Description:The building in the photograph was once part of the Bedford Works of Ridgeway Potteries and this frontage is all that remains of the once extensive works. At its height the works ran down Bedford Street to the Caldon Canal. The building is in use today as the Shelton Enterprise Centre.
The works was famous for its eight huge bottle ovens running down to the canal. E J Ridgeway manufactured earthenware on this site from 1866 and it continued in the family until the 1960s until merger with the Lawley Group.
Apart from this range, the factory has been demolished. The land behind has had other industrial uses and has been redeveloped for housing.
On the left hand edge are the gate and fence posts of what was the Bedford Methodist Chapel, built in 1843 and now used as an Islamic Centre.