I’ve mentioned it before, but if you’ve never been you really should make a trip up to Bygone Times near Chorley. Not only does it have one of the biggest collections of West German Pottery I’ve ever seen in one place, but the rest of it is also worth a really good look round. There’s a massive variety of things available and you can find stuff to suit every budget.

Having said that, usually we come back laden down with stuff but today I only found a few things.

We bought this Scheurich from Stuart’s West German Pottery stall. This now takes the grand total of different glazes up to 28 – Stuart informs me I’ve only got about another hundred to go!

Aidan spotted a little Italian tourist donkey:

I think he probably wishes he’d not pointed another one out to me! I’ll admit that I had to squash up the others on the shelf quite a bit to fit it in, despite it’s miniature stature.

Now I’m going to say this, but please don’t hold it to me. The final buy will NOT form the basis of a new collection. I know that’s unusual and out of character, but I only want one of these:

I’ve had my eye on the Hornsea and Sylvac fauna vases for a while. I don’t like the rabbit ones but I do like the squirrel and deer varieties. This one says it’s Eastgate pottery so it’s not actually either of those! However, it was a bargain and it’ll make me happy for a while.

Despite only buying three things, I’m pretty happy with our finds. It’s a long day looking round Bygone Times so I think I’ll be relaxing for the rest of the evening. Come Dine With Me and wine – sounds like a good combination to me!