My old Home Pottery - (Now Dismantled)
The idea of a pottery started in 1995 as a means of satisfying my desire to use the practical skills learned as an Engineering Craftsman and ceramicist. The practical skills were not required in my daytime roll as Production and then Technical Manager of a clay building products producer.
As all hobbies do it quickly became an obsession and many hours were spent fitting out the pottery and making the equipment that would become the pottery studio. Not satisfied with sitting on the sidelines and becoming a pottery widow my wife Janet became involved and soon learnt the skills needed to make quality ceramics.
All the components detailed here are made in my garden pottery studio using clays similar to those used in the heavy clay industry. The pieces are fired in a home made manually controlled kiln relying on skilled observation and judgment to ensure a correct firing. Great effort is taken to maintain accurate dimensions and colour, however variations do occur due to differences in the batches of clay and firing conditions.
Chimney Pot Chess Set
A back in the early 1990s a number of people I knew were interested in building 12th scale dolls houses. As I had already expressed an interest in constructing a hobby pottery and at the same time working for the Uk's largest chimneypot manufacturer, I desided to try making replica 12th scale chimneypots. It took quite a time to make the initial models and moulds, but when the first pots were fired it was obvious they would compliment eachother to form the pieces of a chimneypot chess set..
I then set too making a board and case to store the chess pieces.. In total there was over 120 hours spent making each of the set's and when shown to the directors of the chimneypot manufacturer they generated a great deal of interest. A total of 8 sets have been made to date, and given time I will make a few more in the future.
