Pottery Renovation

Cromarty Pottery was started in 1965 (The Cromarty Design Workshop) by Alison and Alastair Dunn. Alastair had originally worked as a baker, first at his father's bakery shops in Clydebank, Glasgow, and latterly at Aultbea, near Gairloch in Wester Ross. Alison had trained at Eastbourne Art School as a textile designer, but after marriage and moving to Clydebank in 1951, she had the first of their six children, and became a full time housewife ('home maker' as North Americans might say). Alison supplemented income by buying in whiteware from Stoke-on-Trent, hand decorating it with onglaze colours and selling to the tourist trade, including visitors at Inverewe Gardens.

In 1964 Alastair decided to change careers. Being a baker in those days was very hard work and had very unsocial hours, meaning that he couldn't spend much time with his young family. Also, at that time many small bakeries were going under due to the competition from large-scale mass-produced bread factories - Burnetts, HomePride, Mothers' Pride, etc. The family moved to Cromarty on the east coast of the Highlands, and Alastair and Alison tossed a coin to see who would look after the children, and who would retrain as an art teacher. Alastair 'won', and trained at Grays School of Art in Aberdeen, which was at Schoolhill in the late 1960s, rather than the current location at Garthdee.

In the meantime Alison started the Cromarty Pottery, which was now the main way of earning income whilst Alastair was at college, and supported the family with this business whilst Alastair was away. Tough times for them both.

Alastair qualified as an art teacher in about 1972, and thereafter things improved fincancially, and the pottery shop and back-breaking wholesale work that Alison had been doing became less crucial. At this time, though, Alastair had long days of work - full days teaching at schools across the Black Isle (which he loved doing), followed by evenings working in the pottery, often until midnight.

The pottery business had become so much a part of Alison's life that it wasn't until the late 1980s that she began to slow down and take things a bit easier, though Alastair had long wanted to scale this back. In 1990 Barbel Dister stayed the summer for work experience in the pottery and shop and, married to their son, Colin, took over the running of the pottery full time in about 1994.

Alison finally fully retired in the mid 1990s, though she still dabbled with onglaze decoration occasionally. Sadly, she died in 2006, and Alastair 7 months later in early 2007.

The Pottery Building

The building that Bärbel uses as a pottery workshop is around 300 years old. Charming though it is, it has been cold, damp, and pretty unpleasant to work in during the colder winter months. For as long as she has used the building she's wanted to renovate and insulate it to make it much more comfortable, warmer, and healthier.

So, in early 2006 the renovation was begun. The photos below show various phases - roof off, the floor concreted, underfloor heating pipes put in, the walls pointed, lintels replaced, new windows fitted, and replacement of the old red pantiles.

The pottery is now a much more civilised place to work ;)

Gallery: Click on these images to view a larger version in a pop-up window

Pottery prior to renovation Looks very picturesque, doesn't it? Unfortunately it also leaked like a sieve, was very draughty, and was very difficult to heat due to the number of holes.	Pottery interior All of the pottery, shelves, pottery wheels, tools, etc, have been removed. Time for dismantling the structure with loving care
Pottery interior cleared All of the pottery equipment, tools, materials and stock has now been cleared. Time to start dismantling the cottage itself.	Pottery roof coming off The floor has been concreted, and now it's time to take the roof off. What a mess.
Roof gone - looking South The last of the old, rotten roof trusses have been removed, offering an unique view of Gordon's Lane	Roof gone - looking North View to North from the first floor of the Pottery cottage.
Interior of other cottage Whilst the roofing gets going at the older end of the cottage, the rotten plaster and woodwork is removed from the other cottage	Roof trusses go on The roof trusses are now in place, and the plywood 'sarking' has started.
Trusses and insulation Roof is on, felt in place, and the slats for holding tiles are also on. Now the job of getting the roof insulation gets done.	Don't try this at home A professional at work. Bärbel finishes some dwangs and chipboard work. Look at the graceful posture and skill implicit in the drilling process.
Getting plastered Alex and Kel, Bärbel's new assistant from Philadelphia, get to grips with finishing the plasterboarding of the downstairs ceiling. And Kel thought she was coming to Scotland to learn pottery. However, she is managing very well to withstand Alex and Angus' tortured and torturing wit.	My name is Ozymandias . . . Kiln of kilns The main kilnroom is now in need of some tender care. This photo was taken from the new doorway that's been knocked through to connect the two old terraced cottages.
Next of Kiln Another view of the kiln room. Note the floor has been infilled with smashed up old pantiles (rejects fromt the roof). So they'll contribute to the structural strength for another 300 years perhaps.	Return of the Pantiles Alex and Angus start replacing the old red pantiles.
More Pantiles More pantiles being placed on the roof, and the start of the new ridge being cemented in place. Note that the downstairs window has been taped ready for painting.