Saggar makers bottom knocker!

Yes they really do exist!

We have journeyed to the wet South West to spend the weekend with daughter Grace and John prior to her 30th birthday next week.

As she was working till 5.00 we took our time visiting the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire as we had an annual ticket from last May, so took the opportunity to go to the Coalport China museum which we missed last time.

The museum was very interesting but very wet as you go out to all the various buildings that explain the processes of china making.

The gorge follows the route of the River Severn which is hugely swollen at the moment. (Nearby we called at a National Trust car park where in summer you can get a ferry across the river to get the Severn Valley Railway from Bridgenorth - here is the car park today!)

This picture shows a Saggar which is a terracotta pot to hold the china pieces in the huge kiln chimneys during firing. The bottom knockers basically made the bottom of the pots out of clay and the Saggar makers made the sides! Here you could buy these for garden planters if you wanted.

Happy weekend everyone.