Manor Oaks Wood-firing Group

Meeting 3rd October

Penny and I met with Sue France and the building team. After all the to-ing and fro-ing that has been going on, this was the most promising meeting so far. We have a new site for the kiln – next to the cottage where it was due to be built on a space that looks out across a field and over Sheffield – whilst it is quite exposed to the wind, we felt that we may be able to use this to our advantage when firing. The siting means the kiln will be outside but not on the main public thoroughfare but accessible nevertheless. The best news really is that this means we can stick as near as dammit to the Kesckemet design, which is tried and tested and I know it works!!

Not only that however, but also we have now gained a dedicated studio/workspace for pottery in the old cottage that was originally allocated to house the kiln. This is superb news as it means we will be able to run workshops on site – previously we were envisaging having to move between sites – ie where my studio is at Persistence Works, and the kiln site.

Work is moving on apace with the buildings on the site – the building team wish to complete the new roof and various other chores before tackling the kiln, but expect to be finished within three weeks. We have been allocated some project managers who are studying for their NVQ Level 3 and will be meeting with them soon to go through the design for the kiln with a fine tooth comb. We are still experiencing some misunderstanding as regards technical language from the two different areas of specialisms – ie the building trade and ceramics kiln construction! We need to make sure we are all speaking the same language and not blinding each other with specialist language! Penny and I have research to do to cost up materials and make sure we understand all the steps of the process and will be doing that over the next few weeks.

We will then be drawing up a schedule for the building of the kiln, breaking it down into stages, as the likelihood is that the building will take place one day at a time over a month or two, rather than a solid block of time. How this will work over the winter months we can’t be sure – especially with the recent forecast of a snowy winter! We will be looking to involve members of the public – groups that already visit and are involved with Green Estate as well as other amateur and professional potters. It is envisaged also that at this stage the rest of the Yorkshire Artspace potters will become more involved as well.

Meanwhile, I will be joining the Thoresby wood-firing group, which is also an offshoot of the extinct Rufford Wood-firing society, in order to carry on developing my wood-firing expertise.

Since our last meeting with Green Estate (see previous blog entry) Penny emailed Mike and Andy a more detailed diagram of removable bricks at the base of the flue and slots for dampers in the chimney base. She also visited Andy onsite to see how the roof was progressing. It seemed that nothing had been decided about the chimney at that point. It was therefore no surprise to hear from Sue early the following week that as no ideal way of incorporating the chimney into the roof had been found in time to fit in with their building plan we would have to consider another option. She therefore suggested Plan B, which is to house the kiln independently, outside the existing buildings. Sarah and Penny welcomed this suggestion because it would mean that the kiln could be built to the Kesckemet design without compromises being made. In addition concerns over adequate ventilation inside the stable block would no longer be an issue. It also meant that time pressure had been relaxed. We no longer see the kiln being built in time for the Open Studios in November and will have to rearrange our timetable. We will be meeting with Sue to discuss Plan B on Monday 31 September.

We have had a major set back to our project concerning our partner organisation. It no longer seems likely that the Woodfiring group at Denbigh are going to fire their kiln in the foreseeable future. We understand that modifications have been made to their kiln, which have resulted in its firing efficiency being compromised. We are currently making urgent enquiries through the networks that Sarah made in Hungary to find another partner and put together a new proposal.