SANTA HEADS TO POTTERY MUSEUM!

Two special events held in December

STOKE-ON-TRENT City Council has announced the Christmas events which are taking place at Gladstone Pottery Museum.

The family-friendly festivities will be held on two weekends in December.

The Ragged Victorians living history group will visit the museum on Sunday, December 11, to recreate life for the lower classes in Victorian England.

A host of characters – including a rag-n-bone man, fisherman’s wives, match girls, road sweeps, rat catcher, petty thieves and more – will re-enact what life was like for the poorest in society in the 1850s.

On Saturday, December 17, families can meet Santa and his elf as part of the museum is transformed into a mini wonderland with Christmas trees, snow and Santa’s sleigh.

Visitors will also be able to take part in face painting, throwing a pot, china flower making and slip cast demonstrations, as well as making a table decoration.

There will also be a Christmas wreath-making workshop between 10am and 12.30pm, led by an experienced florist tutor, with tickets costing £35.

The day will finish with a carol concert from the Dougie Mac choir, with mince pies and mulled wine served in the cafe.

The Longton museum, pictured, is closed to the public except for special events until April 1.

Keith Brymer Jones, judge of the Great Pottery Throw Down, which films at Gladstone, told

The Sentinel that the decision to shut the museum while the TV series would be on the nation’s screens ‘strange and perplexing’ and ‘a missed opportunity’.

Welcoming the Christmas events, councillor Lorraine Beardmore, cabinet member for culture, leisure and public health, said: “Christmas promises to be extra special with all the family-friendly events we have on offer at Gladstone Pottery Museum.”