Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Potty about teapots
Collection just brew and brew
SPLASHING out £200,000 on teapots might seem like sending a fortune up the spout.
But for super sippers Sue and Keith Blazye it is money well spent.
The couple have been bagging them for almost 40 years, turning their home into a shrine to their favourite drink.
And it has become not just one room with a brew in their house – it is five plus an overspill into two hallways. Teapot themes range from the Royal
Family and historical landmarks to famous musicians and characters from
Doctor Who.
The collection began when Sue, 72, got a traditional teaset from her gran in 1983. The couple collected 2,000 at their old home in Sidcup, Kent, before deciding they needed a bigger house. After finding one in Yalding, near Maidstone, they turned it into a museum called Teapot Island. They have twice made the Guinness World Records and their collection now stands at more than 8,000.
Sue said: “I don’t look for the most expensive or rarest as this tends to apply to traditional sets from China. Instead I’m drawn to novelty ones and their shapes. I’m always on the hunt for teapots I don’t have, from eBay to car boot sales.
“We want to be that place that has one of everything.”
Sue, and Keith, 72, drink three cups a day – always milk, no sugar and their own secret tea blend.
They spend up to £200 a time on a pot and top of the pile is one commemorating Princess Diana. “She’s my favourite,” said Sue.
The collection attracts thousands of visitors a year. Sue added: “We have quite a few risque teapots. We have a buddha with a spout coming out of a rude place and pole dancing ones.”
Prince Charles and Camilla visited the museum in 2014.
Sue said: “Camilla was obsessed with the camel teapot in the shop as it sounds like her name which made Charles laugh.”