At Nic's, April 8

After breakfast, Nic, Hendrick and I piled in the van to pick up some raw materials in Cornwall. It was a two hour drive to china clay country. It was a brilliant day out with a blue sky. China clay is a white powder essential to potters. It is a component in many clays and glazes. When we got to Cornwall there were many hilltops that had been mined. They were white and square from being cut away. Some of them looked like ziggurats. It was interesting to see where the material is mined. Nic is firing a charcoal and oil kiln at Clay Art Wales in a few months. Nic and Hendrick built a burner to produce charcoal. When we got home we opened the charcoal burner. It was a success! It made four big bags of nice charcoal. We refilled the barrell and lit it again.