Stoke-On-Trent

British craftsmanship at it's best! From the mid-18th century, Staffordshire became a leading center for mass produced ceramics. From fine bone china and porcelain products of Wedgewood, Minton, Doulton and Spode to the newer designs of Portmeirion and Churchhill, all can be found in a group of six towns known as Stoke-on-Trent. So....AWC bus trip "Here we go!" This was my second trip and I have as much fun socializing on the bus as I do shopping. This time it was a smaller group, about 25, with half of those EY wives....some even arrange to be in London just to make the trip. It is a 7 am to 8-9 pm day with no time to break for coffee or lunch so we usually share goodies and wine on the trip home with prizes going to the person who "spent the most" and to the person who "spent the least"...so far not me!


This was not a big shopping trip for me...still waiting for my Italian pottery to arrive! I picked up a few extra chargers and salad plates from Spode to add to previous purchases ( I'm "into" the brown and green!) and a large "cheese" platter for entertaining...... But my mission this trip was to pick out a Christmas pattern for future shopping trips. I have decided on the "Holly and Ivy" pattern from Portmeirion, not only is the name appropriate but the pattern is more casual and perfect for our holiday meals. My eyes were on the soup tureen and large bowls for our Christmas Eve Shrimp Gumbo dinner and maybe the mugs for Hot Buttered Rum!
If you have any special requests to compliment that Wedgewood or Royal Dalton pattern you picked out for your "wedding china" let me know. I'm sure I recognized a white leaf pattern, strawberry vines, and a woodland pattern form Aunt Robin's and Grandmother's homes. We should be making another trip before the holidays and all the factories ship back to the States!