When is a train not a train, answer when it is a bus. I know that we are familiar with the fact that when there are engineering works on the line buses are deployed to transport everyone to their next destination instead of the trains. However this week we had a guest who wanted to visit the new Wedgwood Museum at Barlaston. Having lived in the area some years ago she was familiar with the railway station at Wedgwood and so I checked on the internet and sure enough there was a train running every hour from Stoke to Wedgwood station. I was as delighted as she was as this may prove the answer for many of our guests who don't have access to a car as it is virtually impossible to visit the Wedgwood Factory and Museum at Barlaston some 8 miles out of the city centre by public transport.
My delight was short lived as on her return she informed me that the station at Wedgwood was in fact closed and even though she had been able to purchase a train ticket it was then she found that not only was there no train but the station at Barlaston has been closed for some time. However there is a bus service whose times of running bore no resemblance to the train timetable. The attendant in the ticket office at Stoke on Trent station agreed that it was misleading but there was nothing that could be done about so he refunded her ticket money. Our intrepid guest then travelled by bus only to find that she had to walk a mile from the closest bus stop to the Wedgwood factory. For her it was not a problem but it certainly limited the amount of spending in the Factory Shop!
I don't want this to put anyone off visiting the new award winning Museum (the Wedgwood Museum recently won the prestigious Art Fund prize) which I visited myself a few weeks ago. It is superb and must be high on the list of things to do when visiting the area. The Museum is a credit to all who have been involved with it, it showcases the history of the company and there is lots of information about Josiah Wedgwood, his life, his peers and his work. My advice if you are visiting is to take a break half way round and enjoy afternoon tea across in the Wedgwood tea rooms. There is so much information to take in this allows time to digest and then go back for more. I felt I I couldn't do justice to the latter half of the Museum as I was in information overload. .
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