Portmeirion

Everyone who feasts at Chez Angie does so from Portmeirion crockery on Portmeirion place mats. Tea is drunk from Portmeirion cups on Portmeirion saucers, and I even store my morning coffee in a Portmeirion jar.  Others may favour their Wedgewood or Denbigh crocks, but ours is a Portmeirion house.

We've been collecting it for about 30 years – ever since Wedgewood rendered our Blue Pacific china 'obsolete' so that we could't buy replacements. Wedgewood may have purchased their china clay from the company for whom I worked, but I vowed never to buy their wares again.  In contrast, Portmeirion's Botnic Gardens range has remained basically unaltered for 58 years. Friends and relatives have also added items to our collection, for which we are very grateful.

Portmeirion pottery was introduced in 1960 by Susan Williams-Ellis, whose famous father – Sir Clough Williams-Ellis – was the genius who conceived the amazing village of Portmeirion, near Porthmadog in North Wales.

Clough Williams-Ellis was an architect of rare talent. He bought the Portmeirion site and set about showing how a beautiful location could be developed and made still more beautiful. 

At first sight the buildings he conceived are a jumble of multi-coloured designs that would give any planning officer nightmares, yet together they create a stunningly beautiful development, unlike anything else I've ever seen. O to have his artistic eye that combines colour and shape so impressively!

Sir Clough wasn't above 'cheating' a bit to enhance his designs. The photo below is an enlargement of part of the one above. Look at the top windows on that building at the rear, with the single sloping roof. They're not real – just paint.

The Amis Reunis (Friends Reunited) is unlikely to depart from the quayside anytime soon; she's made of concrete.

When I last visited Portmeirion in 1980 the site ended at the tower that you can just see beyond Amis Reunis. Now, however, it has been greatly extended, with lovely woodland walks and new treasures to explore, including a Japanese Garden and beautiful views of the estuary.

The admission charge to Portmeirion has risen a bit from the original 5 shillings, but at £12, or £10.50 for the over-60s, it's still great value for money.  There's also a hotel and several self-catering cottages, though I suspect that their prices may be a lot higher than we paid for our little farmhouse near Barmouth.