From 19th -25th September, 2022, we celebrate Recycle Week. Whilst we continue to fire our products in kilns which require a lot of energy, this process ensures the longevity and quality of our product, with pieces passed down through generations looking just as they did day they were made. Recycling has always been within our business; due to the nature of ceramic production clay can be recycled up until the moment it is fired and we recycle every last piece that we can. This is done on our factory site at Middleport pottery, with any off cuts, and the excess slip (liquid clay) from moulds feeding back down into our slip house where it is reprocessed back into slip, which we then use to cast our more complicated shapes.
We also like to reduce waste in any other way we can and with that in mind we thought now was the perfect time to remind you about our seconds collections and what that really means…
Every single piece of Burleighware is hand-decorated using the same rare, time-honoured skills of our master craftspeople. The same can also be said for our seconds pieces, which feature small, unique blemishes, earned as they pass through the rooms at Middleport Pottery.
At Burleigh, we are sticklers for perfection, meaning we would never sell any pieces that feature small, miss-daubed ink blotches at full price, marking down the almost imperceptibly imperfect ware and labelling it ‘seconds.’ In fact, our seconds offering provides a fantastic way to add to your Burleigh collection, imbuing your home with our famous quality and style for a little less; whilst also ensuring that no usable products are wasted. Burleigh is proud to continue to make seconds available to our customers. We will continue to make each piece, adorned with speckles of ink dots or not, available to our customers to help reduce our impact on the environment and to allow those pieces to be used, enjoyed and passed down for generations to come.
Here at Burleigh we always encourage our consumers to not save their beautiful ware ‘for best’. This idea seems somewhat nostalgic and takes us back to festive family feasts at Christmas when Mum would get her best Burleighware out of the dresser for the festive season. But now, there is a new appreciation of the joy that can come from elevating everyday activities; especially activities revolving around food!
Whether your Burleighware is best or seconds, we encourage you to continue to celebrate everyday with your ‘best’ tableware. Selecting your favourite cup in the morning, the one that fits to your hand just-so, and filling it with freshly brewed coffee is a joy and the greatest joy of all is combining all of your favourite pieces to create your own bespoke collection to show your style. Mixing pattern and texture and colour to create the perfect set, to suit the way you eat at home. This means buying less, and more thoughtfully; and most importantly buying to last.
Enjoy browsing our seconds collections with exclusive discounts from Burleigh.