Belcher's

A Memory of Longton.

Running parallel at the back of this church [St James] runs High street, where I was born as generations of my family were.

The two pot banks on the right represent a fraction of the "Belcher's"
that existed in Longton in the 30s/4os, they dominated everyone who lived amongst them with their endless stream of black smoke belching six days a week and covering all the buildings with soot and dirt. Night time brought short relief, until  the next firing.  Wash days were a nightmare, clothes went on to the line clean only to be covered later on with black spots that poured down relentlessly from the heavy smoky skies. White washing was unheard of in the Potteries until the eventual closure of the pot banks.

Perhaps on reflection in the late evenings when the kilns stood like silent sentries, silhuette outlines in the night skies, we should remember the generations of potters who worked endlessly in all this grime who gave us once an industry 2nd to none .........

Each photo is a lasting memory .............

A Longton Lass. Barbara.