Ceramics club is given the stamp of approval
CERAMIC fanatics are being urged to help promote Stoke-on-Trent's pottery industry – by joining a new club.
People who make a habit of turning over plates and cups to check where they have been made are being encouraged to sign up to the Backstamp Club.
The idea behind the club, which was launched by Stoke-on-Trent City Council yesterday, is to unite pottery lovers in Stoke-on-Trent and further afield at the same time as extolling the quality and history of the city's wares.
Deputy council leader, Councillor Paul Shotton, said: "The idea of the club is not only to celebrate this endearing habit, but also carry the message that there is great pride in seeing the name of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and even Britain being carried worldwide on fine china and ceramics.
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"We are rightfully proud of our reputation as home of the Potteries and hopefully a lot of people will join this club and help spread the word even further."
The roots of the Backstamp Club go back as far as the start of the 1900s when Hanley-born author Arnold Bennett was penning his novels and plays. It was Bennett who, while on his international travels, was once challenged for turning over a saucer and had to explain that it is possible to recognise anyone who comes from Stoke-on-Trent because of their automatic desire to check the manufacturer.
James Berresford, pictured below, chief executive of VisitEngland, became an official member of the Backstamp Club when he was presented with a membership card at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, in Hanley, yesterday.
He said: "It is great way to encourage visitors to Stoke-on-Trent but most importantly, it promotes the distinctiveness of what makes this city so great.
"We try to get people to think about what is special about the places they visit and for Stoke-on-Trent, it is the wonderful breadth of what it has to offer with regards to the ceramic industry.
"The best people to promote any part of the world are those who actually live there and this new club will help to achieve that.
"Now I am official member of the group, I will be turning pottery wherever I go."
As part of the scheme, a ceramics trail is set to be launched next month which will bring together and promote all of the city's ceramic attractions.
Samantha Hall, visitor economy manager for the city council, said: "We want people to support the initiative and let them know about Stoke-on-Trent's proud pottery heritage.
"We want to get them interested in our ceramics and we want people from other parts of the country, and abroad, to come and see what the city has to offer."
The Backstamp Club so far has more than 50 members, including Middleport-based pottery manufacturer Emma Bridgewater.
Membership to the club is free and open to anyone in the world.
All Backstamp Club members will receive their own personal Backstamp Club card.
They will also receive all the latest club news and have the chance to enter various competitions throughout the year and win prizes.
To join, or for more information about the Backstamp Club, visit www.visitstoke.co.uk/backstampclub.aspx or www.facebook.com/backstampclub.
Comments
by Althuda
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 11:59AM
“Unless the crockery I buy is made in Staffordshire, preferrably within the 5 towns I refuse to buy it. Pottery is not pottery unless it is made in the Potteries. Personally I think the EU should protect the potteries by refusing to allow crockery not made in the Potteriers to be sold within the EU, after all, yhey do it for cheeze, pasties etc.”