Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent is a
city in
Staffordshire in the
West Midlands region of
England. The city is a modern federation of six much older towns forming a linear city almost twelve miles long with an area of 36 square miles.
Stoke-on-Trent is situated approximately half-way between
Manchester and
Birmingham and the city adjoins the town and borough of
Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is administered separately. Together they form a
conurbation with a
population in excess of 360,000.
Unlike most English cities, Stoke-on-Trent's council is led by a
directly-elected mayor; the first was
Mike Wolfe (independent) then, from May 2005 to date,
Mark Meredith (Labour Party). The city is the only one of the twelve English districts with elected mayors to use the
mayor and council manager system rather than the
mayor and cabinet system.
The Federation of the
Six Towns brought together the boroughs of
Hanley,
Burslem,
Longton, and
Stoke, together with the districts of
Tunstall and
Fenton as the single
county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910.
Stoke-on-Trent was officially granted
city status in 1925 with a
Lord Mayor from 1928. The city is named after the town of
Stoke, as the main line railway station has been located there since 1848. Prior to federation, the area was frequently known as
The Potteries but this title is now less commonly encountered.
Originally through the works of
Arnold Bennett, the city's greatest literary son, the 'Six Towns' were also sometimes known as the 'Five Towns'. In his novels Bennett consistently changed all proper names and associations, thus Hanley became Hanbridge, Burslem became Bursley and 'six towns' became 'five towns', which Bennett thought sounded better than six.
The motto of Stoke-on-Trent is
Vis Unita Fortior which can be translated as: United Strength is Stronger, or Strength United is the More Powerful or A United Force is Stronger (see heraldic arms in the panel).
Although the city is named after the original town of Stoke, and the City Council offices are located there, conventionally the City Centre is regarded as being in Hanley, which town had earlier developed into a major Commercial Centre. The City's county borough status was abolished in 1974, and it became a district of
Staffordshire. Its status was restored as a
unitary authority independent of Staffordshire county council on
April 1,
1997.
Since the 17th century the area has been almost exclusively known for its industrial-scale
pottery manufacturing, with such world renowned names as
Royal Doulton,
Spode,
Wedgwood and
Minton being born and based there. The presence locally of abundant supplies of coal and of suitable clay for earthenware production led to the early but at first limited development of the local pottery industry. The construction of the
Trent and Mersey Canal enabled the inport of
china clay from
Cornwall together with other materials and facilitated the production of
creamware and
bone china.
However, many other production centres elsewhere in Britain, Europe and worldwide had a considerable lead in the production of high quality wares. It was largely the methodical and highly detailed research and a willingness to experiment carried out over many years, initially by one man,
Josiah Wedgwood, and later by other local potters, scientists and engineers, together with the development of great artistic talent throughout the local community, that raised the Staffordshire Potteries to the internationally dominant position that they have held for many years.
Other industries have also occupied important roles in the development of the city both before and after federation. Notably the iron and steel making industry located in the valley at Goldendale and Shelton below the hill towns of Tunstall, Burslem and Hanley. The coal mining industry also developed greatly with new investment in mining projects within the City boundaries as recently as the 1960's and 1970's. From 1864 to 1927 Stoke housed the
repair shops of the
North Staffordshire Railway and was also the home from 1881 to 1930 of independent railway locomotive manufacturers
Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd. Two local culinary specialities are the much loved Potteries
Oatcake (very different from the Scottish version and traditionally made in corner-shop style oatcake bakeries), whose fame has yet to travel far outside
Staffordshire and neighbouring
Derbyshire and
Cheshire, and though no longer quite so popular
lobby, a stew not unlike
Lancashire hot pot, is still made by local people.
The local cultural identity has always been strong and there is a distinctive local spoken dialect, although its broadest use is now becoming confined only to older residents.
Stoke-on-Trent is twinned with
Erlangen in
Germany.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Stoke-on-Trent at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Agriculture | Industry | Services |
|---|
| 1995 | 2,577 | 2 | 1,212 | 1,364 |
| 2000 | 2,833 | 1 | 1,107 | 1,725 |
| 2003 | 3,238 | 1 | 1,199 | 2,038 |
includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
North Staffordshire is a
world centre for fine ceramics - a skilled design trade established in the city since at least the 12th century.
In the late 1980s & 1990s Stoke-on-Trent was hit hard by the general decline in the British manufacturing sector. Numerous factories, steelworks, mines, and potteries were closed, including the renowned
Shelton Bar steelworks. This resulted in a sharp rise in unemployment in the 'high-skilled but low-paid' workforce. However, at Q2 2004 the unemployment rate had recovered to almost the same as in the wider
West Midlands. The city's present employment levels are currently stable and likely to grow from 2004 to 2008, according to a detailed 2003 study by Experian Business Strategies. About 9,000 firms are based in the city.
KPMG's 'Competitive Alternatives 2004' report declared Stoke-on-Trent to be the most cost-effective place to set up a new UK business. The city currently has the advantage of offering very affordable business property - while being surrounded by a belt of extremely affluent areas (The Peak District, Stone, South Cheshire, Newcastle-under-Lyme) and having excellent road links via the
A500 and nearby
M6 and rail links.
The city's housing market boomed in 2004 and 2005, with terraced houses rising at an average of £700 a week. From April to June 2005, an average Stoke-on-Trent terraced house rose in price at over £500 a week (source: H.M. Land Registry).
Around five million tourists visit Stoke each year, directly supporting around 4,400 jobs. Stoke-on-Trent shows its popularity through the number of repeat visits; around 80 percent of visitors have previously visited. Tourism to the city was kick-started by the
National Garden Festival in 1986, and is now sustained by the many pottery factory-shops/tours and by the improved canal network.
A 2003/4 mapping study found 1,000 active creative businesses & artists based within a ten mile radius of the city. The survey did not include the thousands of ceramics companies.
|
Stoke-on-Trent station, built 1848 |
Stoke-on-Trent is on the
Stafford to Manchester Line, which is a branch of the
West Coast Main Line and has an inter-city train service, currently with trains to
London (about 90 minutes by train) and also to
Manchester (40 minutes) every half-hour on weekdays. There are through trains hourly to
Stafford,
Wolverhampton,
Birmingham, Birmingham International Airport,
Coventry,
Oxford,
Reading and
Bournemouth. Regional train services operate on the
Crewe to Derby Line.
Stoke-on-Trent railway station is managed by
Virgin Trains and it has a first-class lounge and
wi-fi service. There are large station car parks.
Nearest international airports are
Manchester Airport,
Birmingham International and
Nottingham East Midlands Airport.
Local
Public Transport is almost exclusively by bus. Bus services are mainly operated by
Potteries Motor Traction, now owned by
First Group under the name First PMT. There are also several smaller companies operating bus services in the city. There are central bus stations in
Hanley city centre and
Longton town centre.
National Express operate long distance coach services from Hanley bus station.
The main shopping centre is Hanley; location of the Potteries Shopping Centre (housing many well known national retail outlets), many well-known high street shops and some unique specialist retailers. With the
Peak District National Park just ten miles away, Hanley naturally boasts five outdoors clothing & equipment shops.
Stoke-on-Trent is home to two
Football League teams,
Stoke City F.C. (the Potters), whose ground is the
Britannia Stadium, and
Port Vale F.C. (the Valiants) who play at
Vale Park,
Burslem. Football fans may also like to visit the shrine to
Sir Stanley Matthews in
Stoke-upon-Trent churchyard.
Nightlife has boomed in recent years, with Hanley becoming increasingly popular for its nightclubs, theatres, pubs, bars and restaurants. Nearby
Newcastle-under-Lyme also has plenty of bars and pubs to offer to young people. There are also several theatres outside the city centre, and a long-established 'art-house' cinema in Shelton.
The city's rich past can best be explored through visiting one of its many museums & galleries; such as the Etruria Industrial Museum, the
Elizabethan Ford Green Hall, the world-class ceramics collection at the main Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Gladstone Pottery Museum and the newly opened
Ceramica in Burslem. Burleigh in
Middleport is not a formal museum, but is well worth visiting since it is the world's oldest working Victorian pottery. There are ambitious plans to open the huge
Chatterley Whitfield colliery as a Mining Museum, since it has been given Ancient Monument status, ranking it in importance with
Stonehenge.
In 2005 the city saw the results of a £100-million refurbishment of
Trentham Gardens, the completion of 50-
miles of new
National Cycle Network off-road
bicycle paths throughout the city, the installation of £1,000,000 worth of new
public art, and numerous improvements to the extensive & popular canal system.
A few miles to the east of Stoke-on-Trent is the
theme park Alton Towers and to the north-east the
National Trust house and gardens at
Biddulph Grange. Further east but within easy access of Stoke-on-Trent is the
Peak District National Park. To the north of the city is the National Trust moated
manor house Little Moreton Hall.
There are three
higher education institutions in the local area:
*
Staffordshire University is in Stoke-on-Trent. It has its main site in Shelton near to Stoke-on-Trent railway station (the other, for computing, is in the town of
Stafford, which is sixteen miles away). This was formerly North Staffordshire Polytechnic, gaining its university status in 1992 as one of the
Post-1992 universities.
*
Keele University (founded as the University College of North Staffordshire in 1949 with major involvement by Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council) is five miles from the city-centre, in the borough of
Newcastle-under-Lyme. Its newer
medical school, uses facilities at the
University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent.
*The MMU Cheshire Faculty of
Manchester Metropolitan University is established on two campuses in the neighbouring County of
Cheshire at
Crewe and
Alsager. This was formerly
Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education and, before that separate
Teacher Training Colleges. They are fourteen and seven miles respectively from the city-centre.
Stoke-on-Trent College is the largest college in England and has two sites; one in Burslem (media & performing arts) and the main centre in Shelton, just south of Hanley. The Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College is based in Fenton. Nearby
Leek,
Crewe, and
Newcastle-under-Lyme all have excellent F.E. colleges. There is also a
Workers' Educational Association residential college at
Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent.
The city's main daily newspaper is
The Sentinel, based in
Etruria. Local radio stations are
BBC Radio Stoke, the commercial
Signal 1 and
Signal 2 and
Cross Rhythms City Radio (
Community Radio). Television news is covered by
Birmingham-based
BBC Midlands Today,
Manchester-based
BBC Northwest,
ITV Central and
Granada television.
Arts
*
Hugh Dancy (actor)
*
Freddie Jones (actor)
*
Alan Lake (actor & widower of
Diana Dors)
*
Jonathan Wilkes (actor)
*
Arnold Machin (sculptor & artist, coin & stamp designer)
*
Sidney Tushingham (painter)
Business
*
Peter Coates Local businessman.
*
Josiah Wedgwood (18th century potter & industrialist)
*
Peter Wilcox (businessman)
*
John Madejski (businessman)
* Thomas and Herbert
Minton Stoke-upon-Trent potters, entrepreneurs and industrialists
*
Josiah Spode (18th c. potter and industrialist)
Ceramic artist
*
Clarice Cliff (ceramic painter and designer)
*
Susie Cooper (ceramic artist)
*
Leslie Cope (ceramic artist)
*
Peggy Davies (ceramic artist)
*
Charlotte Rhead (ceramic artist)
Musician
*
Headrush (rock band)
*
Havergal Brian (composer)
*
Gertie Gitana (music hall star and singer)
*
Lemmy Kilmister (rock singer and bassist)
*
Patricia Leonard (singer/
contralto)
*
Murdoc Niccals (bassist for
Gorillaz)
*
Tony "Bones" Roberts guitarist for punk bands
Discharge and
Broken Bones*
Roy "Rainy" Wainright bassist for punk band
Discharge*
Kelvin "Cal" Morris vocalist for punk band
Discharge*
Andy Clayton (song writer)
*
Robbie Williams (popstar)
*
Nick Sheldon One of the pioneers of dance music/DJ'ing in Stoke
*
William Meath Baker (built much of Fenton in the 19th C; inspired the 4th of
Elgar's
Enigma Variations)
*
Slash (rock guitarist)
*
Jackie Trent (60s pop singer)
Media
*
Frank Bough (TV presenter)
*
Paul Bown Actor and star of
Watching.
*
Mark Bright (football pundit)
*
Bruno Brookes (radio disk-jockey and
Top of the Pops presenter)
*
Garth Crooks (football pundit)
*
Nick Hancock (actor) (TV presenter and comedian)
*
Bernard Hollowood (editor of
Punch magazine 1958-1968)
*
Paul Johnson (journalist, scholar)
*
Anthea Turner (TV presenter)
*
Robbie Earle (footballer and TV presenter)
Military
*
John Baskeyfield (Second World War soldier and war hero)
* Squadron Leader
George 'Ben' Bennions,
DFC, (Battle of Britain, RAF, Spitfire pilot and teacher)
Politics
*
David Sumberg (politician)
Religion
*
John Lightfoot (17th century minister)
Science
*
William Astbury (physicist)
*
Sir Oliver Lodge (
wireless pioneer)
*
Reginald Mitchell (designer of the
Spitfire)
*
Michael J. Welch (the world expert in medical radiology)
Sport
*
Andrew Foster (professional tennis player)
*
Tommy Godley (champion cyclist)
*
Ted Hankey (world champion darts player)
*
Dave Harold (snooker player)
*
Sir Stanley Matthews (footballer)
*
Lucy "Golden Ovaries" Rokach (professional poker player, winner of European Lifetime Achievement Award)
*
Imran Sherwani (field hockey player)
*
Phil Taylor (world champion darts player)
*
Norman Wainwright (Olympics champion swimmer)
Writers
*
Arnold Bennett (author)
*
Elijah Fenton (poet, 1683-1730)
*
Helen Marfleet (author)
*
Robert James Waller (author)
*
Peter Whelan (playwright)
*
John Wain (poet, critic and scholar)
*
Jeffrey Wainwright (playwright and author)
* Professor
Harold Perkin, social historian and writer
*
Pauline Stainer (poet)
*
Charles Tomlinson (poet, graphic artist, translator, editor and critic)
Other
* Captain
Edward Smith (of the
RMS Titanic)
The cat in
Dick and Dom in da Bungalow once sang a song about Stoke-on-Trent. This is believed to be the only time the city has been celebrated in song.
*
The Potteries *
Stoke-on-Trent City Council*
Creative Stoke*
Keele University*
Staffordshire University*
Local Information from The Sentinel newspaper*
Stoke-on-Trent Tourism*
Stoke-on-Trent College*
Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College*
Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station *
North Staffordshire Railway*
Discover the Museums of the Potteries*
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service
