Are you Dotty about Pottery?
An avid fan of Channel 4’s Great Pottery Throwdown?

Our lovely owners of Fenside Cottage in Sea Palling took a fabulous ‘busmans holiday’ to Little Bent Cottage in Bradnop and spent lots of fabulous time in the area, exploring and having loads of fun. And what alot of fun they had investigating the local pottery!


Little Bent Cottage, Sparrow Cottage and Hide and Sheep shepherd hut, are just 15 miles from Stoke-
on-Trent. Home to both the iconic Emma Bridgewater factory and historic Middleport.
Visit Emma Bridgewater, and you could …..

  • book a factory tour and meet the skilful workers, including jiggers, jolliers, fettlers, casters and
    decorators. See them demonstrate the traditional skills and craftsmanship needed to create the
    beautiful hand-made and hand-decorated items;
  • get ‘hands on’ and join a workshop to decorate your own custom item;
  • enjoy a beautiful breakfast or awesome afternoon tea in their on-site café (even their Aga is
    dotty!);
  • or simply get some retail therapy in their shop – be sure to go right to the back of the café for
    some amazing bargains.
    Obviously, this is not dog friendly, however, if you can negotiate with the rest of your party for a
    little free time, then there is a lovely park just a quarter of a mile away (with car park) where they
    could take the dogs for a run while you are occupied. Alternatively, if you book a half-day event,
    then they could visit the dog friendly Trentham shopping village which is just a short drive.
    Then, just a few miles further on you will find the famous Middleport, where Stoke on Trent’s oldest
    ‘Burleigh’ pottery is made and from where the Great Pottery Throwdown TV series was originally
    broadcast. Located on the Trent and Mersey canal, this historic and atmospheric site also has a
    visitor centre offering tours (see those famous, grade II listed bottle kilns) a café and of course, an
    outlet shop.