We love half term holiday breaks as it means we take some time off to head out on day trips and holidays. During the last May holidays, we headed to The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent to visit the museum and the Titanic: Honour & Glory Exhibition.
The Potteries Museum is home to diverse displays of art, local history, natural sciences and the world’s greatest collection of Staffordshire ceramics. Entry into the museum is Free, so a great way to spend some time there as a family if you are thinking of a Day Out trip to Hanley on a budget.
The Potteries museum is also home of the City’s Spitfire RW388 which was donated by The RAF in 1972. The aeroplane is a symbol of great design and engineering and it represents the link between Stoke-on-Trent and the Spitfire’s designer, Reginald Joseph Mitchell.
Mitchell was born and educated in north Staffordshire and he designed 24 different aeroplanes during his career including flying boats, high-speed racing seaplanes and the Supermarine Spitfire.
There are also a lot of galleries in the museum from Local History gallery representing the history of the people of Stoke-on-Trent to the archaeology gallery showcases Staffordshire’s rich and diverse archaeological heritage from prehistoric technologies to daily life in a Roman household, medieval monasticism to the early potters of Burslem.
Our main aim of visiting the museum was to visit the Titanic: Honour & Glory Exhibition which had been on display from February (this ended on 1st May). There was an entry charge of £5 per adult while kids went in free.
We spotted genuine artefacts from the Titanic and her sister ships as well as memorabilia from the 1997 James Cameron movie. The exhibition also featured the accounts of local Staffordshire personnel connected to the ill-fated liner including Captain Edward John Smith, Mr Leonard Hodgkinson, Senior 4th Engineer on board Titanic, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent and Mr. Christopher Mills, assistant butcher who was born in Longton.
We thoroughly enjoyed looking at some of the beautiful China dinner plates upon which the first meals were served aboard Titanic as well as some personal belongings of Titanic’s passengers and crew, including a night dress which belonged to first class passenger Margaret Welles Baron Swift on board Titanic.
I spent some time admiring the props from the film Titanic including some of the dresses worn by Kate Winslet and the dazzling ‘heart of the ocean’ necklace. It did bring back a lot of memories as I remember watching Titanic in 1997 when it was first released in the cinema.
Do note that this exhibition is no longer at the Potteries Museum and is currently touring at the Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum. I believe it will eventually head back to Liverpool once its tour ends.
The museum also has a lovely retail shop which stocks a wide range of wonderful items exclusive to the museum including ceramics, jewellery books and stationary.
Visitors can browse unique gifts inspired by their collections including the Staffordshire Hoard, Ceramics and their brand new Spitfire Gallery. What is so unique is that the shop features a wide range of studio pottery and gifts created by local artists.
How much are the tickets to the Museum?
Entry into The Potteries Museum is free (donations welcomed). Some visiting exhibitions such as the Titanic Exhibition charge a small entry fee.
What are their Opening Hours?
Mon & Tue – Closed
Wed to Sat – 10am to 5pm
Sun – 11am to 4pm
Where is Potteries Museum & Art Gallery ?
Bethesda St
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 3DW
01782 232323
About Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is part of Stoke-on-Trent Museums Service. The museums service was established in 1911 with the Federation of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent. The largest museum in the service, the Hanley Museum & Art Gallery, became the Stoke-on-Trent City Museum & Art Gallery when it moved to new premises in 1956, and the museum underwent major expansion in the late 1970s, winning the ‘Museum of the Year’ award in 1982. In 1998 the museum was rebranded as The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (PMAG).
The museum’s collection of Staffordshire pottery is widely acknowledged as the finest in the world and other collections of fine and decorative arts, natural science, social history and archaeology have local, regional and national significance. The museum is fully accredited and all the collections, totalling more than 650,000 individual objects, are Designated collections. The museum is also now home to a number of artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard, which PMAG bought along with Birmingham Museums in 2010.
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24 comments
I love taking trips like this with the family. It’s a great way to make some great memories.
Absolutely is a great day out for the whole family
Wow! What a cool-looking museum! Definitely someplace my family and I could get lost inside looking at everything!
You definitely would enjoy it Jennifer
My boys have been asking a lot of questions about the Titanic lately for some reason. I believe there’s a museum near us with some things from it. We like the museum for a cool indoor day trip, especially when it’s free!
I agree and especially when it is a wet day outside as well
Potteries Museum & art gallery looks interesting. Visiting museum with family is a great way to learn and have fun together.
I agree a great way to enjoy the day with the family
I love interesting little museums like this – perfect for mooching about and taking in all sorts of interesting artifacts and historical learnings with the family.
I agree, a fabulous place indeed
You can’t beat a good free museum, especially when you’re trying to fill up the days of a half term. Looks like a good trip out and lots to see x
You absolutely read my mind! Lots to see and learn there
oh wow, not every day you get to experience an amazing museum for free, this is awesome.
I agree, especially when you are thinking of ways to keep kids entertained
This does sound like a great museum to go visit. It helps that it’s free. Although we’d go see the Titanic exhibition too.
I agree, I did not mind paying the extra money just to see the Titanic exhibition, it was worth it
My nieces and nephews will surely love that museum.
A great day out for the whole family
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery sound like a great way to spend time learning with your family. I LOVE museums, a perfect combination of learning and fun/
I love them too and always make sure kids visit places such as this
This museum looks so informational and with so much history packed into one place! We have a similar one in Duxford, that has lots of airplanes like the one you saw!
How lovely that you have a similar museum as well, so good for kids
This looks like such a fun and educational day out! Are there any hands-on activities for kids at the museum, or is it mostly exhibits to explore? Thanks for sharing your experience!
Yes there are, and this changes often as well depending on when you go and visit.