We co-authored a book!
The book was commissioned and
published in the 40th anniversary year.
It tells the story of The Last Bottle Oven Firing.
In 1978, staff at Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent had the inspired and audacious idea of firing a potters' bottle oven, with coal, just one more time. The final firing broke the rules and was to be the last time. Ever.
The traditional way of firing pottery in bottle ovens ended in the early 1960s following the introduction of the Clean Air Act of 1958. But before all the knowledge and skills of firing a bottle oven were consigned to history, the museum embarked on a project which proved to be an enormous undertaking, massively complex and tremendously daunting.
40 years later, the final firing was commemorated with The Festival of Bottle Ovens. And, for the festival, we co-authored the book about it all.
The book is the only complete account of exactly how the firing was organised, and what happened before, during and after the event.
The book, Bottle Ovens and the Story of the Final Firing, tells its full story. The details are drawn from contemporary film and audio recordings, photos taken by Gladstone volunteers and visiting professionals, committee meeting minutes, surviving notebooks, the event log book, media reports, management reports and remarkable recollections of some of the 72 volunteers involved.
Ultimately, the book serves as a comprehensive archive of a defining industrial era, celebrating a monumental achievement that successfully captured a vital piece of ceramic history for future generations.
The book was planned, researched, written, designed, published and distributed entirely in the Potteries. Printed in the UK.
Designed by Caroline Dadd of Stoke-on-Trent and produced with the generous financial support of the Friends of the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.
Second Edition
Published October 2026
A4 Size - 297x210 mm
60 pages - 29,000 words
131 illustrations
£15
Available from:
Gladstone Pottery Museum shop
Or mail order by phone with credit card +44 (0) 1782 237777
"Love this book's mixture of information, narrative, memories, snapshots, technical diagrams and the glossary of Stoke words."
Val Bott MBE
"...wonderful book! - superbly detailed and presented - the copious illustrations and photographs are terrific."
Ray Johnson MBE
"…incredibly interesting, informative and very well illustrated. I can recommend it to anyone who is interested in the history behind the pottery industry."
Brian Milner
"It's a delightful read and such an unusual and creative way of telling the story - the reader is drawn into it!"
Professor Jennifer Tann, Director of 'Potbank' the official film of the firing
