Tour of Working Class Movement Library - Tuesday 16th August

-->

For those of you who haven’t been to the Working Class Movement library on Chapel Street I urge you to go for two reasons. Firstly for the brilliant story about how it was formed and how it ended up located across from the University. Secondly to learn something about the history of the working people, your history this is the history of my parents and grandparents and there parents. It also houses some of the best collections of social literature that I have seen. 

I had a great tour of the collection by Lynette Cawthra the manager of the library, I was privileged to spend time in the Thomas Paine room where there is the largest collection of his writings in the UK  a gift from a prominent collector. I have been trying to track down the original pamphlet “Common Sense” for some time now and there it was (this is the pamphlet that was banned as it was so incendiary and sparked the American revolution to throw out the Brits)  I saw rooms and rooms of peace pamphlets, books on socialism, warfare, nuclear disarmament, I could quite easily have sat in any of the rooms and have my reading material for the next 50 years ! 

There is also a great ceramic collection in one of the back rooms, containing many commemorative plates, tankards and jugs, sparking ideas for possible pieces for my WW1 Fighting resistance project. What struck me was the creation of a collection that was formed by two individuals with a passion for books on working class history, and the foresight to protect this. How much of our history is white washed or green washed, hidden from us or re-written to support the ruling classes. This library is a beacon for the common man and a start point for what I believe to be a great adventure.

For more information on the Working Class Movement Library please click here:
http://www.wcml.org.uk/

Pilkingtons Lancastrian Pottery Society talk at Salford Museum and Art Gallery 17th September

-->

On Saturday 17^th September I attended a talk at Salford Museum and Art Gallery about Pilkington Tiles the talk was from Barry and Angela who are from the Lancastrian Pottery Society. The talk centered around the formation of the company from the 4 brothers who owned the coal company and discovered the clay deposits in the Pendleton Fault. Their first thought was to build a brick factory but they found out that the clay was unsuitable for this from an expert who suggested it could be used to create tiles and there was at the time a huge demand for ceramic tiles.

 The story for me got interesting when the brothers approached a Mr. William Burton who was well respected and currently employed at Wedgewood. The brothers courted Burton and he was finally released from Wedgewood in 1891.  William Burton was a Ceramic chemist and came with quite a reputation, he was responsible and sole master of Pilikington tiles, free to hire whomever he wished, many of whom he poached from the many Potteries of Stoke and Stafford, much to other companies disapproval!

 The company grew on this mans vision, his dazzling exhibitions and showmanship and spirit, he was also a great advocate for workers rights and pioneered many of today's practises of health and safety especially with regard ventilation and the use of lead in many of the enamel paints used in the potteries. 

  William Burton also employed many great artists both male and female and fostered an extremely creative and exciting environment to work in one such Artist was John Forsyth who created some beautiful tile pieces and fine examples of lustre ware, he also created the Peace vase that is on display dedicated to the end of the First World War. Forsyth also created an extraordinary vision of 6 massive tile panels celebrating the history of Ceramics that went on display in the Liverpool Museum. This tile piece was one of the only artworks to survive the bombings of WWII.

 Salford Museum and Art Gallery managed to secure the companies Archive when the company sadly went into receivership in 2010 when its overdraft ad loans were called in.  I will be accessing this in the coming weeks and look forward to finding out more about this great local employer and the people who worked there.

More information on the Lancastrian Pottery Society here : http://www.pilkingtons-lancastrian.co.uk/