A Grogg is a caricature figure made by the World of Groggs, a

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

company established by

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

in 1965, in

Trefforest Treforest () is a village in the south-east of Pontypridd, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is situated in the Treforest electoral ward, along with the village of Glyntaff (or Glyn-Taf). It is part of the Pontypridd Town ...

near

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Most Groggs are 9 inches tall or less and are made of a type of clay called

grog Grog is a term used for a variety of alcoholic beverages. Origin and history Popularization of rum and invention of grog Following Invasion of Jamaica, England's conquest of Jamaica in 1655, rum gradually replaced beer and brandy as the drink ...

. Groggs are usually made of popular Welsh rugby players, Welsh celebrities and the occasional non-Welsh celebrity. Whenever possible the person who is "grogged" is presented with the first Grogg produced. They are moulded and painted by hand and a Grogg can take many weeks from the master copy being made to the first one being painted.

History

John Hughes started flirting with ceramics and pottery as early as 1965 with a kiln in his garden shed in the family home on Llantwit Road, Treforest. But it was not till 1967 that his rugby figures were born. In 1971 the family purchased the derelict Dan-y-Graig pub in

Treforest Treforest () is a village in the south-east of Pontypridd, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is situated in the Treforest electoral ward, along with the village of Glyntaff (or Glyn-Taf). It is part of the Pontypridd Town ...

near

and opened the Groggshop as it was then called. The business remains there to this day. The figures are called Groggs after the type of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

that was originally used to make them. Richard working on Action Ray Gravell

Production numbers

Groggs are usually limited to 300 or 500 pieces, after which the mould is destroyed. In 2005, following Wales'

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

victory in the six nations by winning the

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

, a limited edition Grogg was produced to commemorate the event. The production run was limited to 151 pieces, being the number of points Wales scored during the competition. The Grand Slam Grogg sold out within 2 days of going on sale.

Sponsorship

The Hughes family are well-known supporters of Principality Premiership club,

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It competes in the Admiral Premiership and the WRU Premiership Cup, a trophy which they won for the 7th time in 2025. Their last league title ...

, and in 2009, the World of Groggs became official sponsors of the club's website.

Awards

In 2001 the founder of the business and the inventor of the Groggs, John Hughes, was presented with the Chancellor's medal from the

University of Glamorgan The University of Glamorgan () was a public university based in South Wales, that merged with University of Wales, Newport to form the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with ...

in recognition of his contribution to Welsh life. He was awarded the MBE in June 2010 for his services to UK ceramics.

References

General references

* Gupwell, Katie-Ann (November 18, 2018)
"The story of the World of Groggs, the famous Welsh shop that's truly unique"

WalesOnline Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was fou ...

. *Devine, Darren (March 2, 2015)
"Welsh icon World of Groggs celebrates 50 years of capturing rugby's finest in clay"
Wales Online. *Hitt, Carolyn (March 8, 2015)
"Carolyn Hitt: This is my love letter to Groggs"
Wales Online.

Inline citations

External links

* {{cite web, title=World of Groggs, url=http://www.groggs.co.uk/ Ceramics manufacturers of Wales Welsh pottery Companies based in Rhondda Cynon Taf Pontypridd