Bartimaeus

Returning from the tour watching the Wedgwood artists at work, we passed a boat with a man sculpting a curved board outside, his workbench set up on the towpath. Another man came out and we struck up conversation. He was telling us how he had bought a shell and was fitting it out himself and with this other friend. He was saving a lot of money by doing it himself, but needed a lot of skill, and patience. He was enthusiastic and invited us in to look around. When complete part of the boat will be a tattoo parlour. He is obviously very skilled with his hands.

We moved on that afternoon, and soon passed an old kiln. These kilns used to be all along the canal. Josiah Wedgewood himself had left his brother's business and started his own. 

Not all of them made high end ceramics but kilns were needed whether it was fine china or plumbing. The industry is still going here, but much reduced. I don't know if this company by the canal makes its own porcelain.

While we travelled on through Stoke on Trent, I was continuing my multicoloured Born Trippy scarf, in much more muted shades than the pattern designer suggested, but still bright. Urban environments often have spray paint graffiti but I was amazed by one set of murals. I hope no-one tags over them.

Further along the industrial walls had a different style and this artist had chosen neon colours. Shane was working locks and came down to a slippery spot to photograph the artwork. I couldn't miss it in those colours.

I did straighten up before entering and didn't bash the artwork. From inside one of the locks I saw another mural that was encouraging people to care for the waterways, by not throwing plastic in it. That is quite a challenge. It managed to be an attractive picture despite having litter in it.

While Shane was working the locks I noticed some had little mussels (or some bivalve) clinging to the walls. It amazes me things live in canal water and even stranger that they can subsist on a wall with not much other visible life around. Not all locks have them so there must be something that helps them survive here.

Our next objectives were to get a pump out and visit a museum that was only open on a Friday, The Etruria Industrial Museum. We had been to Etruria before but not when it was open. It also has water and pump out facilities.

We rocked up on Friday morning but feared it was closed with all the scaffolding around, but round the other side there was an open door, a till and the welcoming face of a seasoned volunteer in a boiler suit. We went round the museum display rooms with the history of the family business, Shirley's Bone and Flint Mill, and information about Etruria, which was named after an Italian place where statues, pottery and friezes were discovered dating back to the 8th century BC. Josiah Wedgwood based some of his designs on these and named his house Etruria Hall. A village was built for his workforce and it too was named Etruria.

The works we were now visiting was not where the pottery was made, but where the raw materials were processed. A map showed how the canal linked up with rivers and seaports from where the raw materials were brought and to which finished good could be transported. Bones, which make up 50% of bone china and give it a white colour were sourced locally from abbatoirs and flint came from France and strengthened the mix and helped the pottery survive the kiln. Flint was first calcinated (burnt) then ground. Adding water to make a paste, called slop,  reduced the danger from inhaling the dust. Once ground the water was separated off.

The machinery was not in action but we got a good idea of the different processes. There were video films and the volunteer we had met had told us to look out for the pictures of French women picking flint on the beach and said I could apply for that job. I wondered if it beat gutting fish. It looked back breaking work.

Grinding stone with stone sounds odd but the calcified flint ground more easily,  nonetheless the stones used were huge and the crane had a maximum load of one ton.

On the wall were moulds for making the metal cogs. In the other wall were bones of whales and an elephant. These were not the usual animal bones used The bones could be used in ceramics or as fertiliser. The elephant bones came from a circus elephant that had killed a boy, having become enraged when he had thrown something in its eye. The elephant was stuffed by a taxidermist in London and was bought by The Museum in Edinburgh, while the bones were sent to this Bone Mill.  

After a refreshment we headed out and back to the boat. The pump out facility was decorated (most unusual but also most fitting in the area) with a glazed ceramic  plaque.

Unfortunately on the door of the housing was a sign saying it was advisable to use the nearby hire boat facility while this one awaited repair. We had been lucky with the museum and we managed to get the pumpout that afternoon.

After that we headed to get water and decided to overnight there. We were looking forward to setting off up the Caldon Canal. We promised we would return five years ago and now it was open.

At Etruria there is a fine statue of James Brindley, famous canal engineer. I remember having difficulty getting close when we were here before. I wonder how far we'll get this time up the Caldon and if it will live up to its reputation.