I have a long standing love for utility china...we call it old stuff around here.
Utility sounds a bit ugly and it's certainly not fine bone china...which is pretty but damages too easy for a busy family.
My love of the old stuff started when I was given a small 'chef ware' blue/white stripe jug that used to belong to my grandad on my dads side.
Roll on a few more years and my darling Gran was showing signs of age and moved into a smaller home...no longer needing what was left of her 'utility china'.
In fairness we didn't keep much of Grans china as it was too chipped {her old fingers & hands struggled to grip things in her later years}...
but it bought back memories of lots of lovely homely dinners and puddings she'd serve us on our trips for lunch.
Lunch at Grans always was a treat...it usually meant a very grown up bus ride, my mum would put me on the bus at one end telling the driver where I was going and my gran would meet me at the end stop {with a pie for the driver as a thank you for keeping an eye on me!!}
Gran was an amazing cook...a really good old fashioned traditional English fare kind of cook!
On our lunch dates we would have, home cooked ham, new potatoes, fresh veg from either her garden or a neighbours allotment {pies were exchanged for veg}, home made parsley sauce and of course home made apple pie with either custard or cream and lashings of extra sugar {never served out the sugar pot but always in a sugar shaker!}.
All washed down with a glass of ever so sweet fizzy Ribena!!
B-E-A-U-tifull
Gran used 'Woods Ware Beryl' for her everyday ware, the stuff we usually had our cup of tea from, on our lunch dates though she would use the 'Hedgerow'
Not surprisingly I find myself drawn to these.
In truth I prefer Woods Ware Iris to Beryl or Jasmine...it fits in better with the blue in my kitchen and our dining room.
{Which is why I rarely have Iris in stock as she's normally sat at home with us!}
I have in our loft a HUGE box of Beryl Ware for my eldest daughter, a couple of bits were Grans but mostly it's what I've thrifted.
Hoping to pass the love for the old stuff down another generation!
xxx
