Mersey clay recycled as Liverpool souvenirs

Jun 4 2008 By Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

Michael Brennan moulding clay which he has collected from the canal works by the dock _320

LIVERPOOL artist Mickey Brennan has devised a unique method of giving people an historic piece of their home city to own in Capital of Culture year.

He is making a collection of what he calls Scouse Pots from ancient clay unearthed during the excavations for the new £21m waterfront extension to the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

"So far I’ve made about 20 but being a bit soft I’ve given most of them away for nothing!" joked 42- year-old Mr Brennan, who gained access to the part of the site north of St Nicholas Church between the Crowne Plaza Hotel just over three months ago.

"British Waterways were very good about it and seemed to understand the concept of what I was trying to do. It took about a week digging it up and I walked away with about a couple of hundredweight of the stuff. It was hard work I can tell you."

Since then he has been meticulously sifting the clay for stones and other impurities at his loft studio on Vernon Street in the city centre before throwing and moulding it on his potter’s wheel. The results have come in all shapes, colours and sizes, the common denominator being the glazing and the Liver Bird symbol moulded on the exterior.

"I’m not really sure about the date when the clay was formed but it must have been there for the birth of the city over 800 years ago which makes it all very symbolic," said the former master bricklayer who has had a DVD made entitled Mick the Potter: The Story of Scouse Pots which documents the work involved.

One of the first pots made was given as a thank-you present to Charlie Wilsoncroft, British Waterways’ section manager for the work area covering the Pier Head to Mann Island.

"I’m made up with it: I thought Mick would just take the clay and not come back so it was a nice surprise when he came back with the pot which is red with the Liver Bird on. It looks great!" said 30-year-old Mr Wilsoncroft who is originally from Newmarket but, after living in the city for 12 years, "almost" considers himself an honorary Scouser.

He added: "I thinks it’s a really nice idea to have a genuine Scouse Pot made from clay on the banks of the Mersey just next to the Liver Buildings and in 08 the Capital of Culture Year. I think it really captures the essence of the whole thing."

The area from which Mr Brennan took the clay is now part of a box culvert section due to be covered in concrete to make it watertight.

The 2.2km extension will ultimately connect the canal from the Stanley and Trafalgar docks in the northy at the northern end of the waterfront with Canning dock to the south of the city centre.

Full completion of the work – including towpath construction and landscaping of the banks – is expected just before the end of the year, said Mr Wilsoncroft. The canal could be open to boating traffic by spring 2009.

mikechapple@dailypost.co.uk