Thanks to Ken Blowers for letting me use his Lowestoft China pot on the history index page. This page is dedicated to him!!
This is another of those silly waffles I do to fill a page I haven't got round to writing yet. I'm having a little rest now after scanning in nearly 100 old postcards & having loads of grief with the index page, (yes, OK, I KNOW it should be called contents page), but it'll be done in time.
OK what can I make up about Lowestoft china?
Lowestoft pots & plates were made of Lowestoft clay, found in the (rather big) garden of a rich geezer who lived in a posh house in Gunton.
I think the geezer's name was Mr. Walker.
He set up a factory in Factory Street, Lowestoft, (near the modern St Peter's Court tower block, the only tower block in the town) - maybe factories were a novelty then to have a street named after it, or maybe that reflects the importance of this particular factory). The factory was only there a few years, perhaps the clay ran out. This does mean the few pots & plates made are now very valuable & rare, so if you've got one you're very lucky cos not many people have, there aint many of them around.
Although the site of the factory has a plaque on it, the factory there now is a paint one, not the original china one. Pity about the original factory being pulled down, those Victorians didn't appreciate the significance of old buildings then, or maybe it's significance was only later recognised. Had it been preserved it would probably now be a museum.
Lots of Lowestoft china has blue patterns or pictures on it. This seems to have been the fashion of the time, in other china too, not just Lowestoft's.
It would be smashing if some Lowestoft china came under the hammer at an auction. Which is just what some IS about to do soon, (I wrote this in April 2003), including a boring old mustard pot that's nothing to look at but is worth about £6 000, according to what I've heard. But I won't be buying any cos I'm saving up for a better car, or a laptop computer, or a French door in my back lobby, which I feel are more important to me at the moment.
I'll write up this section properly later but this just ensures there's something for you to read when you click on the link.
