17th September at 1400 to approximately 1530 in The Canal Warehouse at Etruria Industrial Museum

 Free light refreshment available.

Until the middle of the 20th century coal was THE source of energy throughout the UK – both as a direct fuel in factories, homes and power stations as well as a ‘raw material’ in steel production. We’ve seen photos of towns with every building black from the smoke and, of course, the Potteries area was also notorious for the smoke emitted from the bottle-ovens. from the Many thousand people suffered from the effects of smoke, in addition to cigarette smoking and the coalminers themselves often suffered from lunch problems such as pneumoconiosis. Until the middle of the 20th century coal was THE source of energy throughout the UK – both as a direct fuel in factories, homes and power stations as well as a ‘raw material’ in steel production. With thousands suffering from poor health and early deaths, the 1956 Clean Air Act effectively banned the use of coal, and the pottery industry was forced to replace its hundreds of bottle-ovens with gas and electric kilns. Phil Rowley’s illustrated talk will show the changes that took place in the city and will review alternative energy technologies which became available and those that are currently being developed.

Booking: Pre-book online:  potteries.org.uk/energy-then-now-book

Website: potteries.org.uk