The peculiar words of the Staffordshire Potteries explained. Devised and compiled by Terence (Terry) Woolliscroft.
It was launched in January 1976 as a regular column in The Friends of Gladstone Broadsheet and the first word was ARK. What a great word to launch it! Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, had just been opened by the Duke of Gloucester. David Sekers was the Director and The Honorable Hugh Gibson was the Friends Chairman.
Terry started his career in the pottery industry as a Production Management Trainee at Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent and it was there, during his 6-year training course, that he started collecting and compiling the wonderful words of the potteries. Actually, he doesn't quite know why he did it. But it seemed the 'right thing to do' and it was a fun way of learning. Getting the words and their definitions into print was very satisfying!
And having the Stokie dialect printed on a mug was even better! The mug was made by KilnCraft in two colours. Here's a flyer from about 1978.
This blog was created 30 years later when Terry had a little more time on his hands and the digital technology was developing and becoming easier to use.
The site is revised regularly with new definitions, more words and images.
SEVEN WEBSITES
Launched in 1976 when Terry was a volunteer at Gladstone Pottery Museum, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.
This is not an academic work - it was never intended to be! It's a collection of those strange words, phrases and dialect found in the Potteries. Hopefully, it's a great way of introducing you to the peculiar language of the potbanks and people.
CONTACT
You can contact me here >
terry.wool (at) proton (dot) me
More about my other websites here >
If you have any special words or phrases from the Potteries which don't appear in the Potbank Dictionary please do send them. You will be acknowledged in the text. And do let me know if you find any errors, typos, or inaccuracies. Many thanks.
ABOUT THE DICTIONARY
A little bit of its history
The Potbank Dictionary has grown from humble beginnings.It was launched in January 1976 as a regular column in The Friends of Gladstone Broadsheet and the first word was ARK. What a great word to launch it! Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, had just been opened by the Duke of Gloucester. David Sekers was the Director and The Honorable Hugh Gibson was the Friends Chairman.
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| The Gladstone Working Pottery Museum Story here> |
Terry started his career in the pottery industry as a Production Management Trainee at Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent and it was there, during his 6-year training course, that he started collecting and compiling the wonderful words of the potteries. Actually, he doesn't quite know why he did it. But it seemed the 'right thing to do' and it was a fun way of learning. Getting the words and their definitions into print was very satisfying!
And having the Stokie dialect printed on a mug was even better! The mug was made by KilnCraft in two colours. Here's a flyer from about 1978.
This blog was created 30 years later when Terry had a little more time on his hands and the digital technology was developing and becoming easier to use.
The site is revised regularly with new definitions, more words and images.
Terry is delighted that the site has been archived for preservation by the British Library and is part of the following subjects: Education & Research - Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias, and Reference Works.
Dialect pronunciation?
You can do it too! If you read each dialect phrase out loud it will sound like the Potteries dialect. So "CYST WREN LOW" is how Stokies would say 'sister in law' and 'JO JO TELL' is the way we would pronounce George Hotel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A little bit about me - Terence (Terry) Woolliscroft
Terry was born in Stoke-on-Trent and has never left the area. He has 'slip' in his veins. If you don't know what slip is, look it up in the dictionary! He enjoyed his entire career in the ceramics industry. He also has a passion for art and music. He paints and has played in local brass bands and orchestras.MUSIC
At the age of 11 he started learning to play the cornet in the school band at Blurton Junior High School. After just twelve months, his teacher, Stuart Johnson, encouraged him to 'sit in' with the North Staffs Symphony Orchestra. He started attending rehearsals and began to absorb what goes on in both rehearsals and concerts. Eventually he started playing the trumpet with the orchestra and over the years helped to run it taking on many responsibilities.
In 2024, the 120th Anniversary of its formation, he completed his 60 years with it. A Woolliscroft has been a member of the NSSO since it was founded in 1904.
EARLY CAREER
At the age of 16, straight from school, Terry joined Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. as a Production Management Trainee. The company sponsored his attendance at the North Staffordshire Polytechnic (now Staffordshire University) where he graduated with an Honours Degree in Ceramic Technology. Wedgwood also sponsored his month-long course at the Outward Bound School in Aberdyfi, a truly life changing experience.
STAND-OUT MOMENTS
STAND-OUT MOMENTS
In 1976 he was a member of the team which surveyed and documented the remaining bottle ovens and kilns in the Potteries, contributing to the preservation of local industrial heritage. At the time there were 60 still standing. At their peak there were around 2100 across the Potteries skyline. Today, 2025, just 47 remain complete with their bottle-shaped chimney.
In 1978 he was a member of the organising committee of The Last Bottle Oven Firing in the Potteries. The event was put on by the 19 staff and 72 volunteers of Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, and hit the national headlines in print and broadcast media. It was a proud day for the Potteries and was described as 'its biggest cultural event of the 20th century'. It was at this event that Terry met Alfred Clough, the 'fireman' responsible for the Final Firing. In 2018 he co-authored a book with his wife - the first written account of what went on during the last firing of a Potteries bottle oven.
Also in 1978 he was one of a small organising team (headed by Paul Shaw) who organised the first full performance of the world's biggest symphony, The Gothic by Havergal Brian. Brian was born and bred in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. The performance was at the Victoria Hall in Hanley and required 800 performers.
A BOOK ABOUT BOTTLE OVENS
In 2018 he co-authored, with his wife Pam, 'Bottle Ovens and the Story of the Final Firing.' The book tells the full story of the final firing of 1978. The details are drawn from contemporary audio and film recordings, photos taken by Gladstone volunteers and professionals, committee meeting minutes, surviving notebooks, the event log book, media reports, management reports and remarkable recollections of some of the 72 volunteers involved.
LIVING IN THE OLDEST HOUSE
From 1983 to 1987, Terry, and his wife lived at the Ford Green Hall museum in Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent. They were its last ever residents. The hall was built in 1624 and had been occupied continuously for 363 years. Pam was the 'live-in curator' of the museum but her residency was prematurely cut short, when on 23rd August 1987, ten hours of non-stop torrential rain caused a disastrous flood which swamped the Hall. Mother Nature had forced them to leave.
LATER CAREER
For the last decade of his career Terry, as a consultant, worked in the sanitaryware industry for the likes of Twyfords, Roca, Lecico, Laufen, The Bathroom Manufacturers Association, the John Lewis Partnership and B&Q. This saw him travelling the world passing on his knowledge of the industry in special training seminars. He is now retired and is successfully painting in oils and acrylics.
ART
Terry paints landscapes and still lifes. He draws inspiration from the unique landscape of the Potteries. His acrylic and oil paintings have found homes both in the UK and internationally, including Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Arizona, and Washington. He has exhibited his work in various galleries and was privileged to have a solo show at The Foxlowe Art Centre in Leek in 2018.
Beyond his artistic endeavours, Terry founded the Bottle Oven Art Club in 2020, an online exhibition celebrating the culture and heritage of the bottle ovens and kilns of the Potteries. This initiative earned him a nomination for the Museums and Heritage Award in 2021.
100 YEARS 100 FACES MURAL
In 2025 he was surprised and delighted to be selected for inclusion on the huge mural '100 Years 100 Faces'. The mural features 100 portraits to honour the people who have shaped the city's cultural identity.
SEVEN WEBSITES
Since the 1990s, in his spare time, he created specialist information websites about Potteries culture. These have been archived by The British Library.
* The Potbank Dictionary
* The Potteries Bottle Oven
* The Last Bottle Oven Firing 1978
* The Gladstone Pottery Museum Story
* The History of Twyford Bathrooms
* The History of the North Staffordshire Symphony Orchestra
* Ford Green Hall - its last residents
Terry's multifaceted contributions highlight his deep connection to the cultural and industrial heritage of the Potteries.
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The UK Web Archive
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| This site is archived for preservation by the British Library and is part of the following subjects: Education & Research > Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias, and Reference Works The UK Web Archive is a consortium of the six UK legal deposit libraries which aims to collect all UK websites at least once each year |
Why Blogspot Blogger?
Why has Blogger been used as a website? Why not a full-blown dot-com website? Well, Blogspot Blogger is free and works OK. Also, it will still be available after Terry has popped his clogs!
Copyright Information
This website/blog has been created entirely for fun. I've enjoyed researching and making the information available to everyone. It's all about sharing knowledge. The site has no commercial interests and is for reference and educational purposes. Users of the site may use the content themselves only for educational, or personal, non-commercial use. Please fee free to make use of the information on the site for your personal use. I'd love you to acknowledge where you found the information and if you could create a link to the site that would be great.
Thanks, Terry
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