The Chalky Mount Potters

The Scotland District is the one part of Barbados with clay rather than coral, and Chalky Mount, a village strung along a ridge above it, has been making pottery from that clay since the seventeenth century. Families dig it from the hillsides, throw on kick wheels and fire in wood kilns, and the traditional products were domestic: water jars called monkeys that keep water cool through evaporation, cooking pots, and coal pots for charcoal. A handful of potters still work, mostly older, and they sell from workshops beside their houses. The ridge has one of the best views on the island as a bonus.

What you actually see

• The kick wheels - potters throwing the local clay by hand.
• The monkey jars - porous water containers that cool by evaporation.
• The wood kilns - fired in the yards beside the workshops.
• The ridge view - across the Scotland District to the Atlantic.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the ridge road easier. Weekdays are when the potters work. Firing days vary and are worth asking about. It takes about two hours including the drive up.

Honest expectations

The tradition is carried by a small and ageing group and the number of working potters has fallen sharply; some workshops are closed. The road up the ridge is steep, narrow and in poor condition. There is no organised visitor set-up, so this means knocking at workshops and hoping someone is in.

Nearby

Bathsheba is fifteen minutes; the Scotland District is below.