The pottery gardener : flowers and hens at the Emma Bridgewater factory

The Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent is a mecca for lovers of its iconic pottery; but tucked within is a walled garden bursting with nectar-rich, jazzy-toned flowers and rare-breed chickens.

This is where Arthur Parkinson – gardener, florist and poultry keeper – used to work his magic.

Inspired by his friend, gardener and florist Sarah Raven, and childhood hen-keeping pen pal the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Parkinson’s domain was one of resplendent flowers, platoon feather-legged hens, handwritten blackboards, flower arranging and wasteland foliage foraging – all carried out in one of the most unlikely places a garden could happen to exist: a working pottery.