Wonderful, brilliant, fantastic - just a few words used to describe the Shelley 25^th Anniversary Exhibition....(Exhibition report below)

Saturday began with a welcome from chairman Gerry Pearce after new arrivals had registered and pot show entries were set up. Where do people get their ideas from?

Local historian Fred Hughes then gave a stimulating talk on the Story of the Potteries explaining how the factories began as small family affairs long before industrial expansion was contemplated. He provided a fascinating insight into the history and development of the towns in the area, the impact of the Great Reform Act, the growth of unions and the changes resulting from modernisation at premises such as Shelley.

He was followed by Carole Lockyer who introduced a series of In Situs beginning with a 1930s afternoon tea set for six featuring Regent Cape Gooseberry or Chinese Lantern as it is known to some. She informed us the guests included grandpa and a maiden aunt, The pattern was also shown on Chester and Court shape cup and saucers alongside a Kingfisher lustre vase.

On the other side of the room there was a kitchen scene as if cook had left in the middle of her baking, her Mrs Beeton book still open. Mixing bowls, pie dish, jelly moulds had the mouths of all us collectors watering.

After a short break Professor Ray Johnson, Professor of Film Heritage at Staffordshire University showed a short black and white film including a panoramic view of the Potteries with crowded streets featuring dozens of bottle ovens which set the scene for a real surprise. An old silent film made at the Shelley factory by two local headmasters which previously only had captions explaining the production procedure had been specially adapted for the Group's celebrations with a new introduction and commentary by Ray Reynolds. It really brought to life what work was like in those days. He was able to name some of the workers, describe the shape of the cups being made and the film even featured in the showroom one or two of the wonderful pieces in the Shelley exhibition.

In his introduction Ray took us through his years at the Shelley factory starting with his job interview in 1949 with Norman Shelley and his £6 a week starting salary. He was allowed to attend technical college and completed a six year course in ceramics alongside his work in the decorating shop where he went on to supervision work with full access to those wonderful pattern books. Copies of the film on DVD are available through the group, if only we could step back in time and load a few shopping trolleys with some of the items shown.

The morning aptly concluded with Reminiscing with Ray Reynolds adding more details about his scholarship to Burslem School of Arts, his days at Royal Doulton before he joined Shelley, life in the decorating shop and the period leading to the sale of the factory to Allied English Potteries, all illustrated with some of Ray's own humorous paintings and rich anecdotes.

Lunch was followed by members either making a coach trip to the Wedgwood Museum and Visitor Centre or to the Gladstone Pottery Museum and the Shelley Exhibition with the opposite trip on the Sunday morning.

For those going to the Gladstone Museum it provided a chance to really take in all those wonderful cabinets of Wileman and Shelley either for the first time or without the crowds present at the opening and take in all the details on the magnificent story boards. There was also the opportunity to see round the rest of the Museum with its original workshops and cobbled yard.

At the Wedgwood Museum the displays illustrate the history and growth of one of those family potteries into a major industry while reflecting many of the influences, design and social changes which paralleled what was happening at Wileman and Shelley.

On return to the hotel there was a brief time to view and vote for the pot show entries before setting up for the Silent Auction with many a feather boa flitting around the items on offer as several ladies turned up in 1930s style outfits ready for the 25^th anniversary dinner.

With all the bids in and bargains bought it was time for dinner entertained by music from the Wabash Jazzmen and followed by the Guest of Honour Paul Atterbury who described how his mother's love of junk shops instilled in him an early love of antiques. He and the other experts on the Antiques Roadshow assess thousands of items for every programme and only a small number get filmed and the owners really do not know what is going to be said.

He also revealed those colourful jackets he wears are bought from charity shops including the one he was wearing bought only that afternoon. He confessed to not being an expert on Shelley but was delighted to receive three items in the Puff Puff series to mark his contribution to the Group's celebrations over the weekend, particularly as he is an avid railway enthusiast.

Warren Leenerts had kindly donated one of his paintings (Right) to be auctioned to raise funds for the group and it stimulated a bidding bonanza.

After dinner there was a chance to catch up with some of those fellow collectors from around the globe and it was some not present who were on the thoughts of members on Sunday morning at the start of the Annual General Meeting when apologies from our friends in Japan were given.

Chairman Gerry Pearce reported another successful year for the Group and thanked the Committee members who made it possible, those who organise regional meetings and help in the production of the magazine which provides a vital link between members.

He paid tribute to all those involved in the huge task of organising the exhibition which had turned into a logistical marathon involving many hours of work from a hard working team culminating in the setting up of the story boards and display items loaned by at least 24 members around the country. He also thanked Barbara Jackson and all her team of helpers for their work making the rest of the weekend such a success. In the Trustees Report he said MPs had been canvassed about the pattern books archives.

Treasurer Linda Ellis took members through the accounts. She said the cost of the exhibition was really being funded from the Gift Aid collected from the Government through subscriptions. Surprise had been expressed that the group had managed to achieve such a great show at a cost of around £6,000, many museums spending much more on such a display. She recommended no increase in the 2012 subscriptions.

All the current officers were re-elected along with the same regional representatives except Bruce Till was elected for the South East, Andrew and Gina Bird having stood down. Les Foley, having previously been co-opted on to the Committee was also elected. Avice Goodlad proposed a vote of thanks to all those who devoted so much time to making the exhibition such a success and president Paddy Owen described her pride in the Group's achievement. She also supported the suggestion that Committee members claim some travel allowance with the current price of petrol.

Gerry thanked Enid Foley for helping to raise funds for the Group with another fantastic cake – this year in the shape of a bottle oven initially won by Roxanne Wilson from the USA but generously redrawn and then won by Bob Nicol Smith, and Ray Reynolds for decorating a pastello vase for another auction won by a delighted Jill Burridge. It proved quite a weekend for Jill as she also picked up the top prize in the Pot Show for her Charm Bracelet, followed by Andrew Bird in second place with Bubbles.

Representatives from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada all spoke about their thriving groups.

After the morning coach trips and lunch, Linda Ellis kicked off the afternoon with the first of three Ten Minute Talks. She spoke on the Silver Book, the 1931 catalogue promoting modern Shelley china including Mode and Vogue, although also still featuring Queen Anne, Vincent and Gainsborough. The factory received 2,000 requests for the catalogue from retailers with a Sunray coffee set on offer at £1 18 shillings.

Kay Rush described the different coffee cups made by Wileman and Shelley with silver filigree holders and illustrated her talk with some beautiful examples. The earliest listed as Gainsborough dated from 1908, two years before Mappin and Webb chose Wileman and Co to join those manufacturing the inserts to their silver coffee cup holders.

Finally Rick Hubbard went through Lost and Found patterns encountered in preparing his book on Vogue and Mode designs before there was a stampede to the Shelley Market where some of the spectacular examples he featured were for sale among thousands of other Shelley and Wileman items. The shop run by David and Shirley Deller also did a roaring trade before sadly everything was packed away.

The weekend concluded on the Sunday evening with another testing quiz session prepared by Gladys and John Smith with members divided into teams faced with questions on general knowledge, famous quotes and a Shelley Word Search. The Ripon team winning on a tie break question from the Carnation team. The next morning it was time to pack up all those new purchases and store away the memories of another wonderful Shelley gathering.

Paul Atterbury formally opened the exhibition, commenting that he had been involved in staging major London exhibitions where three years was the normal planning and build-up time, not the one year taken by the Group. He followed the chronological order of the cabinets and story boards to study the exhibited pieces, later commenting that, although he was familiar with much of Shelley’s work, he was unaware of the full variety of the ware. This was to be repeated by many visitors.

The exhibition was much admired by all and amongst the invited guests we were pleased to have Robert and Richard Shelley, sons of Alan Shelley; Cathy Niblett; John Evans and Val Baynton.