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The Shop · Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Dean andthe lads

Three chairs, three barbers, one shop next to the Gladstone Pottery Museum. Whoever's free takes you. Nobody books, so nobody's booked ahead of you.

  • Owner · first chair

    Dean

    It's Dean's shop and Dean's name you'll hear first. He opened the door in Longton six years ago and he's still behind the chair every day it's open. Fades, beard trims, hot towel shaves, an old fella's short back and sides — he does the lot.

  • Barber · second chair

    One of the lads

    One of the two lads cutting alongside Dean. Fades and beard trims, kids' cuts, whatever you've walked in for. If his chair's empty when you come through the door, it's yours.

  • Barber · third chair

    The other lad

    Same shop, same standard, same no fuss about it. Sit down, say how you want it, and he'll do it proper. Ask for him by name once you've met him — most of the regulars do.

Two worn leather barber chairs sit in front of a counter with combs and clippers, against a cream tiled wall.
Two chairs. Whichever's empty is yours.

Same door, same chairs

6 years

In the same shop in Longton

We opened in this shop six years ago and we've not moved. Same door, same tiles, same three chairs facing the same mirrors.

Most of the people sitting in those chairs are regulars. Plenty of them have been coming through the door for the better part of the six years, and we know how they have it before they've got their coat off.

Being a fixture in Longton isn't a boast. It's what happens when you stay put and cut hair properly. New faces are welcome for the same reason — once you've been in, you're one of the regulars too.

A Longton row of shopfronts at dusk with a faded hand-painted ghost sign in block capitals on the brick gable above and sodium light on the wet kerb
Longton keeps its lettering. We've kept our door.
The four bottle kilns of the Gladstone Pottery Museum rising black from the cobbled yard against a bruised orange dusk sky

Why Bottle Kiln

Look out of the shop window and you're looking at the Gladstone Pottery Museum: four bottle kilns, black brick, the shape Stoke-on-Trent is known for. Dean named the shop after what's outside the door. That's the whole story. There's no kiln on a sign and no gift-shop version of one in here — the real ones are a few yards away and they do the job better.

Who sits here

Everyone

A barbers in Longton cuts for the whole street. Kids on the booster, old fellas who want it the way they've always had it, regulars, and the Saturday football crowd. If you're reading this wondering whether it's for you — it is.

Kids
Booster on the chair, feet nowhere near the floor. Kids' haircuts in Longton with the patience built in — first cut or fiftieth.
Old fellas
A proper trim, nothing daft, and a hot towel shave if you've the time. Done the way you've always had it, no lecture about what's in fashion.
Regulars
You know the drill. Sit down, we know how you have it, you're out the door and on with your day.
The Saturday crowd
Up from the match with a scarf on and a question about the wait. Check the gauge, then cross the road.

Fades, beard trims, kids' cuts, hot towel shaves, old fella haircuts. Set prices for every one.

What it costs →
A child's booster seat sitting on a barber chair with a folded towel beside it, cream tiles lit warm behind
The booster lives on the chair nearest the window.

The map's centred on the Gladstone Pottery Museum. Head for the kilns and the shop's next door.

Where we are

Finding us

Bottle Kiln Barbers
Next to the Gladstone Pottery Museum
Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Head for the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton. You'll see the four bottle kilns before you see anything else — they're the tallest thing on the street. The shop sits right beside the museum. If you're stood at the kilns, you're there.

When the door's open

Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Walk-ins all day
Wednesday
Walk-ins all day
Thursday
Walk-ins all day till 8
Friday
Walk-ins all day
Saturday
Walk-ins all day
Sunday
Closed

No booking. If the door's open, come in and sit down.

Is it busy? →