Visit to David Leach's Lowerdown Pottery
Lowerdown Pottery is very easy to miss! We parked outside in
the lay-by at the side of the road. The Open sign above
entrance is the only clue to its existance, we peered through
gap in high hedge to see Lowerdown Pottery sign on building which
turned out to be the showroom. There was a brass bell on the path
outside the showroom with a "Ring for Attention" sign
next to it. The door was ajar so we walked in.
Soon a tall, thin dreadlocked young man arrived, I asked if he
worked at the pottery. No, he was an Australian who had written
to David Leach and organised a visit. He, Brendan, rang the bell
and David Leach appeared from his bungalow alongside the showroom.
He looked and moved well. Brendan introduced himself and David
Leach asked if we were friends. I said No, we were just passing
through and dropped in by chance.
David was qute talkative and happy to answer our questions. Diana
mentioned her City and Guilds work and asked David for permission
to use Bernard Leach's Barnaloft poem in her work. He agreed and
popped back to the bungalow bringing back a folio edition of his
father's Drawings, Verses and Beliefs book. Opposite
the Barnaloft poem was a drawing of Japanese mountains with a
small figure lying in the foreground which David said was himself.
His father took him on a walk into the mountains and David dropped
down tired out. His father then passed the time sketching the
scene!
Brendan is a potter with around 12 years experience. He was on
a pulgrimage to the U.K. hoping to visit Mike Dodd and maybe Richard
Batterham. David said that he must see his son John at Muchelney
and also Mick Casson.
I told David about my St. Ives willow tree plate . I joked that
they had probably made hundreds of them but David thought that
not all that many had been produced. We talked about potters and
David said that William Marshall was still potting but no-one
knows when his firings will be. He pots with his son Andrew. William
Marshall was a master thrower and did the standard ware at St.
Ives before setting up his own pottery at Lelant. David said that
Harry Davis could make 3 saucers a minute - each exactly the same
as the previous. We alked about a recent Bonham's auction which
had three of David's pots, he had a catalogue in his house.
I bought a huge waves plate and David gave me an exhibition leaflet
from a show he had with his sister Jessamine in the 1990s plus
a Muchelney pottery poster. He agreed to let me take his photograph
holding the plate, I also took one of David, Brendan and Diana
standing outside the pottery showroom.
As Brendan was a potter, David asked if we would all like to
have a look around the pottery, we jumped at the chance! In the
room behind the showroom David had assembled around a hundred
of his pots - a start to getting ready for his retrospective exhibition
at the Devon Guild in Bovey Tracy next year (2003). All sizes,
stoneware, porcelain and earthenware. He had a massive squared
vase that looked recent so I asked if he was still potting that
size - he said No, that one was fired in the 1980s and had a hole
in the base. He had recently filled the hole with araldite, refired
and reglazed the pot. David said that we must come to the retrospective,
we said that we would definitely be there.
David asked if we would like to see the kiln, we did! He currently
uses a small electric kiln which is gas fired. It is capable of
firing big pots. There were two large pots on a shelf at the side
with firing faults. David said the gas ran out during a firing
and he fitted a new canister assuming the gas would light straight
away, it didn't and there was a small explosion which blew out
the spy hole. Even he makes mistakes! Bins of glazes along the
wall at the side of the kiln. The adjoining room housed the old
twin chambered kiln - the left chamber wood fired and the right
oil fired. There was a huge pile of wood in front of the kiln.
The throwing room had two Leach kick wheels and a single electric
powered wheel. These were at the front of the building and shutters
were opened to allow visitors to see the potters throwing. David
Leach perfers the kick wheel which he says is more controllable
- you can't stop at electric wheel quickly. Diana liked the pile
of unglazed pot lids on the floor. Lots of broken, unfired pots
and dust were everywhere. There was a clay store bin in the big
kiln room. David said that he uses three types of ball clay for
his stoneware.
After the tour we went outside and David told us of a large tree
which blew down in a storm in 2001. It hit the side of the showroom
narrowly missing the beautiful red acer at the showroom door.
We said our goodbyes and left, saying we would pop in when we
were next in the area.
A great experience to meet David Leach still going strong at
91 after over 70 years of potting. He was genuinely interested
in us and told stories of himself, his family and the St. Ives
pottery. He told us what to see in St. Ives and recommended we
visit the Bernard Leach retrospective exhibition in Penzance -
we did!
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