We then went to the pipe museum.  Both of us had imagined plumbing type pipes and when we arrived and saw that it was smoking pipes we were very surprised.  It was very interesting.  The old factory was abandoned when the demand for clay pipes ceased and left with everything still in it.  The factory you see today is just as it was when it ceased operations.  It is a bit eerie actually.

There is a display of the many styles of clay pipe that was made there and you can watch a short 1930’s film showing how the long stemmed pipe, called a church warden was made.  It is the only film showing how the pipes were made in existence today.

 

 

Our final museum today was the tile museum.  Again it was brilliant.  Showing many intricate designs for tiles from the Victorian times right up to the present time.  Most underground stations in London are tiled.  There were designs by William Morris and Willem de Morgan, of the Arts and Crafts movement.