 | You are in: Stoke & Staffordshire Features » |
2003
Ceramica prepares to open its doors | |
|  | | Designer's visualisation of the interior of The Pavilions |
| | A major new £3 million visitor attraction, celebrating the very best of the pottery industry, will be unveiled in Stoke-on-Trent in April, 2003. |
|
:: Web Links» | Ceramica
Official website of the Ceramica exhibition | The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. |
:: Have your say » | What do you think of this story? Send us your opinion...
Have your say |
| | Ceramica, a permanent pottery exhibition set in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, will officially open its doors to the general public on Saturday April 12th.
Housed within the Old Town Hall in Burslem, the £3 million visitor attraction is a celebration of the local pottery industry.
Historically famous for its connections with the local author Arnold Bennett, the Old Town Hall is 'home' to The Angel of The Potteries, which looks out over the city of Stoke-on-Trent.
Almost four years in the making, Ceramica is one of the nation's last Millennium Commission-funded attractions to be opened.
Bizarreland
The permanent exhibition of North Staffordshire's industrial heritage promises to be "educational, entertaining, creative and interactive".
The main element of the family attraction is contained within 'Bizarreland' - a name forever associated with one of the country's great Art Deco designers, Clarice Cliff.
In Bizarreland you can find out where clay comes from, how it is transformed into ceramics of all shapes and sizes, and how those products affect the world in which we live.
 |
Features in an area dedicated to interaction and learning will include a 'ceramic house' and 'ceramic shop', a Magic Carpet ride over both old and present-day Burslem, a chance to 'leg-it' through a tunnel on board a narrowboat loaded with pottery, and a full range of hands-on pottery demonstrations.
Visitors will also be able to join in an archaeological dig which reflects the discoveries made by TV's Time Team, when they unearthed Josiah Wedgwood's very first pottery works on the site of the attraction.
The Pavilions
Upstairs, a collection of local manufacturers, which reads like a 'Who's Who' of the local pottery industry, will display their own products in the Pavilions.
Many of the world famous names associated with Burslem, such as Royal Doulton, Moorcroft and Wade, are represented.
 |
In a series of dramatic displays set around an eye-catching central glass tower, visitors can learn some of the secrets of how modern china is designed and produced, see the huge variety of products created, and find out how they are used.
The area also celebrates the life and work of Arnold Bennett, the locally born novelist who set many of his stories in the 'Five Towns' of the Potteries.
Adjacent to the Town Hall is the striking and stylish new Ceramica shop, which incorporates a unique ceramic 'skylon' in its design.
Each of the producers represented in the Pavilions will also be encouraged to manufacture products only for sale at the Ceramica shop.
Entrance fees and opening times
| adults | £3.50 | | (concessions) | £2.50 | | family ticket | £9 | | groups of 12 or more | £2.50 | | Children five years old or less | free |
The attraction will be open from 9.30 to 5.30 from Wednesday to Saturday (closed Tuesdays), and 10.30-4.30 on Sundays.
Further details of the new attraction will be announced soon, but anyone interested in a sneak preview can log on to www.ceramicauk.com
| | | |
|
| |  | BBC Stoke and Staffordshire
Cheapside
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST1 1JJ
tel: (+44) 01782 221281
e-mail: [email protected] |
| |
|
|
