About this event:
The Warehouse (next to Stoke Top Lock) at Etruria Industrial Museum
Etruria Vale Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 4RB
Wednesday 17th September 2025
14:00
Until the middle of the 20th century coal was THE source of energy throughout the UK - both as a direct fuel in factories, homes and power stations as well as a 'raw material' in steel production. With thousands suffering from poor health and early deaths, the 1956 Clean Air Act effectively banned the use of coal and the pottery industry was forced to replace its hundreds of bottle-ovens with gas and electric kilns. Phil Rowley's illustrated talk will show the changes that took place in the city and will review alternative energy technologies which became available and those that are currently being developed.