Sea Pottery

By Anne Thackray

Sea Pottery Journey Stone
Image provided by Anne Thackray

I moved to Saltburn just outside Invergordon two years ago. I have always wanted to live by the sea as I love beach combing.

My house looks over the Cromarty Firth to the Black Isle, and the beach is just across the road. I have found so many beautiful fragments of pottery in the last two years. They range from fine china to earthenware, willow pattern, flowers, chinese tea pot lids, plates, bowls, tea cups. The variety is endless. I wonder where they have all come from. Many say they are from ship wrecks, pieces people have thrown overboard because they are broken, lost during picnics and the most strange - thrown into the sea for luck!

Wherever they come from they are an intriguing and beautiful mystery and I'll continue to collect them. My Journey Stone shows various pieces lying on the beach.

Many thanks to Anne Thackray for sharing with us the story behind her journey stone, created as part of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands.

WHAT IS A JOURNEY STONE?

Prior to the beginning of the stitching of each tapestry panel, each stitcher of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands was tasked with telling their interpretation of the 'Spirit of the Highlands and Islands' within a blank outline of a stone. The possibilities were truly endless - is it represented in the land? The people? A historical site? A favourite memory?

In any case, each journey stone represents the connection between of each individual stitcher, their story, and their own sense, or 'spirit', of place. Discover more of the stories behind the journey stones of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands here.