Heritage Open Days

Wow! More than 300 people visited The Minton Library during Heritage Open Days weekend which took place on 12th & 13th September 2015. You are all now part of this special building's history!
The interest and enthusiasm expressed for the unique tiled basement and dramatic upper floors was incredible. Your support for our work was truly inspiring and frankly overwhelming - thank you so much!
The conversations and contributions from visitors was what made the weekend so special. This historic building came to life again. Older people kindly shared precious memories of using the library or learning to swim in the now demolished public baths (that were previously located immediately behind). The basement which once housed a children's library - as well as the original public 'canteen' - was filled again with inquisitive boys and girls. Instead of books, this time, it was bottle kiln fired tiles that grabbed their attention! Contemporary images and patterns made using a grand array of encaustic and geometric tiles made by many of the city's historical manufacturers including Minton, Campbell, Minton & Hollins.
*Please click on image link to Heritage Open Days website entry - thanks to Heritage Open Days
*Please click on image or pdf link to access the Stoke-on-Trent Heritage Open Days booklet - thanks Stoke-on-Trent City Council
MINTON FREE LIBRARY
Passionate about The Potteries? Join us for an exciting community-led celebration of Stoke-on-Trent's heritage with other people who also care about this ceramic city. The Minton Free Library and its unique tiled basement space will provide a very special focus and backdrop for a variety of 'DIY heritage' activities over the weekend. Come and see 100s of exquisite Minton wall tiles recently re-discovered after nearly 50 years hiding behind wallpaper! Explore the majestic upper floors of the iconic Library building by joining one of the regular informal guided tours taking place throughout the day (Saturday only). Enjoy The Potteries Collection - a unique people's museum or pop-up display of privately owned ceramics and personal archive material relating to Stoke-on-Trent. Some of the contributors will be on hand to share the stories behind their items. We hope you will be willing to share your stories and there will be help on hand to search online historical material that might be of direct interest to you. Visitors will also be able to view a range of archive film screenings courtesy of Staffordshire Film Archive. Finally, refreshments will be available and served... in Staffordshire china of course!
Saturday 12th September 10:00am - 16:00pm (Tiled Basement + Building Tours)
Sunday 13th September 10:00am - 16:00pm (Tiled Basement)
Minton Free Library,
London Road,
Stoke-on-Trent ST4 7QE
(opposite Sainsbury's - free parking up to 3 hours)
DETAILS
Twitter: @PotteriesTiles (Ceramic City Stories)
Email: hello@ceramiccitystories.org (Danny Callaghan)
ACCESS to the basement space is limited by 5 steps. The full building tours involve climbing stairs to visit two floors. However, we will do our best to adapt tours to help as many people to experience the building (e.g. alternative upper ground floor only access can be accessed via 8 steps). Please get in touch to discuss any specific support you might need and we will do our very best to ensure you can access and enjoy as much of this building as possible during the open days.
FREE entry, tours, activities
Ceramic City Stories would like to thank the following partners for event support: Heritage Open Days , Stoke-on-Trent City Council & Keele University
[video courtesy of the wonderful Bret Shah @bretshah or www.bretshah.com - many thanks Bret!]