This is a blog from a couple of years ago when Bill and I made garden pots !!! In the studio at Brook Street Pottery in Hay Simon and Bill make a range of Terracotta Garden Pots. They use a special blend of clay which is prepared by hand in the workshop. All the pots are thrown on the potters wheel and fired to a high temperature in the large Kiln. 

Simon has been making garden pots for over twenty five years and each piece is unique. He likes to use the throwing technique to show elements of the making process such as throwing lines and deliberate textured surfaces using a variety of special tools.

The firings take several days to heat up and cool down and the temperature achieved together with the good quality clay ensures a good deep colour and makes the pots frost proof. 

Simon built his own sixty cubic foot gas kiln which uses an old narrow gauge railway track from a North Wales slate quarry to move the pots in and out of the firing chamber.

Bil has been working at the pottery for twenty years and makes the majority of the planters and extensive range of gardenware. Many of the pots are based on traditional flowerpot dimensions and then Bill adds a personal twist!