Watching a master at work was how Frome Community Pottery decided to celebrate twenty five years in their home at Frome College’s Bath Road site.
The master in question was Mark Melbourne from Muchelney Pottery at Langport, and he followed in the footsteps of John Leach, the owner of Mucheleney Pottery, who opened the Bath Road pottery in 1994.
Sixty staff and students were captivated as Mark demonstrated the techniques that see him throwing up to two hundred bowls in a day to meet the demands of the busy Langport business. Mark produced bowls, plates, jugs and even a “moon bowl” with seemingly effortless ease, answering questions as he went along. The high output required at Mucheleney means that Mark can reproduce bowls with astonishing speed and accuracy, much to the amazement and delight of his audience.
Frome Community Pottery is now run as part of Frome Community Education, the community interest company that runs adult education classes across Frome. Joining the students were the directors and organisers of Frome Comm Ed, Sandy Usher, Sue Klepper, Margaret Binney, Mel Jones and Malcolm Lloyd.
The pottery now has five tutors working across the week, all bringing a huge variety of skills to the programme. Russell Coates, Hiro Takahashi, Roz Dunwell, Craig Eyles and Andrew Eddleston teach ten classes between them, both day and evening, and the wonderfully equipped studio, which has eight wheels and three kilns, is unrivalled in adult education in the UK.
Malcolm Lloyd explained, “The Pottery got into full swing at Park Road just after the war, and attending the celebrations were Maureen Lakey, who started potting as a 17 year old (73 years ago!) and her tutor at that time, Isabel George, who has recently celebrated her 98th birthday. Isabel handed over the reins to John Griffiths-Jones who retired in 1988 and was succeeded by Russell Coates, who is still teaching at the pottery today. Until Russell semi-retired three years ago, the pottery had really only had three lead potters in 75 years!
In 1993 the operation at Park Road was moved onto the Bath Road site in a move which saw the opening of a new engineering building and the only purpose built Community Education Centre in Somerset. A dedicated art room and premises for weaving and spinning completed the arts base for adults in the community.”
A raffle of pots donated by the tutors concluded a memorable day. The classes are now in full swing for the summer term, but there is a selection of special summer holiday courses that start on the 8th July – starting with Throwing for Beginners – and finish on the 27th August with four days of “Bench Time” – supported time in the pottery for experienced potters. Details at www.frome commed.org.uk or from The Cheese and Grain.
