beeston speaks

Featured Artist: Alan Birchall

One of the veterans of the ABC Art Trail, Alan of Red Lion Pottery is well known for his wood ash glazed stoneware pottery. He creates both decorative and functional pieces, which are individually thrown and fired in his hand built wood-fired kiln at his home studio in the heart of Beeston. You can find out more about where his influences originate and how those distinctive glaze effects are produced via the QR link.

II was born in Uttoxeter in the West Midlands. It was a home birth on a Boxing Day. It must have been a difficult birth, as my mum broke two of the legs of the bed she was on, so my dad had to go and find a couple of house bricks to prop the bed up.”

“I wasn’t that good at school. I wanted to study photography at college, but didn’t have any qualifications, So I got into Intermedia in Nottingham, where I studied film making. I travelled there from my home in Burton on Trent. That was in 1992. One of the best pieces of advice I got was to make a short film every month. Could be about anything.

It was an exercise about how to make a film. Then I had to choose the best of the twelve to show people. It’s how I started in the business.”

“I moved to Beeston in 2007. My wife Jo is from the area. I met her in 1996, when I was living in Staffordshire. We’ve been together now for 15 years.”

“Beeston has a nice sense of community. It reminds me of my hometown, but still has its own identity. It’s definitely a place that’s on the up. There’s a good mix of people.

I enjoy running and biking, around the streets or at Attenborough Nature Reserve. I like going to the Hop Pole. It’s a proper pub and Karen is a great landlady. I also like going to Totally Tapped. Not forgetting some of Beeston’s great cafes, like Greenhood and Cartwheel. During the pandemic, I felt relieved that I could go to Beeston’s library, to do some writing, rather being at home.”

“I’ve tried to move the sound mixing of my films from London. So now I can take the tram into the city centre, instead of a train to London. It was a privilege to open the Arc Cinema. It’s a real asset for Beeston. I would have loved to have worked with Richard Beckinsale. He was an honest and open actor.”