Being a retailer does have some treats and this has to be my favourite one by far.  The Emma Bridgewater stockist tour.

Each year Bridgewater kindly ask us to visit to see the factory, talk to their wonderful staff and we get to see preview and order the Autumn Winter and Christmas ranges.

Travelling from North Devon takes a little while but a stop at the Gloucester services kind of helps the journey plus coffee and lemon sherbets tend to hit the spot.

The Bridgewater factory is were you meet the jiggers, jolliers, casters and decorators and it is so worth a visit.  Set in a Victorian series of buildings with so much history you'll walk around in amazement at how many people are involved in each process to make one item. Each piece of pottery is touched by 30 pairs of hands before it reaches the customer.

After arriving and having tea and croissants we got to see the new ranges form autumn and Christmas and I think you'll be pleased with many of the new items heading our way later this year to Daisy Park. Sorry no sneak peeks allowed.

Then onto our creative moment of decorating our very own bowl.  There's a large of pots full of sponges from hearts to hens, letters and leaves, cows boats and fish.  With plenty of paint and brushes in hand we set off to create the next Emma Bridgewater range, LOL.

We don't think Emma Bridgewater has anything to worry about. When we get them back in a couple of weeks I'll show you the final outcome. Providing they come out ok.

We had a chance to look around the wonderful secret walled garden cared for by Arthur Parkinson the gardener.  The brood of hens and chicks were adorable and the planting makes you dream it's your own garden.

Amanda and Arthur Parkinson - Emma Bridgewater gardener

 Obviously we had to do a bit of shopping and treated ourselves to a few bits.  We were glad that there was only 2 of us in the car as the boot and back seat got a little full.

After a spectacular lunch and a catch up with old friends it was time to make our way back to South Molton.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day and thank everyone for taking the time to show us around and generally look after us.

If you're an Emma Bridgewater addict like us, make the journey from wherever you are and enjoy the day there, there's plenty to do and I'm sure you'll love it.

#emmabridgewaterfactory #emmabridgewaterstockist #emmabridgewaterfactory