The History of T G Green Pottery 1790 - 1972   By Kenneth Stanley Green

Thomas Goodwin Green the founder of the Company was born in Boston, Lincolnshire in 1822. Being one of nine children of Henry Green who was a Corn Merchant and Wharfinger in that town. Some time during Thomas’s first twenty years the family moved to London, where he met and fell in love with Mary Tenniel, sister of John Tenniel, who later became famous as the Punch Cartoonist from 1850 to 1900, and also as the illustrator of Alice in Wonderland. At that time, Mary Tenniel’s affections lay elsewhere and Thomas took his broken heart out to Australia, where he built up a successful business as a builder. Having heard, from one of his sisters that Mary had changed her mind and was prepared to consider Thomas once more as a suitor, he sold up his business, returned to England and this successfully pressed his suit with Mary and they were married in 1862.


Whilst on honeymoon at Scarborough, Thomas made the acquaintance of Mr Henry Wileman, who had a small pottery at Church Gresley, which had been built originally in 1790. Church Gresley is situated in a small industrial section of South Derbyshire, and the little area where the works were situated rejoices to this day in the name of "Jack I’th Oles". Mr Wileman was getting on in years and was wishful of selling his Pottery works and retiring. Having nothing in particular in mind as to how he was to use the money for the rest of his life, Thomas decided to become a Potter and bought the business from Mr Wileman in 1864.


The next twenty five years of Thomas’s Life were occupied in learning the hard way to acquire the Potter’s art, very nearly going bankrupt on several occasions in the process, and raising a family of four boys and two girls. The business, at the time Thomas acquired it, was little more than a small craft pottery, employing around fifty staff and making Mixing Bowls, Nappies and Teapots from locally mined coloured clays. As time went on, however, Thomas learned to curb his revolutionary ideas as to how pots should be made and bowed to the traditional methods, and the business gradually grew and production was expanded by the acquisition of cottage property alongside the works, as and when it became available.


Some time during this period, Thomas, finding that he needed additional help in the administration and sales side of the business, brought in Henry William King to assist him; and from that time until 1964 the control of the business was in the hands of the two families – Green and King – there always being sons of nephew to carry on the family sequence.


In 1871, Thomas Green had reached the point where he was not satisfied just to make rough pottery and was attracted by the successes being achieved in Stoke on Trent in the production of white earthenware. He therefore set about building a completely new factory just below and adjacent to the old premises to make this new white pottery. Thomas’s eldest son Stanley was brought into the business when he came of age and his early task was to supervise the building of the new works under the direction of his father. Stanley later became General Works Manager. Consideration of the plans of the new works indicates that it was, by the standards of the time, a completely modern, in fact model production unit probably as good as anything in Stoke on Trent. What was also of particular uniqueness was that Thomas, having been a builder in Australia in an era when a man was very much thrown on his own resources, not only decided to build and equip the new factory himself. But dug his own brick clay, built a brick kiln, sunk a small coal mine on his own land to get coal to burn his home made bricks. A Limekiln to make his own lime mortar was, of course, an incidental spare time activity. Thus to paraphrase an Old Nursery Rhyme – "This is the Factory that Thomas Built!"


By the early nineties the business had progressed to a point where Thomas decided that is was time to retire and hand it over to his successors. He therefore incorporated it into a Limited Liability Company. His second son, Roger was by now also in the business, but Stanley found he could not work happily under the new arrangement and decided to quit, leaving Mr H W King and Roger to carry on. Thomas by now having retired to live near London.


Bearing in mind the fact the Church Gresley is about thirty-five miles from the centre of the Pottery Industry in Stoke On Trent, and that in those days communications were a big problem, a far higher degree of self-sufficiency was essential than is the case today. It followed that a host of ancillary jobs had to be tackled, apart from just making pottery. So over the years upto that time, the Company had taken on the milling of all it’s raw materials, including the fritting of glazes, making it’s own stilts, for which a separate works was built, making saggers, and all kiln furniture. To cater for all these varying activities an extensive maintenance and engineering staff had been built up, which included bricklayers, carpenters, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, pipefitters, millwrights and general labourers.


As this was prior to the internal combustion engine, transport was by horse and cart, and for this purpose a team of eight Clydesdale horses and a vast assortment of carts and drays also had to be maintained, with the necessary carters and labourers. Such was the scope of all these activities that quite an amount of milling and other work was taken on for supply of materials to other pottery firms in the district – at that time numbering between twenty and thirty. Swadlincote and Church Gresley, in fact, formed the largest Pottery district outside Stoke on Trent. From discussions with some of the old staff who were at the firm at about the turn of the century – " One sometimes feels that making pottery was a bit of a side line."


Thomas Goodwin Green died in 1902 and control of the business passed into the hands of Henry William King and Roger Green, with the assistance of Henry’s son Percy, who started on the road as a salesman, later taking over complete responsibility for all sales. In 1903 there was a disastrous fire, which gutted nearly all of the New Works. This storm was successfully weathered and business continued to make steady progress. The latest methods of decoration, such as under-glaze printing and on-glaze lithographing were adopted and a large number of skilled tradesmen were imported from Stoke on Trent for these purposes. In 1911 a most revolutionary step was taken in the electrification of the whole group of production units, by now comprising of the Old Works, New Works, Mill, Stilt Works and Maintenance Department. Up to this time its own boiler and steam engine driving the machines by line shafts and belting had powered each unit. Under the new scheme a central powerhouse was built and new boilers installed, together with the most modern triple expansion Bellis and Moreon Steam engines coupled to Crompton-Parkinson Generators. Thus electricity was provided to drive motors in each of the works and departments. It also provided lighting throughout the factory and offices. It is odd in these modern times to realise the progress that has been made in such a simple thing as lighting. In the early days of "Greens" the only lighting was by candles. This progress to the revolutionary use of gas, albeit in the form of "Fishtail" burners, followed by the introduction of the incandescent Gas Mantle.


The 1914 – 1918 War apparently caused only a slight slowing up of the already slow but steady progress of Greens. But it is probable that the events between 1910 and 1930 really set the firm’s trading patters for the years to follow. Prior to 1910 there had been many small firms in South Derbyshire all producing the same type of rough pottery from local clays. From then on their numbers got steadily less, eventually leaving Greens more or less in complete control of the yelloware market. In the days prior to the Works Canteens the demand for cheap nappies, bakers, pudding bowls and dishes of all sorts in the industrial area of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland were enormous. One conjures up a mental image of tens of thousand of mill workers wives dressed in shawls, clogs and flat hats, taking their men folk hot dinners in the universal dinner baskets to the Mill Gates. This was the type of ware, which Greens excelled in and cashed in on it to the full. The result was that the Old Works where this ware was produced was seldom working other than at full blast, even in the periods of depression. The firm’s invasion of the white earthenware market can be seen, in retrospect, as a far less productive contribution to its early successes. At this period in history the Pottery Industry, mechanisation had hardly started – there was no need for machines when labour was so cheap and plentiful. The firm was therefore able to produce white earthenware on a small scale at competitive prices. Even so, just after the First World War the New Works suffered a period of shortage of orders for earthenware tableware; toiletware was dying out and the Stoke potters became locked in a war of survival, competition forcing prices down to lunatic levels – such as eighteen piece decorated tea set for under two shillings. The new works at one time was down to working just two days a week, and in an effort to find work for the turners and handlers, Cornish Kitchenware was born, which gradually developed into the major part of the white ware production. Thus, even in white ware the bias seemed to be towards kitchen type products, rather than tableware, a production pattern from which the firm seems to find it hide to escape.


This now brings the story to the threshold of the era of mechanisation, rationalisation and then mass production. In the twenty years between the wars, the next generation of the two families appeared on the scene – Kenneth Stanley Green in 1924 and Henry William King (the second) in 1930. Whether they were suitable candidates for future controllers of a business employing by this time over 500 operatives was not even considered. This was still the age of management passing down from generation to generation. Heredity was the important thing. There were then two Greens and two Kings in control of the business, though the juniors had no real say in how the firm should be run.This was really somewhat of a tragedy since it covered a period when the firm was making steady profits which were all being paid out in dividends to hungry family shareholders. At the same time, the Pottery Industry was at a threshold of its industrial revolution. Hence, totally inadequate reserves were available to meet the new challenges when they emerged. There was, however, one concession made to modern technical advance in the form of the installation of a producer Gas Fired Tunnel Kiln in 1938, which, although it gave rise to the most fiendish problems in its early days, ended up by proving to be a boom and a blessing. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the two younger members, Kenneth and Henry, joined up in the forces and did not reappear until 1945. During these five years the tow older members, Roger Green and Percy King, did a stalwart job in running the business under great difficulties. In fact, they probably had a tougher job on their hands than Kenneth and Henry who were heroically winning the war!


The war undoubtedly had disastrous results for the long-term welfare of the business. The first effect was that there was a worldwide pottery famine, which lasted until the early 1950’s. The second effect, resulting from this was that the shortage of skilled labour in this potential boom in the fields of semiautomatic machinery, and new types of kilns, which economised in both fuel and labour. These new machines and kilns were, however, expensive than Greens earlier requirements. Brave efforts were, however made to use the meagre cash reserves as were left, now considerably reduced in value by inflation, to reduce production costs. Semiautomatic machines were introduced where possible, but to provide modern kilns to for £400’000 of mainly cheap and bulky products such as mixing bowls and kitchenware proved to be beyond the firms needs.


In 1955 the situation was vastly aggravated by the imposition for the first time – and completely without warning of a 30% purchase tax on all pottery products. This sounded the death bell of a number of Stoke firms and started T G Green on the downward slops. The honeymoon was over. For the next ten years the old firm thrashed around like a harpooned whale trying every known way to stave of the inevitable day of reckoning. There was even a period when efforts were made to diversify into the Sanitary Trade. Every unwanted saleable asset was realised. Credit was stretched to the limit and the Bank was granted a Mortgage and Charge on the assets of the Company to recover an ever-increasing overdraft, until one day in 1965 when they said "Enough" and appointed a Receiver.


This really looked like the end of the story, but somehow the old firm was "Dead, but would not lie down". For after a number of abortive efforts, the receiver succeeded in selling the firm to a London Finance Partnership in 1967, who in 1968 sold the firm to Mr P H Freeman who continued to run the business. From this point onwards one has witnessed a story of steady progress once more. It was obviously a hard task to re-establish the firm’s good name and prestige in the domestic and world markets. But it has been an object lesson in sheer hard work and determination, of insistence on efficiency and good management, coupled with energetic marketing policies. Thus, the old order changeth, giving place to the new.

Kenneth Stanley Green

January 1972

Postscript by Derek Stanley Green  December 2006

My father died in 1975 but the factory thrived successfully with Pat and Claire Freeman at the helm and continued to do so after they sold out to Cloverleaf in 1987.  The company struggled for a period and was taken over in 2001 by Mason Cash who made a valiant attempt to continue until they went into voluntary liquidation in 2004. This really did look as if it was the end of the line, but once again Cornish Kitchenware which has been in continuous manufacture since 1924, saved the day.  The Table Top Company had sufficient faith in the product to buy the company. Now, once again the company is thriving under the dynamic leadership of Richard Booth and David Freeman. Investment in new kilns and machinery has been made, the Cornish Kitchenware range has been extended, and Domino is once again in production.

Memories of T.G.Green’s by D.S.Green

Some memories of “Green’s” as it was known, by Derek Stanley Green who flitted in and out of the old firm. This account is written in conjunction with Maurice Wright who joined in 1941 at the age of 16, straight from Grammar School and then following air force service returned in 1947 to earn a wage of £4.10 shillings.  From then until his final job, Maurice worked in many departments gaining an unrivalled overall knowledge of the company and watched it at first hand through its good and bad times.  Maurice ended up running the Office and Administration under Pat Freeman and then Cloverleaf until he retired in 1990.  Maurice has a wonderful memory and has been able to put so much flesh on the bones of my memories, and I am very indebted to him.

It had always been my destiny to join the family firm and continue the accepted principle of son following father irrespective of ability or desire.  My father Kenneth Stanley Green had followed the previous Greens, namely Thomas Goodwin my great grandfather, my grandfather Thomas Stanley and then his younger brother Roger Thorpe as the technical potter who had to make it all work, whereas the King family had always been responsible for the administrative and sales side.

Whilst at Public school I had shown that like my Grandfather and Father, my technical ability was fairly strong but probably unlike them, scholastically I rather lagged behind! Having taken my School Certificate examinations in the spring of 1950 when I was 17, my father decided to take me out of school early.  Although the results of my examinations were perfectly reasonable with 4 credits and 2 passes, I was obviously not destined for University!  In any event University had never been in the plan, since I was destined to follow my Father to the North Staffordshire Technical College to take my Pottery Managers qualifications, and then into the business.  It was also obvious that I would have to do National Service for 2 years before settling down to be a “Potter”, so there was little point staying on at an expensive public school.  I suspect that the expense played quite a part in the decision-making because even at this stage, I understood that money was in short supply at the factory.

So arriving home at the end of term, I was led down the garden path to the garage and presented with my first method of transport.  I had ridden army motorcycles in the cadet force at school and had saved up my own money by selling off train sets and other well loved toys in order to buy a motorcycle.  I had asked my father to find an ex army 350 cc Ariel for me, since that was a model I had ridden and knew.  With eager anticipation I watched as the garage door was opened.  My heart fell as I saw lurking in the shadows a brand new BSA Bantam.  Admittedly it was new, but it was a baby’s bike being only 125 cc!

Before I started work in earnest, I was allowed a few days to potter around the country lanes with my L-plates firmly attached, before taking and passing my motorcycle test within a few days of my 17th birthday.  I say in earnest because my father had decided that the best place to start at “Potbank” was at the beginning, which meant the mill!  From my Great Grandfather’s day it had always been accepted that if we needed anything, we made it in house and so we processed all raw materials at the mill.  These included flint and stone, which were just two of the ingredients that went to make up the final clay body. When these materials arrived they had to be broken down by hand with sledgehammers until small enough to be fed into the crushers.  During my school holidays, I had learnt a certain amount about the works, because I would spend much time in the workshop, or “fitting shop” which was inhabited by Arthur Dennis our maintenance manager and his team.  I owe Arthur a huge debt of gratitude, because he allowed me to follow him around and watch, (although he called it helping), in all the myriad breakdowns that were a feature of the works.  This happened when I was at a very formative age and it was through him and my father that my love of mechanical things was fostered.  On his retirement of course, Arthur’s assistant Billie Wiggins took over and I always remember the two of them with great affection.  Just outside their workshop was the yard in which, later on, I was allowed to spend my spare time learning to drive my father’s Standard 8.  I am sure those two stalwarts and George Pitcher the yard foreman must have suffered many near heart attacks as I became ever bolder!

And so I journeyed to the mill on my Bantam, for my first days work under Mark Clewes the manager.  I cannot remember exactly what hour we started, probably 6 am.   I know it seemed incredibly early and way before anyone else at the factory started.  As the youngster, one of my duties was to make tea.  This comprised getting the small fire lit, washing out the large old battered jug into which I emptied a packet of tea, a considerable amount of sugar and then topped it up with water.  Once this was done, the jug was placed on the side of the fire and left to its own devices!  Periodically during the day the jug was topped up with the ingredients that produced a more or less inexhaustible supply of sweet black liquid tannin!   This refreshment was greatly needed because breaking stones with a sledgehammer, wheel barrowing the now smaller pieces to and loading them into the crusher was I remember, very hard physical work.  At that age I did not mind the physical work, which continued outside in any weather, because I was a very keen boxer, spending a lot of my spare evenings at the local professional boxing gym in Burton on Trent.  I also trained at the local Rugby club, and because by the autumn I was being selected to play in matches for Burton, I was allowed by my father to have some Saturday afternoons off, whereas everyone else still worked a full 6-day week.  I cannot remember my exact starting wage, but by the winter of 1950 I was I think being paid the princely sum of £3-2-8 a week.  I also cannot now remember how long I spent at the mill before moving on to other departments, but it was perhaps only a month or two because my father wanted me to get some experience of all departments before going off for my National Service.  My memories of the old man “Mr Kenneth” as he was known, at this time were of a very firm but fair disciplinarian, as far as I was concerned but fairly easy going with the work force.  He had made it quite clear to me from the start that I was to expect no favours and at all times I must uphold the family name.  I remember one day on the way to the mill in the pitch dark, I crossed the hump bridge between Barton under Needwood where we lived in a house called the Lodge (which had previously belonged to my Grandfather), and Walton on Trent and ran straight into floodwater.  This completely soaked the bike and me.  I returned home, after eventually managing to get the bike to start again, to change and was met with no sympathy merely being told to hurry because I would be late for work!  Dad made it quite clear that under no circumstances was I to make a pass at any of the very attractive young girls working in the factory and I have to confess that this instruction was exceedingly hard to obey! 

T.G.Green’s had always employed whole families and indeed it really was a family business for everyone, not just the Green and King families.  Although I remember my Uncle Roger Green being at the works when I was at school, he had retired before I joined in 1950. At this time Percy King was still firmly in overall control although the work of keeping the factory running and all decisions on “Potting” were father’s responsibility; whilst Henry King was mostly away visiting customers and bringing in the orders. From the mill I moved to the clay department of the “New Works”, which was under the very firm control of Harold Smith.  I always remember Harold as being very kind to me and having endless patience teaching the very intricate calculations needed in the art of mixing and blunging the clay bodies, where exactly the right proportions of clay, flint, stone, bone and other components was essential.  It was here that the blue slip needed for making “Cornish Kitchenware” was also made.  As can be imagined exactly the right mixtures were now even more important to ensure that the right colour of the “e blue” as it was always known, was repeated time after time.  Harold was I remember a very careful and clever man who took his job exceedingly seriously and was very successful.  During the time I was there he invented a “Roller Machine” for use in the clay department which was later patented and sold all over the world.

Having witnessed and learnt a little about the making of pots, it was time to move on to learn about biscuit firing under the eagle eye of Robert Fanshaw.  Robert was typical of the wonderfully loyal work force that expected to stay all their working lives at the same firm. Green’s really was just a big family and promotion was always done from within; so people who had already gained considerable experience in many other areas then filled managerial jobs.  Robert Fanshaw had started with Greens as a Sales Representative back in the 30’s and then moved onto the production side later.  At the beginning of the 1950’s all biscuit firing, (this was so called because after the first firing of the clay body, it looked rather like a biscuit,) was still being done in coal fired “Bottle” kilns, the whole process of which was highly skilled.  We still made our own “Saggers” the oval clay containers in which the finished but still “Green” clayware was stacked for firing and the packing, placing and firing was all precision work.  It was of course important to fill each sagger to maximum capacity, but also important to arrange the wares in the saggers and then the saggers in the kiln so that firing was even and to the correct temperature.  The ware placed at the bottom of the kiln received more heat than that at the top and therefore ended up harder fired or more vitreous.  During this period I learnt the art of carrying a board stacked with pots on my shoulder without having to hold it, but never mastered the totally nonchalant stroll with the board balanced on my head that the old hands achieved!  There were I think 4 or 5 of the 8 bottle kilns at the New Works being used for biscuit firing and the sequence of lighting, building up to temperature smoothly and evenly, then reversing the process until the kiln was cool enough to empty took about 5 days.  It was a highly skilled job, because any unevenness or rapid changes of temperature could ruin the complete firing.

Following the logical sequence of potting I now moved on to obtain some experience of decoration, dipping and glost firing.  The decorating department was run by Reg Plant and staffed exclusively as I remember by very pretty girls.  A six-year apprenticeship starting at 15 years of age was still quite normal, and I remember vividly taking every opportunity to drop in and see what new patterns Reg was dreaming up.  That at least was my excuse!  Reg was exceedingly talented as an artist and decorator and worked very closely with my father dreaming up and trying out samples of all the new finishes for which Green’s have been noted.  Although I would pop in to the decorating shop, my base at this time was under Harold Brearley who was responsible for the dipping and glost firing (the firing of the body after it has been dipped in glaze and which produces the hard shiny finished surface).  In the old days all firing including glost, was carried out in coal fired bottle kilns, but the first electric fired tunnel kiln had been installed just before the war, so some progress in modernisation had been made.  At about the same time the new canteen was built to satisfy new regulations stipulating that a separate eating area had to be provided and a medical room with permanent staff was needed.  I remember laying the foundation stone when on holiday from school!   To digress further, I remember my father complaining that the debenture and dividend structure that was set up by my Great grandfather was completely wrong since large dividends were paid to the share holders and there was very little money left to reinvest in new equipment.  The result was that by the time my father took over complete control and could make changes, it was almost too late because the works needed a huge amount of refurbishment let alone the need to satisfy new government edicts on working conditions.  The tunnel kiln was badly needed and provided the major advantage of continuous non-stop firing.  Each trolley, or car, could be built up at leisure and then tacked on the end of the line of 32 that filled the kiln.  They were then slowly transported through the kiln, taking some 15 hours to heat up and cool down, reaching maximum temperature in the middle of the 144 ft length of tunnel.  The tunnel kiln was I remember the subject of many disturbed nights when rapid journeys into the works with my father were made to try and sort out some breakdown.  Since only the centre section of the tunnel was heated, the rest being used for gently and progressively heating and then cooling, it can be imagined that constant speed of travel of the trolleys was essential to ensure even firing.  Any major deviation that required the shutting down of the kiln to clear a blockage was disastrous for production, not to mention the loss of a kiln full of stock.  One of the most common occurrences was a piece of ware (the name given to any article that had been made, either in biscuit or glost,) getting dislodged from a trolley and threatening to cause more dislodging.  The standard procedure in these cases was to try and shoot the offending piece with a rifle and thus destroy it before further blockages could occur.  Having excelled as a rifle shot at school and Bisley, I was often given the task of trying to save the day!  The problem was that one could only shoot from either end of the kiln and the heat haze looking down towards the red hot centre made it exceedingly difficult to be accurate and there was always the danger of causing more dislodgement with ricochets!

The final stop on my journey of learning, before going off for National Service, was the Glost warehouse under the control of Harry Hood who I always remember as a very jovial and hearty man with a big laugh.  Harry’s job was another very important one because in this department we had to sort all the wares that came off the final process of glost firing into varying quality standards.There were those that were fully up to “firsts” standard, seconds, polishers, lumps and pitchers.  The seconds were sold to various wholesalers at a discount, the polishers could be rectified if the blemishes were ground off and perhaps the piece was re-fired.  Lumps were next down the final quality ladder and were sold to Mabel Fletcher who had a stall at Derby market or her father Jackie who had stalls in other markets; these market traders also took rejects from other factories such as Crown Derby. Finally we had what were known as pitchers, which were literally pitched down a shoot into a waiting horse and cart.  I remember we would all grab a handful as we passed and work off any tensions by pitching them at the wall!  All the finished wares had to be stacked in their correct piles in the warehouse to wait packing and transporting to the railway station.  The wicker packing crates were made for us at Rose Hill, Woodville, but these were kept repaired and in good order by Arthur Bloor.  When we moved over to steel mesh crates, Arthur made these in house.  During the 50’s we were still making most things on site including the “posts” and “stilts” used to separate the wares whilst they were being fired. It goes without saying that we made all our own moulds and had kept every mould ever used in case it would be needed again.  This department was in the very capable hands of Jim O’Brian who was incredibly talented as a sculptor.

Throughout this short period of my time at the factory, we were in full production and the factory employed some 640 people just after the Second World War.  The Top or Old Works was going full blast as well at that time. Arthur Cross was the manager and he had Arthur Neale as Clay Manager, Frank Barklam running the Biscuit warehouse, George Hyde in charge of dipping and Maurice Wright managing the Glost warehouse.  I would often be sent up the hill to deliver or collect something, but never worked there.  I do remember vividly however the further 4 biscuit and 6 glost bottle kilns at the Top Works and the amazing rabbit warren that made up a factory unaltered since the early 19th Century when all the potting would have been done by candle light!

And so in the summer of 1951 my short apprenticeship was interrupted and I went off to join the Royal Navy and learn to fly aircraft.  During this period, by chance the Korean War had built up to a peak and therefore at the end of my training I was asked if I would be prepared to go out to a squadron based on an aircraft carrier in Korean waters.  I had to make the decision overnight and so telephoned my father to ask permission to be a little late getting back to T.G.Green’s!  The response was typical of his understanding and tolerance because in spite of it being a war zone, his answer was “If you feel it is the right thing to do for you, then don’t hesitate”  

So just over two years later, in September 1953 I rejoined Green’s and commenced my pottery training in earnest.  I was immediately thrust into studying again!  This time something very different because I had swapped “Aerodynamics and Meteorology” for “Heavy Claywares and Fuels, Kilns and Firing” by commencing the winter term at the North Staffordshire Technical College!  So began a period of alternating between college in term time and back onto the factory during the breaks.  I remember one of the interesting experiences in which I was involved at the factory, but one, which I am sure, did not enamor me to the work force!  My father had just installed some new semi automatic machines in one of the making shops and we needed to know how many items they could produce per hour.  The work force was on piecework and the correct wage rate had yet to be set.  Fairly obviously and understandably, the operators were taking things gently until the rate was set, so an outside consultant in time and motion was employed and I was put alongside him to learn the job.  We had working for us a very nice Hungarian by the name of Mick Goobish who arrived in England at the time of the Hungarian uprising in 1948, together with several others who worked at Green’s.  He was a very good and exceedingly quick worker and when he was set on one of the machines, his rate was far to fast for the rest of the operators to accept and a very delicate situation arose! My father obviously considered that the Hungarians made very good workers and Frank (Ginger) Mulnar became a very skilled “Rib Filer” under Harold Smith, staying at the firm until 1991.  Dad also recruited Edith Hallam and another girl from a recruiting office in Market Harborough in 1947, neither of who knew what a pottery works was!

I was still on the Reserve list for the Fleet Air Arm and so used to go over each weekend to the air station where my squadron was based to join in the flying and of course the rather splendid parties that always seemed to materialize!   I began to find that life studying, interspersed with work at the factory in what were beginning to become difficult financial times, rather palled when compared with flying and I found that I was living for the weekends.  The result, of course, was somewhat predictable and I decided that I wanted to rejoin the Navy so that I could fly full time.  Once again my father proved himself to be completely understand by saying, “You only have one life and if that is what you want to do, then do it”. 

So my working time at Green’s had ended, but of course father always kept me in touch with progress.  I remember the first major blow was the government’s “Clean Air Act” of 1956 which sounded the death knell of the old coal fired bottle kilns and the need for costly change over to electric firing.  There was of course some time to implement the changes, but it was a major financial blow.  It was with great sadness that I witnessed from the side line all the tribulations of the 1960’s when the financial clouds were beginning to gather over the old firm.   Purchase tax had a very detrimental effect on sales; too many orders for special wares were being taken that never developed into long term business, contracts made with the breweries for advertising ashtrays and other wares that then proved too hard to make, price competition from the Far East and various other factors were all causing problems and were getting the bank fidgety.  In 1966 the Bank decided to call in the loans, which could not be met, and so a receiver was appointed.

In hindsight I have often wondered if I would have been able to influence matters had I stayed, but of course I know this would not have been possible.  My father was one of the kindest of men and found it impossible to lay off people who had given their life to Green’s even if they were now too old to be efficient.  Drastic action was needed in terms of pruning the range of wares made, making production more efficient which meant a radical re-organization together with reduction of the workforce sometime in the late 1950’s was needed when I was only 27.  At that age my father would not have countenanced solutions put forward by me even if I had known what was needed and we would I am sure have fallen out over it.  Leaving as I did, to make my own way, changed our relationship and allowed us to become very close friends.

So the “old order changed” and Church Gresley Pottery left the Green family ownership for good after 105 years.  The new brooms of a business consortium swept in, cleared up, cut out the old wood, and applied modern accountancy management.  My father was retained as a consultant and continued in that capacity until he died in 1976.

The story of the revival of fortunes under Pat and Claire Freeman who ended up with all the shares of T.G.Green in 1968, in exchange for theirs in a textile company is best told by others.  Suffice to say that they managed to keep the old firm alive and kicking for 20 years until they sold out in 1988 to the Cloverleaf Group.It is good to see that the old firm is still continuing to produce the much loved “Cornish Kitchenware,” first made in 1924, or “Cornish Blue” as it is now known, as well as other exciting modern wares in the ownership of the Cloverleaf Group.

Derek S Green
16th January 2001

Addendum February 2006

The old firm of T.G.Green has gone through further times of uncertainty since I wrote the above. Cloverleaf allowed the company to decline even further and then sold it in 2001 to Mason Cash who was a small rival factory just up the hill from Greens. This period of ownership only lasted for a short period and the combined firms of Mason cash and T.G.Green went into voluntary liquidation in 2004. We all feared that this might be the end, however the two companies were purchased by The Table Top Company under whose dynamic leadership a welcome turn around has been made. After a large injection of cash for new machinery including kilns and a wonderfully adroit laser guided machine that has been named Goodwin after my great grandfather, T.G.Greens is now thriving again with the Cornishware range having been expanded and that other great design of blue with white spots called Domino being re-introduced to the range in September 2005.

Addendum July 2007

After all our hopes, the Table Top Company went into liquidation this month and all the site and machinary has been sold. It looks as if this is finally the end for my old family business.  

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