every Burleigh-ware dinner plate for the last 20+ years!! He takes the cut piece of clay and flat presses it onto a mould and then jiggers it—removing the rough edge. I was so full of emotion meeting him because I probably own close to 250 Burleigh plates, and to meet the man who crafted all of them was quite a treat. He let me try my hand at it—not easy—I can assure you!! He has a skill, and a feel and will pull a plate if there are any imperfections—but I daresay he makes very few!! He can sometime produce up to 1000 plates a day!!! You read that right. It has taken me decades to collect what he could make in an afternoon!!
Next we came across a beautiful woman who was a “Fettler” who smoothed the rough edges off of where a moulded piece comes together. She then passes the piece onto the “Sponger” who uses tiny specially shaped sponges dipped in water called “Diddlers” to smooth away any other rough edges or to achieve the smoothness of a teapot spout.
From this point pottery is fired from 'Green ware' to become 'Biscuit ware' firing for over 10 hours at around 1170 degrees C, the items all shrink by 10%. Meaning every piece has to be made 10% bigger than required at the end point. Now the clays ingredients are fused together. Items are ready for decorating.
“Tissue Transfer Printing” is nearly a lost art, yet thankfully Burleigh remains the only company in the world that still uses the technique of underglaze tissue printing, developed for the ceramics industry in the 1780s. The “Engraver” engraves each pattern onto a copper roller. This process takes one full year to engrave a copper plate roller by hand with the design. Few possess that level of patience and skill today, with “Insta-carts”, “insta-foods”, “Instagrams”… The finished copper plate roller is used by the “Printer” Mikaela who thickly coats the copper with a pasty color mixture of oils and pigments and a blank paper tissue is fed through the printing machine to produce the gorgeous patterns Burleigh is known for today.
Once Mikaela finishes the tissue she allows them to dry ever so slightly, and they are passed to the team of ladies called the “Transferrers” who apply the wet tissue to the dry piece of pottery. They must work quickly and precisely as the tissue is only usable for a certain number of hours. These ladies are skilled artists and watching their nimble fingers is a like watching a musician work an instrument. This is precise work as the tissue is applied by the Transferrer, it cannot be moved around once applied it stays put, so it has to be placed correctly first time every time. Then the paper is rubbed and brushed on. This has to be done vigorously but not so vigorous as to damage the print. Then the item is passed to the washer. Each item is washed by hand. The tissue disintegrates on contact with water, and the oil based color repels water, leaving the print in place. This is the whole essence of “transfer printing.” The tissue has taken the print from engraving onto pottery and then the tissue is washed away. Next the items go from decorating to a second firing called a “hardening on firing,” this is around 900 degrees C for about 8 hours, this fixes the color, burns off the oils and the items are ready for glazing!
On to Charlie the Dipper! He dips each piece by hand into the glaze which is color a gorgeous pink in order for him to see that each part of the surface is covered. The items are placed onto long boards called “ware-boards”. These boards are again loaded and carried, to the firing areas and then small wedges, pins and thimbles are place in between items to space them so each time is clear with no touching before they are fired.
Our tour was coming towards the end of the day and we whizzed passed the final firing called the “ghost firing” it is conducted at over 1000 degrees C, and the glaze liquifies and then fixes as the oven cools. The glaze is then fixed, like a fine layer of glass allowing the item to be safe to use for eating and drinking, and then on to inspecting where each piece must pass through many more hands then I have named here before giving the final okay to be sent on to major department stores such as Harrods and Liberty of London, or off to Inns, Manor and Country houses including my humble kitchen dresser.
These are just a few of the names, hearts and hands which craft each piece of pottery. I like to know where my pottery comes from and I feel good supporting hand-made goods. I must confess my heart skips a beat when I spy that iconic Blue Calico in a shop or when I round the corner driving up to the Factory in Stoke and I am greeted with those enormous banners of red or blue Calico hanging on the side of the building!
I hope the next time you lift a Burleigh teacup or mug to your lips, feel the cradle of the handle, how it sits perfectly in the bend of your finger, you will think of the many hands that cared for that cup. I found this tour experience to be a very emotional one. As an avid collector, I mentioned I teared up when I met Andy, the gentleman who makes the plates. I felt such a connection and was so honored to meet this man and so many others who crafted my beloved dishes. Even more, I feel an enormous sense of satisfaction purchasing, collecting, and using my Burleigh. Several years ago, on one of my visits to England, I heard the Burleigh factory was in danger of closing. Upon my next visit I arrived the day after Prince Charles had agreed to save the factory with the ‘Prince’s Regeneration fund’! I heard of the plans for the cafe and the museum, and the Pottery School. Each year with great delight, I have witnessed these expansions. Next year the Middleport Pottery Trust—of which I am a member—will be reclaiming the potters’ cottages across the street, as mentioned above, in order to expand the experience and preserve history.
This year Burgess & Leigh Ltd has introduced new patterns with the gorgeous "Collection One”! I can hardly wait to see what each passing year will bring us on the journey with Burleigh pottery.
I encourage you to visit, as I hope to be returning each year and if you wish to be accompanied there from the U.S. please do reach out to me—am happy to share this passion of mine—with plenty of tea of course! Until then, I raise my teacup to those wonderful potters at Burgess & Leigh Ltd. for continuing this gorgeous traditional craft.
