Saturday, September 10, 2022

On Harper Street

 A new area of the museum at Middleport Pottery was opened this summer just across the street from the main factory.

 I've written once or twice about the main museum and factory so I'll just write about the new project in this post.

The row of houses are typical of pottery workers' houses of  the late 19th Century and it is thought that they were constructed at a similar time as the factory which was built in 1888.  The houses first appear on a map dated 1889.

The refurbished terrace now houses a self contained community hub called Middleport Matters, studios and creative workshops, a collections store and research centre for the museum and last but not least at the far end of the row above, opposite the factory, the Lodgekeeper's house.

The back view of the row of refurbished houses.  You can see where ground floor extensions have been taken away.  These would probably have been kitchens or bathrooms.  The end three houses have been turned into a visitor experience.

They have been given bat boxes under the eaves which is good.  The whole area is of great industrial archaeological importance due to the nearby canal network. 

The factory stands at the edge of the Trent and Mersey canal.
 
Let's visit the Lodgekeeper's House or 113 Harper Street.
By 1950 the house was lived in by Mr and Mrs Hall and their three children.
 
The Lodgekeeper's house has been returned to the 1950s whilst the others have been turned into display and gallery space where you can listen to people's memories of living and working in the area and at the factory.
 
The house is available on the Heritage trail and you have to have a guide take you inside.  Our guide was wonderful and full of information and she also left us to wander around on our own.  We were there on a Bank Holiday Sunday but we had the place to ourselves.
 
Downstairs you can view the kitchen, scullery and parlour.

The detail in the rooms brought back lots of memories of visiting relatives as a child and indeed of my own home in the early 1950s.
 
The patterns in the wallpaper and curtains.  The ducks on the wall and the china display cabinets. The tobacco tins and pipes by a chair close to the fire.  Our guide did tell us that they needed a period sofa and chair for the parlour and were hoping eventually to acquire something of an appropriate age.

In the bedrooms the eiderdowns and trellis patterned wallpaper were very familiar.  I remember the wallpaper in my bedroom was a green trellis with yellow roses.
 
Dark brown wardrobes and tallboys too.  I remember I had a little dressing table with a pink brush and comb set on it.

The rest of the displays were photograhs of people and places in the area.  Local stories told by local people were activated as we walked around.  Itwas fascinating to hear how they lived and worked in the area.  Tales of school and childhood play.
 
It was time for a coffee in the canal side cafe and then a look around the shop before we went home.  By now there were a lot more people than when we first arrived so I'm glad we visited the 1950s house first.
 
Of course writing this now almost two weeks later we have seen changes which weren't thought of then or even at the beginning of this week.  I was born during the reign of the late Queen's father, George VI but I was not quite two years old when Elizabeth became Queen so I really have only known her as our Monarch.  It feels strange that she is no longer there, as if the mortar holding the bricks of this country together has gone and now it's all a little wonky.  
 
I'm sure all will be well.

15 comments:

  1. Super post Rosie and a wonderful place to visit. I so enjoyed the photos of the 1950's house as I was born in 1952 and gosh as you say it brings back memories of childhood! Pleased it was quiet when you were there.

    It does seem strange without the Queen - it was all so very sudden. At lunchtime the media are reporting her doctors showing concern and family on way there and then by tea time she had passed away.

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    1. Thank you RR. You have or have had a special birthday this year. It was great to have the place to ourselves. I wouldn't normally have gone on a bank holiday except it was my birthday and I wanted to go somewhere even if just for an hour or two. I seem to have lost your blog from my sidebar but when I look at the list from my dashboard in layout you are still there. Don't know what has happened but blogger does seem to be a bit odd at the moment:)

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    2. You are back on my side bar again. Blogger does some strange things recently:)

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  2. Wonderful that these buildings have been preserved.

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    1. Yes, it is,lotsof the terraces were lost but it is good that these have been saved:)

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  3. A lovely post and an interesting house to visit. Ah, memories & even though we live on opposite ends of the world, being so close in age means we see things very similar. I remember vaguely of the King's passing, but do know all about the queen & even went into Sydney to see her motorcade when she visited here in the early 50s. Our schools always had a framed picture of her in the main hallway & I can see it even now. I still can't believe that she's gone. Thanks, take care & hugs.

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    1. Thank you Susan,great that you saw the Queen on one of her visits. I never saw the late Queen in person, my Mum did as she was a representative for our village WI at a garden party at Buckingham Palace. I've seen The Princess Royal at a county show and also the Duke of Gloucester and Earl Mountbatten. It does seem strange that she has gone so quickly in the end:)

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  4. A wonderful trip and great to be able to wander around on your own to take every little bit in. They've done a great job with the restoration but it all looks so clean! Mind you that's a blessing for today's visitors! Lovely that the canal is there too. I'm so sad that The Queen has died and am amazed she had the energy to deal with the change of Prime Ministers on Tuesday. 😊

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    1. There is a nice walk down the canal from a nearby country park with a stop off at the pottery. They have done a good job, but as you say everything does look clean. What I remember most about our house was the constant dust from the coal fire. Curtains were washed often and dusting done every day. It was always cold until the fire had been lit. I also remember ice on the inside of my bedroom window in the winter and milk being kept in a bucket of water in the summer and a meat safe to keep flies away in the pantry:)

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  5. That's a fascinating place Rosie. I hope they are donated a suitable sofa and chair for the parlour. I love the eiderdowns! I was shocked at the speed of the Queen dying after meeting the new Prime Minister just two days before. I thought after the pandemic my world had changed and now it has changed even further. So much change in the last few years. Let's hope for some stability moving forward. x

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    1. I'm sure they will find something suitable and of the right age for the parlour. I remember the eiderdowns and the feathers that eventually came out of them. It did seem very quick between her last official duties and her death. She must have been very ill, more than everyone was aware of. Life seems to have been out of balance since 2016 for me but the last two years of covid restrictions and my illness this year have changed things even more. Take care, Simone:)

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  6. Thank you for sharing your visit. I had never heard of it before but it looks like a lovely place to visit.

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    1. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the visit, it is an interestng place with lots of industrial and social history:)

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  7. Thank you for the tour around this museum. It's the contribution that local people have made by recording video clips or donating photos that I find interesting and your own recollections from your childhood. They help trigger personal memories too. It's good to see a restoration project such as this one in an area of industrial archaeological importance so close to the canal. A walk by the canal also looks like a pleasant experience.

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    1. Thank you Linda, the local people and their memories of both working in the pottery or on the canal and living nearby were fascinating. Their photos and films were interesting. I'm glad that the restoration project has been able to go ahead given the set backs of the last year or two. The canal is pleasant in places as far as the Harecastle Tunnel north and the city centre and beyond to the south.

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