A novice potter has set himself the challenge of making 47 miniature bottle kilns – the same number as the remaining giant versions seen around Stoke-on-Trent.
Thomas Carnes is about halfway through the task, which he is doing to teach others about the history of the Potteries through his social media videos.
He learnt how to throw a pot after issues with his health had left him feeling anxious about leaving the house. In a bid to help him, his wife and daughter bought him a voucher to his first pottery class, and he fell in love with it.
“Its sounds really clichéd, but everything melted,” he said. “I think anything that makes you use your hands and concentrate is inherently good for you.”
Stoke-on-Trent’s skyline was once dominated by about 2,000 bottle kilns, which were used for firing pottery ware. The remaining 47, which date from the late 18th and 19th centuries, are now preserved as listed buildings.
Some of the notable bottle kilns include those at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton and the Middleport Pottery in Burslem.
Mr Carnes’s parents grew up in the city, and he soon discovered how important the pottery industry was to the region.
And now he is following in the tradition. After attending classes at Stafford Clay Studio, he realised how good pottery was for his mental health. He had been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks after health issues and several surgeries.
He then set himself the challenge as a way to practise and learn more about the craft and hopes to finish before winter.
He said: “What a good thing it would be if I could tick every single one [the bottle kilns] off the list.
“I’ve not seen them all, so for me to absorb all that information and learn the history about them as I go is a big thing for me to try and do,” Mr Carnes added.
He has posted a video on Instagram of every kiln that he has so far visited, along with a miniature kiln that he has thrown.
“I set up the page only a week ago, and I woke up one morning, and I couldn’t believe my inbox being full of people wishing me all the best,” he said.
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