The Turnover Club: locality and identity in the North Staffordshire practice of turning over ceramic ware

Leach, Rebecca

Abstract

This paper explores a key practice adopted by those local to or from Stoke-on-Trent, and outlines its significance in the wider context of ‘ordinary’ consumption and material cultures, globalisation and local identity. Being a ‘turnover-er’ – someone who always turns over pottery to check whether it is Stoke-on-Trent ware – is an oft practised, but little examined part of the living heritage that connects those with affinity to ‘the Potteries’ (as the region is known) and its ceramic ware. The project set out to explore qualitative accounts of turning over and to gauge its salience and reach as a practice, linking this to broader accounts of material culture, consumption and heritage. We carried out 20 interviews with those who turn over or who have an interest in local ceramics, and an online survey (n = 500) which explored the some of the reasons for turning over. Findings indicate the strong connections established by the practice of turning over to local identity, both inherited and adopted, and further indicates the social salience and emotional attachments to the meanings of local ware.

Citation

Leach, R. (2016). The Turnover Club: locality and identity in the North Staffordshire practice of turning over ceramic ware. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 484-494. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2016.1178161

• Acceptance Date: Apr 11, 2016
• Publication Date: May 11, 2016
• Journal: International Journal of Heritage Studies
• Print ISSN: 1352-7258
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 484-494
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2016.1178161
• Keywords: ceramics, pottery, Stoke-on-Trent, intangible cultural heritage, material culture, working-class heritage
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2016.1178161