Stoke-on-Trent - Will the Falcon Soar Again?

'Will the Falcon Soar Again?'

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting The Church, a bar and restaurant on Old Town Road in Hanley in the superbly converted National Spiritualist Church, for a friend's birthday. And I would recommend The Church heartily; great food, great drink, and a great atmosphere. And a great restoration job too.

A near neighbour of The Church is the Golden Cup, which has also been brilliantly restored, so much so that it has been listed by English Heritage.
To round the night off, we tried to visit the Golden Cup, but couldn't get in for some reason or another (it was karaoke night, does that explain our exclusion?!); a great disappointment.

The Golden Cup
June 2008

But the evening's biggest disappointment for me lay just across the road, and the sad state of the former home of J. H. Weatherby and Sons, Falcon Pottery.

Weatherby's were established in Tunstall in 1891 making domestic ware. Just twelve months later they moved to Hanley, and soon built Falcon Pottery, remaining there until the company's demise early in the new Millennium.

Falcon Pottery - an imposing sight towering over the Potteries Way
photo: 2001

The site contains one of the few remaining bottle kilns left in the city in the rear courtyard, and was listed in 1989, and is/was an imposing sight towering over the Potteries Way.

As J. H. Weatherby were closing the doors of Falcon Pottery to pottery manufacturing for the last time, the future of the site still seemed bright: the closing of the factory coincided with the early days of the 'urban renaissance', and Falcon Pottery was seen as Hanley's answer to the warehouses and mills of northern towns and cities such as Manchester.

The buildings appeared ripe for residential conversion, and the site was soon placed on the market and was eventually sold to investors with big ideas; it turned out to be all talk, as they sat on the site, presumably waiting for land values to rise. We have since seen the collapse of the market that was supposed to be the site's saviour, followed by the collapse of part of the building itself, a collapse that led to my Saturday Night Disappointment.

Instead of being part of a thriving urban quarter, Falcon Pottery is now the domain of pigeons and Urban Explorers as the haunting images below show.

Falcon Pottery - now the domain of pigeons and Urban Explorers

All ©adders0121, www.28dayslater.co.uk, the UK Urban Exploration Forums

So what is the future for Falcon Pottery? Does it even have a future?

Given the state of the economy both nationally and locally, it is clear that the market is no saviour for Falcon Pottery: it was no solution during the Boom Years, and now we're in the Era of Austerity, and the Big Society.

Our Glorious Leader (note the irony) Mr Cameron tells us that besides dealing with the nation's deficit, the main aim of his stewardship is to foster the Big Society, and encourage the community to do things themselves. This is potentially good news for society, and for Falcon Pottery: does a voluntary group exist that could breathe new life into the site? I'm sure there is. But without resources and the support of the public sector, such groups and organisations are bound to fail. And this is where the Big Society falls down. Let's consider this in the context of Falcon Pottery.

Action from the City Council will be vital in terms of dealing with the condition of the buildings and their future (repairs notices, possible Compulsory Purchase Order), such actions requiring resources.

Given the environment that local authorities are currently operating in (cuts, cuts, cuts), I would imagine that the chances of the City Council taking positive and proactive action in respect of Falcon Pottery probably fall somewhere between slim and none, but considering the choices that the Government has forced the Council to make, could you blame them for not taking action given the potential costs involved? How will the Big Society save Falcon Pottery? Answers on a postcard to 10 Downing Street.

However, the state of the City's built heritage is not a new phenomenon, and even though they have tough choices to make, this could be an opportunity for the City Council to demonstrate that it IS serious about its built heritage, particularly its industrial heritage (and this is no criticism of the Council's conservation staff, who are hard working and passionate, but grossly under-resourced). Whilst it may cost the City Council in the short-term, think of the potential long-term benefits from a restored heritage asset.

banners that flutter in the breeze on the Potteries Way
beneath the ruins of the Falcon Pottery

Councillor Mervin Smith has insisted that the City Council is proud of the pottery industry, and ironically points to the banners designed to promote various companies throughout the city, that flutter in the breeze on the Potteries Way beneath the ruins of Falcon Pottery, as evidence of their pride.

Pathetic. Let's see some action, and a proper demonstration of their pride.

David Proudlove
February 2011