More about Pam
Pam began her career as a volunteer at Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton and progressed to becoming its curator under David Sekers, the Museum Director. It was at Gladstone where she met her future husband, Terry.
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| Gladstone Pottery Museum |
She was a key member of the team that organised the 1978 Last Bottle Oven Firing, serving as the main liaison between museum staff and over 70 volunteers. She notably kindled the first firemouth of the firing, something of which she is justifiably very proud.
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| The Last Bottle Oven Firing 1978 |
From Gladstone, Pam went on to work in three other Stoke-on-Trent museums, and then to the City Archives and as a freelance consultant.
Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum, near Tunstall
It was here that Pam, as the Visitor Services Manager, expanded the number of visitors from an annual 10,000 people to a massive 70,000 people from all over the UK and from abroad.
This YouTube video is from the BBC Archive. It was made by reporter, Gwynn Richards, and dated in the credits as 1981 (not 1983 as shown on the YouTube title). An excellent half hour film which shows how the original colliery was transformed into a wonderful visitor experience. Pam can be seen towards the end.
Ford Green Hall, Smallthorne
Her role as Resident Curator at this Grade II* listed farmhouse museum was completely different from her previous two museums. She was the only member of staff, and very much left on her own. She set about raising the profile of the hall and identifying and creating plans for action in areas for improvement. Her residency, with her husband at the hall, was prematurely cut short by a severe flood in August 1987 which forced them out, never to return. They were the last to live there in all of its 363 years. But the museum lives on and is open to the public.
Spode Museum, Stoke
As curator of the Spode Museum Pam became a specialist in Spode & Copeland pottery history. With a love for the subject Pam created websites, after leaving Spode, to share her knowledge. For example Spode History, Spode ABC
Art UK
Pam worked for this cultural and education charity in the UK (previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation) as one of its Catalogue Coordinators.
Art UK was founded in 2003. It has digitised more than one million paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 70,000 artists, in over 3,500 institutions - museums, libraries, town halls, hospitals - as well as public art such as sculptures and murals.
Around 80% of the UK's 210,000 publicly owned oil paintings are not on public view, but Art UK exists to make them accessible to everyone.
It publishes the Oil Paintings in Public Ownership book series - now complete at 85 volumes, organised county by county - each containing colour photographs and basic information on every painting, compiled with the assistance of Catalogue Coordinators and Pam was one of them.
Online, its website (artuk.org) hosts over 750,000 artworks and attracts more than five million visitors annually.
Stoke-on-Trent City Archives
Pam worked with the archivists as freelance consultant specialising in Spode, with particular reference to the huge Spode archive deposited at the archives. With her ceramic knowledge Pam also enjoyed volunteering here for a number of years cataloguing papers relating to on Minton, Doulton, H&R Johnson and other ceramic companies.
Freelance Consultant
Pam has worked as a freelance consultant using her Spode specialism as well as at the Stoke-on-Trent City Archives. She has lectured in the UK, US and Canada.
