New Ceramics Experience Opens in Stoke

Plus Port Vale celebrate FA Cup win, extra £10m for SEND pupils in Staffs, students take anti-racism manifesto to Westminster, and three AA rosettes for the Plumicorn

The Knot and Helen Dalley

Mar 16, 2026

Good News 🎉

🏺 Pride in Our Pots. Enabling visitors to explore Gladstone Pottery Museum before exploring the working Duchess China factory opposite, pilot programme Beyond the Bottle Oven was launched last week by The Great Pottery Throw Down judge Keith Brymer Jones. The experience features a tour of Gladstone, a potter’s lunch at Gladstone’s Café, before heading over to Duchess China. The first tours have already sold out, but more will be announced soon. Each tour will cost £45 per person, including lunch, and will last three to four hours. A maximum of 12 people can book on each tour. For more info, or to book email them.

*The Great Pottery Throw Down*’s Keith Brymer Jones is supporting the new tour

🏺 THE KNOT’S PERSON OF THE WEEK – Thomas Carnes 🏺

Woah! This ace novice potter who posts under @bottlekilnpottery on Insta just completed a challenge of hand-throwing miniature pottery replicas outside of the 47 remaining bottle kilns in Stoke-on-Trent, with the last one thrown outside Moorcroft last week. He told the Knot, “As a local guy I’ve always been proud of my potteries heritage. My parents and family are from here, and I’ve always wanted to try pottery. I took a class about 14 months ago and decided to mix my love of the outdoors with throwing. What better than in front of the remaining 47 kilns in the city to highlight them to people who aren’t from the area and what a fabulous place this is?” Thomas says the response has been amazing to his quest. “Will Moorcroft couldn’t have been kinder and reminded me I am the first potter to hand throw something on the site since the early 1900s!” Some of followers have become friends, he added. The bottle bud vases that Thomas threw on his wheel outside the kilns will be available to purchase on 22/03 at Gladstone’s Ceramic Makers Market. Snap them up while you can!

Thomas threw miniature replicas outside all 47 of our remaining bottle kilns – and you can purchase them at Gladstone Ceramics Makers' Market on 22/03

⚽️ Port Vale Celebrate Sensational FA Cup Win. Even Stoke fans have been forced to admit that the Valiant’s win over Premier League team Sunderland on 08/03, thanks to a goal in the 28th minute from Newcastle fan Ben Waine, was inspired. The club has had fun with some “Waine Train” signage, with the location stated as “FA Cup Quarter Finals.” Tickets were issued, too. They play Chelsea on 04/04 at 17.15 at Stamford Bridge – catch it on BBC One.
Port Vale FC are through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1954
👧 Extra £10m for SEND in Staffs. Staffordshire currently supports more than 24,000 pupils with SEND. Of those, 9,925 have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), an increase of 50 per cent in three years. To support this increased need, Staffs County Council has allocated £10.7 million in 2026/27 to support children with SEND, or those who have an EHCP. The cash will be used to help children and young people with complex needs in one of three ways: by improving support in mainstream schools so pupils do not require specialist provision elsewhere; by increasing places in specialist schools so that pupils do not seek independent alternatives or need to travel outside Staffordshire; and by expanding the number of places within Pupil Referral Units.

Janet Higgins, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Education and SEND, says the county supports more than 24,000 pupils with SEND

💪 Students Take Anti-racism Manifesto to Westminster. University of Staffordshire and Keele University students recently visited Westminster to present an anti-racism manifesto to Members of Parliament, including local MP Gareth Snell (pictured). Originally developed by BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care students at the University of Staffordshire, the manifesto shares solution-focused responses to challenge racism within health and social care settings. In addition to Gareth Snell, the manifesto is being supported by Staffordshire Moorlands MP Karen Bradley, who highlighted it with the Secretary of State for Health, Kerin Smyth MP, and has given suggestions to move it forward.

Students present the anti-racism manifesto to Gareth Snell in the Houses of Parliament

🏵️ Three AA Rosettes for the Plumicorn. The restaurant at the Tawny Hotel in Consall has become the first eatery in Staffordshire to scoop a trio of rosettes from the AA, with the inspector saying, “The kitchen delivers finely tuned dishes with well-thought-out flavour profiles and there’s plenty of vegetarian or vegan options.” The menu champions local produce, with Dunwood Farm Beef Fillet and Sprinks Farm Venison among the à la carte offerings, and it also serves afternoon tea on the weekend. Okay, it’s a bit spendy, but worth it, we’d say.
Got a special occasion coming up? Book the Plumicorn to celebrate…

🥨 A word from Helen, editor/writer at The Knot

From the historic bottle ovens of Gladstone to modern ceramics production at Duchess China 1888, the Beyond the Bottle Oven experience offers rare behind-the-scenes access to both heritage and live production. The tour reveals how ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent remains a living industry, highlighting a continuity of making that now exists in very few places.

It has received the backing of passionate potter and Throwdown host Keith Brymer Jones, who said of the experience: “The more we can do to showcase the talent and creativity of the wonderful city of Stoke, the more people will be invested in what people do here. That’s what I think is so exciting about this initiative of marrying the old and the new.”

While we welcome the news of a new tourist attraction, we were concerned to hear that Derbyshire-based Denby Pottery, which owns Burleigh, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, putting the entire group and its brands at risk. With the Iran war set to add further energy costs for ceramics firms, local MPs are calling for government support for Burleigh and the wider ceramics industry.

As the Beyond the Bottle Oven experience neatly illustrates, ceramics are not just part of our history — they’re still being made here today, and with the right support, they can thrive in the future.

Really Good News 🎉 Your favourite news from the last week

🥨 What’s next for the Knot? Pt. 2: James is looking for people to take us to the next level and bring our good news to more Stokies. Might that be you?
🍣 Japanese Restaurant to Open at Goods Yard: Panko & Sushi opened last Friday and there’s 30% off all bills throughout the month of March…
Walk with the Trent Rivers Trust: There are several walks going on – links here

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