Celebrate In Potteries; See Films At Sundance

Q. I am planning an extended visit to England and am interested in visiting the Potteries region. Please provide information, particularly on the Moorcroft factory.

A. There is plenty to see and do this year in Stoke-on-Trent, the collection of six towns traditionally known as the Potteries, 145 miles north of London.

Both Moorcroft and Royal Doulton are celebrating anniversaries. This year is the 100th anniversary of the origin of Moorcroft pottery and of the death of Sir Henry Doulton, founder of Royal Doulton.

Exhibitions on both will be featured at the City Museum and Art Gallery on Bethesda Street in the Stoke-on-Trent town of Hanley, telephone (44-1782) 232 323. The museum is open daily and admission is free.

Moorcroft pottery is still being made the same way as it was in 1897 when William Moorcroft developed his style of color tube-lined ware. Known for its rich, colorful glaze, Moorcroft refined a slipware technique that prevents colors from bleeding into one other.

The anniversary exhibition at the City Museum and Art Gallery, which is scheduled for Oct. 5 to Jan. 11, 1998, will trace the history of Moorcroft from its heyday in the 1920s, through its recovery from virtual bankruptcy in the ‘80s, to its recent comeback.

Moorcroft has its own museum and factory shop at Sandbach Road, Burslem, (44-1782) 207943. Visitors will be able to see and buy the current range of Moorcroft pottery, including the centenary collection. The museum and shop are open Monday through Saturday.

“The Legacy of Sir Henry Doulton, 120 years of Royal Doulton,” also at the Hanley museum, runs through July 6. Royal Doulton rediscovered many types of pottery including the deep reds of the flambe glaze, and introduced a new translucent body known as fine china. The exhibition will feature more than 200 items. Doulton crafts people will give demonstrations and table settings will be displayed.

At Royal Doulton’s factory shop and new visitor center on Nile Street in Burslem a daily program of events and demonstrations will be presented. The shop is open daily. Admission is $4.20. Information: (44-1782) 292434.

Spode also opened a new visitor center in February last year. It is on Church Street in Stoke-on-Trent, (44-1782) 744011, and tells the story of Josiah Spode, who devised the formula for fine bone china. Open daily; admission $3.50.

Wedgwood’s visitor center is open daily at Barlaston in Stoke-on-Trent; (44-1782) 204218. Admission is $5.50.

Q. We would like to attend the Sundance Film Festival in 1998. Could you give us information on lodgings and projected prices?

A. The dates for the 1998 Sundance Film Festival - Jan. 15 to 25 - have been set, but some details remain to be worked out, according to Lilliana Cabal, a member of the press office for the Sundance Institute, which organizes the annual festival in Park City, Utah.

Prices for the various types of festival passes - which won’t go on sale until early November - have not been announced; individual tickets will probably not go on sale until early January.

At the 1997 festival, which featured 127 full-length films and 56 short films, tickets ranged in price from $7 to $10 for individual screenings. There were also several packages available, ranging from a $125 pass, which allowed entrance to 17 regular daytime screenings and three panel discussions, to a $2,000 package, which allowed one to attend an unlimited number of events during either the first or the second five-day period.

It is wise to buy packages well in advance. Last year 12,000 people from out of state attended the festival. For information, contact the Sundance Institute, P.O. Box 16450, Salt Lake City UT 84116, (801) 328-3456.