A small band of our members recently went on Coventry u3a's coach trip to The World of Wedgwood in the Potteries. This was both enjoyable and informative, with a guided tour of the Wedgwood workshops and the fascinating V&A Wedgwood Collection. It was interesting to learn that Josiah Wedgwood was an artisan potter who, through painstaking R&D, improved pottery manufacturing techniques while becoming an astute and successful entrepreneur. Wedgwood was a prominent slavery abolitionist and is also notable as the grandfather of Charles Darwin and Darwin's wife, Emma, as they were first cousins.

Admiring the Lessore Vase, c1863, bought back from a vendor in the USA to become part of the V&A collection. It would have been nice to have a photograph of the (still active) Wedgwood production facility, but visitors are forbidden from taking photos.