As part of the city’s Centenary celebrations, Professor Ray Johnson is presenting a series of films from his Staffordshire Film Archive at a number of locations within the City. We were fortunate to have invited Ray to be our guest speaker on 24th April, which coincided with the day of Gladstone Pottery Museum’s 50th anniversary. Accordingly, Ray agreed to deliver a most relevant presentation/film which was titled “The Gladstone Story - 50th Anniversary.”
The former Victorian pottery factory in Longton was officially opened on 24 April 1975 by Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester. A pottery factory first opened on the site in 1787, but the bottle kilns were fired for the last time in 1960 and the site put up for sale. The former factory was eventually opened as a museum, with the city council taking ownership in 1989.
Gladstone’s golden anniversary was marked by an event on site on Thursday, 24 April 2025. The Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Lyn Sharpe, stated that she was incredibly proud to be celebrating 50 years of the heritage of Gladstone.
We thank Ray sincerely for his excellent film and presentation and for making it so topical. Feedback from members present also confirmed that they had enjoyed the afternoon very much.
