In 1960 he set up his own workshop in Forest Hill, London, Progressive designs were readily accepted in London at that time, and Rooke applied his efforts to making pieces of a sculptural nature. The early pieces were mainly fashioned by hand using coils and blocks.In 1963 the pottery moved to larger premises in Greenwich, but ever in need of more space, Bernard moved to Swilland, near Ipswich, Suffolk in 1967, to a huge mill building.