The gathering of left over straw from fields to produce straw plaits for hat making. Suffolk 19th century.

The heavy boulders that are half-buried as the bottom layer of most Cornish hedges.

‘Grog’ is a gritty substance usually made from ground-up already-fired clay, that is added to unfired to improve its performance. Grog reduces shrinkage, prevents cracking and warping, and helps to resist thermal shock when pieces are fired. It also adds “tooth” for more structural integrity in hand-building and sculpting (and hurts your hands when you’re first learning to throw!)