Born in Wilmslow, Cheshire the son of a distinguished sculptor - also Alan Brough - Alan Brough and his family of accomplished artists and teachers of art have long been respected and admired in West Cornwall. He credits Janet Darnell LEACH and Bernard LEACH with much of his later learning about the art and techniques of pottery-making, although the foundation and appreciation of the importance of clay and its fundamental uses in history - domestically, artistically and even technologically - was absorbed early from his father and upbringing in a creative family environment.

He came first to Cornwall in 1968, at the invitation of the late William MARSHALL, when the latter was required to throw pots for the ageing Bernard LEACH. At that stage, Brough took over teaching students and other duties at the Leach Pottery, and remained there for four years before starting his own pottery at Newlyn near the harbour.

His career, exhibitions, and studio information are liberally documented on the internet, and will not be fully rehearsed here.