My great grandmother's Ewenny Pottery Jug

 The Ewenny Pottery jug, we think around 100 years old

For this post, I am handing the reins over to my mum who wants to talk about this precious blue jug that she remembers from her childhood home: part of Elizabeth Terrace in the village of Glasinfryn, North Wales.

"My great grandmother was known in the village as Mrs Williams Ty Popty (that is, Mrs Williams of the Bake House; her home was once the village bakery). To my mum she was Nanan. 

Chipped but still working, there's a lesson for us all

"This tatty little jug has very fond memories for me. It also must have meant a lot to my mother as she also kept it. I think it must be 100 years old. It used to stand on the wall in the backyard of Nan‘s house. 

Nanan outside her house

"She didn’t have any running water in the house so there was always a huge great terracotta pot of water that was filled each morning with water from the pump in the street and this little jug was used for scooping out fresh water from the terracotta storage pot to fill a kettle or, just to drink from. 

Look at the swish on that handle

"I used to drink from it quite frequently when I was a child. There wasn’t a kitchen just a cooker a Welsh dresser and small table, no bathroom no toilet that was also in the backyard, an earth closet and people think they have it hard today! 

The inscription on the jug translates as ‘God's gift of water’."

I am delighted to report that a little research has confirmed this jug was created by Ewenny Pottery, the oldest established pottery in Wales, located in the south of the country, near Bridgend. The earliest records of the site being used for pot making is 1427. 

And the pottery is still going! 

You can visit their website to find out all about their history, and order a modern pot from them:

https://ewennypottery.com/

The sketch below shows Elizabeth Terrace (on the right) in Glasinfryn where Nanan lived. 

This was sketched by my father (The English Boy) from Nanan's front door. The house my mother grew up in is the last on the right. This sketch was done in 1963 when my dad was 18.

I have written about the Welsh side of my family in other blog posts, which you're welcome to explore.

"Soon after the birth, a parcel arrived from Wales. It was addressed to Rita Bach (in English, Little Rita). Inside was a tiny, soft toy rabbit and a letter."

Read more about this letter here:

A Handwritten Letter from 1946

"For this post I will share with you her recipe for pickled onions - a vintage recipe that dates back to the 1930s and has not been written down before. It’s a tradition in my family to make these onions in November, just in time for Christmas. So get your skates on."

Read more about this recipe here:

My Great Grandmother's Pickled Onion Recipe

Invitation to Comment

Do you have some very old pottery that's survived several family generations?

Did you grow up without something that is now in every home and taked for granted?