Member Article

Students honour Ringtons’ heritage in unique art exhibition

Students from a north east school are honouring the heritage of two well-known local names - tea merchant Ringtons and Maling pottery - through a very special art project.

Forming part of their sixth-form art curriculum, students from Sir Charles Parsons School in Walker have been exploring the history of the former Maling pottery during art classes held at Walker Riverside Academy.

For over two centuries Maling pottery was produced in the north east of England – originally in Sunderland in 1762 and later in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1817 at a site which is now known as Hoults Yard. Ringtons famously sold Maling pottery for over 40 years through its traditional doorstep delivery service with many customers collecting the varied ranges which included teapots, cups, caddies and sugar bowls.

The sixth-form students from Sir Charles Parsons School have created their very own Maling-inspired masterpieces which are being proudly displayed at Ringtons Head Office from Monday 15th July to Friday 19th July 2019.

Sir Charles Parsons School is a school for young people aged eleven to nineteen years old who have a range of additional needs including severe, complex and multiple learning difficulties and disabilities. The students involved in the project are studying art at Walker Riverside Academy alongside its own sixth-form students.

Colin Smith, Packing Director from Ringtons said: “Ringtons is closely associated with Maling pottery and from the 1920s we produced a large number of designs together, which many of our customers still hold dear and pass down to family members. As part of their art curriculum the students from Sir Charles Parsons visited our head office to find out more about our relationship with Maling and to view our varied pieces. When we heard the students had produced their own Maling-inspired artwork we jumped at the chance to welcome them to Ringtons head office once again to display the artwork in our heritage room for all to see.”

Those seeking to view the artwork can do so between 9am-4pm from Monday 15th July to Friday 19th July 2019 at Ringtons’ head office on Algernon Road, Byker, NE6 2YN.

Caroline Gregorio, art teacher for Walker Riverside Academy added: “I’ve been teaching the students from Sir Charles Parsons’ School for four years now and I greatly look forward to working with the students every year. I wanted a project with a local connection and exploring Maling pottery seemed the natural choice, and of course Ringtons’ iconic blue and white pottery in particular is a significant part of both Maling and Ringtons’ history. We also had some wonderful caddy and tea pot moulds and some beautiful cobalt blue glaze and over the last few months the students have researched and created fantastic Newcastle-themed blue and white pieces that we are delighted that to display at Ringtons for the public to view.”

Ringtons was established in 1907 by Samuel Smith who sold tea door-to-door by horse and cart. Today its doorstep delivery service remains its biggest route to market and delivers from 19 UK-wide sites to over 230,000 customers. The business’ online store delivers worldwide, while Ringtons Beverages for Business division meets the needs of hotels, restaurants, cafes and businesses across the country and the company’s private label packing division supplies leading supermarkets and retailers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hayley Ford .