Tag: Cobridge

Burslem and Cobridge in the 1790s

This image shows Wood & Caldwell’s Fountain Place Works in Burslem. In the 1790s the company made Staffordshire figures, earthenware and stoneware. Enoch Wood and James Caldwell were partners in the firm. The firm owned Bycars Colliery, where it mined coal to fire the factory’s bottle ovens and kilns.

A Description of the Country From Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester, a book published in 1795, was compiled by Dr John Aikin. The book tells us about Newcastle-under-Lyme and North Staffordshire’s pottery towns and villages in the 179os

This edited extract from the book describes Burslem and Cobridge as they were in the 1790s.

Burslem

Burslem is the home of North Staffordshire’s pottery industry. Earthenware has been made there for many centuries. Dr Plot, in his History of Staffordshire, written in 1686, said that the factories making pottery in Burslem were the largest in the district…

The town has two weekly markets. A large market is held on Monday, and a smaller one is held on Saturday. Four or five years ago, cattle markets were established. These markets are well attended by cattle dealers and butchers.

Burslem is a parish in its own right. The parish church, St John’s, has a good organ. The church has recently been enlarged and regenerated.

There are a large number of [Wesleyan] Methodists in the district. The Methodists have built a large chapel in Burslem and erected chapels in several pottery towns and villages. There are many other religious sects in the Potteries. Few areas have such a great diversity of sincerely held religious opinions.

Cobridge

Cobridge is an industrial village where earthenware is made. It is partly in Burslem Parish and partly in Stoke Parish.

Moorcroft Pottery Reopens

Moorcroft Pottery in Cobridge, which closed in April, has reopened. Will Moorcroft, who bought the firm and saved it from liquidation, has restarted production. Will, whose grandfather William Moorcroft founded the company, said he was “quite emotional” when the factory started making ware again.

A Polluted Stream at Birchenwood

Showing a stream polluted by water from old coal and iron stone mines and fly tipping next to the route followed by the North Staffordshire Railway's 'loop line' at Birchenwood nr. Kidsgrove (1994).

This image was taken at Birchenwood near Kidsgrove in 1994. It shows a polluted stream. The stream ran next to the route followed by the North Staffordshire Railway Company’s ‘loop line’. The line closed in the 1960s. It ran from Etruria to Kidsgrove. There were stations at Hanley, Waterloo Road, Cobridge, Burslem, Tunstall, Pitts Hill and Goldenhill.