The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery Reviews Summary

Exhibits and Collections

Pros:

• "The exhibitions are really first class. Everyone would find something of interest."
• "The exhibits here were wonderful. There is a far-reaching inventory of pottery art from the region."
• "A brilliant free place to visit. Contains a very rich history of pottery and ceramics, spread out over 3 floors giving very good insight to local history going back over centuries."
• "Always something new to see here in the temporary exhibit space."
• "The full real spitfire on display is the treat of the day."
• "A great award-winning museum and good reflection of local history, and home of the Staffordshire hoard which is must to see, the new hall displaying the refurbished spitfire."
• "A truly epic museum for all the family."

Cons:

• "The 'Blue' exhibition was good, but the interpretation limited to primary school level."
• "The displays are incredibly difficult to view properly as the item descriptions are sometimes yards away from the item displayed."
• "Some lovely fine art and sculptures; as you would expect lots of pottery history and a wide variety of examples of china and earthenware. Was disappointed with the natural history section, some pieces looking tired and in one display the ceiling tiles and lighting had collapsed."
• "The old dusty displays have not changed since their parents were small."
• "Also some of the exhibits haven't changed in about 20 years."
• "The displays also fail to properly explain the different types of porcelain and why and when they developed."
• "The natural history element is made up of decaying, rather tired looking stuffed animals in strange scenarios."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

• "The whole museum is wheelchair friendly and there is a lift in the main museum that can take you to each floor."
• "There is a lift which is great for disabled people using a wheelchair or mobility walker."
• "All floors are assess by stairs or lift."
• "Easy access for wheelchairs with a ramp and accessible door on the flat...just need to press the bell for the door to be released."
• "It has a cafe for refreshments and has good wheelchair ♿ access to all floors."
• "Also I noted that the disabled facilities were excellent."
• "There are lots of toilets and a disabled toilet."

Cons:

• "The only thing that goes against it is there's no car park attached to the museum."
• "Parking was a nightmare."
• "No parking nearby unless you're disabled. No parking for school trips or group visiting."
• "There is no parking for the library so you must use the local car parks."
• "The secret garden is a joke, the automatic door for wheelchair uses does not work, it was drab and uninspiring space."
• "On the day of our visit the lift was out of service but you were able to get around using the service lift."
• "The lift is very small, and the toilets look very dated although clean."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff have always been friendly and accommodating."
• "Fantastic museum staff to guide you."
• "All staff at the museum were really helpful and friendly."
• "The staff are very helpful and a great credit to the museum."
• "Staff very knowledgable."
• "Staff are always friendly and helpful."
• "Great museum with free entry. Staff are extremely friendly and are more than willing to help."

Cons:

• "Phoned, but no answer."
• "Most of the staff are friendly (except the bald guy who opens up in the morning)."
• "Also staff we're not being pro active and asking parents to supervise their children."

Cafe and Food Services

Pros:

• "There is cafe and small souvenirs shop."
• "The cafe also offers a range of foods and snacks at reasonable prices."
• "Inexpensive, nice cafe for refreshments."
• "The cafe was lovely and serves really good coffee."
• "Had a good wholesome salad...it was very tasty and good value for money!!!"
• "The café is lovely great service and incredibly low prices."
• "The cafe in the basement is excellent, serving a variety of snacks and drinks and the staff are lovely."

Cons:

• "The cafe needs to upgrade it's menu and provide better coffee."
• "They didn't even have a latte spoon for my coffee."
• "The adjacent cafe sells overpriced food and drink."
• "The museum it's self is fantastic could walk round it all day however the cafe is overrated overpriced and to be totally honest the food is not that good either staff also left 2 children with us without a meal until we went to complain about it."
• "The cafe is overrated overpriced and to be totally honest the food is not that good either."
• "Disappointment at the café not having any food other than cake and the tea and coffee they had on was cold not very nice at all."
• "Toilets and cafe awful."

General Experience

Pros:

• "Such an interesting place! There is something for everyone here."
• "A brilliant local museum I've visited since I was very young."
• "Large museum with a variety of exhibits."
• "Really interesting museum with a good variety of themes."
• "Wow what a museum, so varied lots to see in all exhibits."
• "A really great museum to explore. Great for kids and adults alike."
• "Absolutely fascinating museum. Good art gallery, incredible examples of the history of pottery to the present day."

Cons:

• "It's not the best. limited in size and history."
• "Looks very dated as soon as you enter."
• "The rest is a little underwhelming."
• "Utterly ridiculous place."
• "The noisy kids running amok spoilt it a bit too."
• "It doesn’t really fit with the rest of the museum."
• "Sorry but really need to keep website up to date!"