Branksome Bespoke China
Seems ceramics are a theme in the 'Somewhere Blogs' at present ... a few weeks ago I visited the Branksome China Factory/Shop/Total experience in the New Forest at Fordingbridge. I'd noticed some of their china in (one) of my friend Claire's collections & she recommended a trip to the factory - I was not disappointed.
To the uninitiated the best of Branksome looks a lot like Poole Pottery but for Gods sake don't mention that once you're on the factory tour, especially not if it's on a Saturday and the guide is the founder's extremely sparky widow "My husband loathed that stuff" Elaine ... I can't go into the full story here but for any ceramics buffs out there I'd recommend the history page of the company website. I'm not sure what I liked more the lady herself or the story: her husband basically after working for Poole and designing utility ware & two tone couplings leaves, invents a china harder than earthenware or bone china and made in a much thinner section, not only does he invent the 'secret' clay recipe and a kiln to fire it at super high temperatures but he makes all the moulds, equipment & designs that they still use 60 years on at the factory.
An image from the early Branksome years - snapped on our factory tour - I'm intruiged to know if this was our now sprightly guide in her earlier years?
Originally uploaded by Nina Pope.
Informing us that he (Ernest) would be 101 if still alive today ("I was quite a bit younger") she rattled us around the most informative and sharply delivered factory tour: making cups, turning out moulds, explaining the incredibly efficient processes, talking us through their designs, and showing their recent mini-museum where they have begun to collect ("have you heard of ebay?") many of their pieces that pre-date their current line which hasn't changed much since the 50's. All of these insights were interspersed with the rather shocking sight of seeing this elderly lady in a twin set smashing (but of course not breaking) a cup, saucer or bowl onto any available surface to repeat demonstrate the true durability of their product!
Other than the lady herself what I really liked about the whole set up was the personalisation of both the product/consummer relationship and the very intimate feel of the factory itself. It was the kind of place in another life I would have loved to work, there was a reassuring familiarity to all of the processes and each had been worked out to a level of timing and physical precision that was truly admirable "whilst the cups harden for X minutes the girls pour the handles into moulds ... whilst the clay sets in the bears for exactly 20 minutes they pour the butterflies etc. etc.)
Their distribution model was fascinating, fed up with the demands of selling to shops and outraged that they continually wanted to change the styles of cups etc. the company basically 'downsized' in order to just sell direct to customers and to be able to supply people who had broken a cup from a set which they had treasured for years to replace it with a new one exactly the same ... "In 1966 at the age of 62 Ernest finally "dismounted his tiger" and moved production to a former workhouse and Regal cinema in Fordingbridge, on the edge of the New Forest. With a small staff, he was finally doing what he'd always dreamt of, producing porcelain of the highest quality for discerning customers who came to the factory, or shop, specifically to buy his wares."
This cup that Elaine pointed out in passing at the end of the tour summed it up for me - where else could you talk directly to the manufacturer of your china for an OAP home, and they would suggest adding an extra handle to the cups for easier handling of those much needed cuppas?
To the uninitiated the best of Branksome looks a lot like Poole Pottery but for Gods sake don't mention that once you're on the factory tour, especially not if it's on a Saturday and the guide is the founder's extremely sparky widow "My husband loathed that stuff" Elaine ... I can't go into the full story here but for any ceramics buffs out there I'd recommend the history page of the company website. I'm not sure what I liked more the lady herself or the story: her husband basically after working for Poole and designing utility ware & two tone couplings leaves, invents a china harder than earthenware or bone china and made in a much thinner section, not only does he invent the 'secret' clay recipe and a kiln to fire it at super high temperatures but he makes all the moulds, equipment & designs that they still use 60 years on at the factory.
An image from the early Branksome years - snapped on our factory tour - I'm intruiged to know if this was our now sprightly guide in her earlier years?
Originally uploaded by Nina Pope.
Informing us that he (Ernest) would be 101 if still alive today ("I was quite a bit younger") she rattled us around the most informative and sharply delivered factory tour: making cups, turning out moulds, explaining the incredibly efficient processes, talking us through their designs, and showing their recent mini-museum where they have begun to collect ("have you heard of ebay?") many of their pieces that pre-date their current line which hasn't changed much since the 50's. All of these insights were interspersed with the rather shocking sight of seeing this elderly lady in a twin set smashing (but of course not breaking) a cup, saucer or bowl onto any available surface to repeat demonstrate the true durability of their product!
Other than the lady herself what I really liked about the whole set up was the personalisation of both the product/consummer relationship and the very intimate feel of the factory itself. It was the kind of place in another life I would have loved to work, there was a reassuring familiarity to all of the processes and each had been worked out to a level of timing and physical precision that was truly admirable "whilst the cups harden for X minutes the girls pour the handles into moulds ... whilst the clay sets in the bears for exactly 20 minutes they pour the butterflies etc. etc.)
Their distribution model was fascinating, fed up with the demands of selling to shops and outraged that they continually wanted to change the styles of cups etc. the company basically 'downsized' in order to just sell direct to customers and to be able to supply people who had broken a cup from a set which they had treasured for years to replace it with a new one exactly the same ... "In 1966 at the age of 62 Ernest finally "dismounted his tiger" and moved production to a former workhouse and Regal cinema in Fordingbridge, on the edge of the New Forest. With a small staff, he was finally doing what he'd always dreamt of, producing porcelain of the highest quality for discerning customers who came to the factory, or shop, specifically to buy his wares."
This cup that Elaine pointed out in passing at the end of the tour summed it up for me - where else could you talk directly to the manufacturer of your china for an OAP home, and they would suggest adding an extra handle to the cups for easier handling of those much needed cuppas?
posted by Nina at 7:27 PM
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