Cherished Chimneys, Longport, Stoke

I go slightly go off-piste with this post. It all came about when I arranged to visit Ken Perkins at Apedale Heritage Centre to take him some Stoke bricks for his collection. Ken said "Have you been to see Lance & Steph Bates chimney pot collection at Longport." As I was visiting Ford Green Hall later in the day, Ken had arranged to take me over to see Lance's collection at his aptly named shop/museum "Cherished Chimneys." on Station Street, Longport. This rather lavishley designed building used to be the local Co-op, today we find that new Co-op mini supermarkets are modern square, black & glass boxes which I expect fulfil todays purposes, but where has all the style gone which these old building possess ! It's lucky that this building has survived. 

As well as selling modern chimney pots, Lance has amassed his very large collection over many years, going to every corner of the UK to collect his cherished chimneys, even visiting Scottish Islands to rescue rare pots. I can't resist putting "Lance must be rather potty about his pots." I expect you can say that about myself & my fellow brick collectors who go to extreme lengths to find & preserve named bricks for future generations.

So after introductions, Lance gave me a tour of his museum, pointing out his special finds along the way. He is very knowledgeable about all aspects of his chimney pots, their history, style & use. After the tour I took the following photos to give you a flavour of his collection which also includes locally made teapots & other Stoke made pottery. It's well worth a visit to see Lance's Cherished Chimney pots that he is so passionate about. You will even meet his cat who loves to be photographed - see photos of Lance taking his pots in for the day & his cat at the end of the post.

So if you live nearby or are visiting Stoke to immerse yourself in Stoke's pottery past add Lance's museum to your list, opening times can be found at this link.
https://en-gb.facebook.com/lovechimneys/

Link to Lance's location, 34, Station Street, Longport. ST6 4NA.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Cherished+Chimneys/@53.0416147,-2.214047,16.88z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x487a42b9c113353b:0xc4251819b7ba832a!8m2!3d53.043024!4d-2.2146712?hl=en