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Villages
& Districts of the Potteries Conurbation
Abbey
Hulton
The monks of
Hulton Abbey
the monks of
Hulton Abbey & Sneyd Green
Hulton
Abbey to Ruston Grange -
this article examines Hulton Abbey, the trackway along Sneyd Street
and the monks farmland at Ruston Grange.
Adderley
Green
Anchor
Road and Adderly Green -
the start of a walk from Meir to Tunstall.
Ash
Bank
Ash Estate, Ash
Bank - 'old lanes tell own story of area's hidden history'.
The Ash
Estate was a strategic location in the mid nineteenth century
because the Bridle Path was the route of coal carts from Hanley Hayes
Colliery to the Hanley-Cheadle Turnpike Road. The exploitation of the
coal seams under the estate - reflected in the names of the fields:
"Coal Pit Field" and "Slack Pit Field" — helped to
pay for the construction of the new Ash Hall estate buildings and the
enlargement of the estate.
Bagnall
Bagnall still retains a strong Elizabethan
quintessence
Basford
the original
Basford Bank - known as Fowlea Bank.
Fowlea
Bank, Basford - In the Etruria valley runs the Fowlea
Brook, the turnpike road (now Etruria Road) to the left climbs a ridge,
rising 500ft to Basford. Basford Bank as we know it now was not built
until 1820, prior to that the turnpike road ran along a steep route
"Fowlea Bank" which still exists today behind the houses
fronting Basford Bank.
Bentilee
& Berryhill
Bentilee - 'Sunshine Houses'
Berryhill - the lungs of the Potteries.
Ford Hayes
Farm -
Visit to childhood home of radical Methodist 'Bourne'
Birchenwood
Birchenwood
on the Loop Line in depth - Birchenwood was the largest
industrial site that the Tunstall and Newchapel area has ever known.
Blurton
Blurton
- hunting land for the Dukes of Sutherland - According to an
1851 local gazetteer Blurton was ‘a pleasantly situated village above
Trentham including the Lightwood Forest, the hamlets of Cocknage, Cold
Ridding, and Spratslade.’
Bradwell
Bradwell
- Sneyds never knew how valuable their land was.
Bradwell
in detail - "There is a much-admired hanging wood, called
Bradwall Wood, belonging to Walter Sneyd, Esq."
Brownhills
Brownhills:
- "Brownhills is situate upon the main
Turnpike Road (from Burslem to Lawton,) at the junction of the Branch
which comes from Newcastle through Longport; and is at nearly equal
distances from the market-places of Tunstall and Burslem; which are
rather more than a mile apart. It is within the township of Burslem,
which extends, north-westward, as far as an inn called High gate, close
up to the town of Tunstall."
Brownhills
- Ghost of drunk doctor still haunts high school.
Caverswall
Caverswall - visit
before the next Ice Age comes.
Chell
Heath
Chell Heath -
that the frontier spirit lives on
Cobridge
Cobridge
in detail - The Road from Hanley to Burslem
Cobridge: A
Victorian Suburb - Rushton Grange, the development of Cobridge
as a community, the churches and potworks - also the home of the
novelist Arnold Bennett.
Cobridge
- the changing face of Cobridge.
Cobridge - the
victorian suburb en-route to Burslem.
Cobridge
on the Loop Line
Cobridge on
the Loop Line in depth - In Bennett's novel Cobridge was
referred to as "Bleakridge" - The introduction of steam trams
and then in 1873 the opening of the Loop Line with a station at Cobridge
made the area accessible and it became a desirable residential area
"It had also been predicted that even Hanbridge [Hanley] men would
come to live at Bleakridge [Cobridge] now."
Dalehall
Dalehall
in detail - Dalehall - a district of Burslem, arranged either
side of Newcastle Street. Nowadays Dalehall, although preceding it in
antiquity has been subsumed into the general area known as Middleport.
The Burslem family were living at Burslem by the end of the 13th
century. By the end of the 16th century their Burslem house was Dale
Hall.
Dalehall,
Burslem "Church
met its Waterloo with buried treasure"
Dimsdale
Dimsdale
- mystery of Roman Road is just par-for-the-course.
Dresden
The
bridle path, Dresden - a short trip off the beaten path.
Moneto
House, Ricardo Street, Dresden.
Bridle
Path, Dresden - When
the Longton Freehold Land Society bought the land a bridle path leading
from Longton to Trentham ran across the land. This was incorporated into
the building plan as a pedestrian road between Belgrave Road and Ricardo
Street. Following this bridle path will take us on a walk through
the history of British social reform politics.
Dresden
& the Longton Freehold Land Society - A walk round the
Dresden Estate showing how it came into existence in the middle of the
19th C and the development during the Victorian period.
Etruria
Etruria
in detail - "This name merits individual entry because of
its unusual, and possibly unique, origins. Etruria is a comparatively
modern name, under 250 years old. Josiah Wedgwood's house, built here in
1760, was named Etruria Hall, taken from an ancient region of Italy,
roughly modern Tuscany.."
Etruria:
Josiah Wedgwood & Etruria - Creation of Etruria in the
18thC. and subsequent transformation of the area in 19thC.
Etruria
- a factory in a garden.
Etruria
and its park
A walk
around Etruria Park - "With the disappearance of the
Etruria Grove and, later, the final decay of all vegetation in Etruria,
it was decided to open a park there! On Thursday, September 29th, 1904,
the opening ceremony was performed and the Etruscans at last had their
own park.."
Etruria on
the Potteries Loop Line
Lord
Street (Etruria Old Road)
- Josiah Wedgwood set an
example by building houses for his workers. There may have been an
element of philanthropy here, but it was also a necessity if skilled men
were to be enticed to Etruria from Burslem. The terraced houses
stretched along both sides of the main road from Etruria to Basford
Bank.
Etruria:
Last day of Shelton Steel Works - A walk along the Trent &
Mersey Canal on the 27th April 2000. In its heyday the works stretched
across Etruria Valley to what is now Festival Park in Hanley. It had a
10,000-strong workforce, five coal mines, steelworks and rolling mills,
blast furnaces and a bi-products factory.
Etruria: Hard
times they must have been in Etruria in those days -
Can you imagine the view Josiah Wedgwood had when he looked out from Cob
Ridge above the smoky potteries of Burslem and Shelton on the day he
purchased Ridge House estate? - and what of the new Etruscans?
Foley
Foley - half
remembered name hints at former glories.
Foley
in detail - Foley Place is near the
east end of King Street and was probably built in the 1830's or 1840's
and is an example of middle-class housing. About 1750 John Barker, one
of Thomas Whieldon's ovenmen in 1749, began to make shining black ware
and salt-glazed stone-ware at the Row Houses near the Foley.
Goldenhill
The fading village of Goldenhill - "I
went to Stoke once. I’ve never been to Longton. I wouldn’t like it
there, it’s too far away."
Goldenhill
on the Potteries Loop Line
Goldenhill
and Pitts Hill on the Loop Line in depth - The
loop line Tunstall to Goldenhill opened to both passengers and goods on
the 1st of October 1874 and the section from Goldenhill to Kidsgrove
over a year later on the 15th of November 1875.
Harecastle
Harecastle
- a tale of two tunnels
Hartshill
Hartshill
- 99% of us will visit. There was a time when it was essential
to have a bit of class to live in Hartshill. But to be buried there you
really had to mind your place.
Colin
Minton Campbell & Hartshill Cemetery - The Municipal
cemetery reflects Victorian society class divisions. The cemetery is
divided into 4 classes for different denominations.
Heron
Cross
Grove Road,
Heron Cross
- 'old D-road transports us back three centuries'
Grove
Road, Heron Cross, Great Fenton - It is not at all
fanciful to speculate that a number of famous and early potters
journeyed along the track which is today known as Whieldons Road, Grove
Road and Duke Street.
Grove
Road in detail - Early potters walked the track from Lower Lane
to Lane Delph: It is not at all fanciful to speculate that a number of
famous and early potters journeyed along the track which is today known
as Whieldons Road, Grove Road and Duke Street.
Howard
Place
Stoke
Road, Howard Place & Snow Hill - 'This road well travelled
deserves a second look'
Hulton
Abbey
The monks of
Hulton Abbey
the monks of
Hulton Abbey & Sneyd Green
Hulton
Abbey to Ruston Grange -
this article examines Hulton Abbey, the trackway along Sneyd Street
and the monks farmland at Ruston Grange.
Kidsgrove
It’s an interesting town Kidsgrove filled with
interesting people -
Kidsgrove is full of quirky stories, most very well documented, and
inhabited by people who act with unconventional behaviour. It is a place
where no one seems to be in charge – where management and influence
resides in the hands of outsiders.
the
historic boatman's walk to Kidsgrove
Kidsgrove
-
'getting into the spirit of a truly historic town'
Kidsgrove
on the Potteries Loop Line
Kidsgrove
on the Loop Line in depth - There were two stations on the now
closed Loop Line namely Kidsgrove, opened November 15, 1875 and
Kidsgrove Market Street Halt opened 1905.
Lane
Delph
Lane
Delph - following
Roman Road is a route back in time.
Lane
Delph in detail - The name
"Delph" means a digging, such as a claypit or quarry. 'Drowned
in a delph' appears as a cause of death in Staffordshire parish
registers.- Lane Delph was one of the earliest populated areas in Fenton
and home to a number of early pottery works and families.
Lane
End
Lane
End - "Ask most people to tell
you the difference between Longton and Lane End and they will say Lane
End is just another name for Longton. And yet nothing could be further
from the truth."
Lane
End in detail - Confusion often arises over the location and
names of Lane End and Longton. Originally they were two separate
and contiguous townships which were incorporated in the of Borough of
Longton in 1865.
Longport
Longport:
John Davenport & Longport - The creation of Longport (by the
Trent & Mersey canal) between 1760-mid 19thC.
Lower
Lane
Lower Lane
- majestic
church symbol of towering aspirations.
Lower
Lane in detail - Lower Lane lay on the boundary of Little and
Great Fenton It covers the area at the junction of the road now known as
City Road (previously High Street West and east) and a track which is
the current Glebedale Road.
Meir
Meir - The
changing face of Meir and a pub with treasures aplenty.
Meir in
detail - The village of Meir has always been a gateway in to
North Staffordshire and the Potteries area..... in Roman times it was
situated on the Roman road Rykeneld Street which ran from
Derby/Uttoxeter, through Meir to Chesterton and then onto Chester.
Middleport
Middleport - a place suffering from
unfilled promises
Middleport:
Burgess & Leigh - the 'Model' Victorian Potworks. - A tour
of a working Victorian potworks - opened in 1888, famous world over for
Burleigh ware. A listed building and rescued from the receiver in 1999.
Milton
Milton -
'up enders' and
'down enders'
Moddershall
Moddershall to me looks utterley timeless
Mount
Pleasant, Fenton
Mount Pleasant doesn’t fit as well today as it did
Normacot
Normacot - an
ancient and important history which dates back to the Domesday Book.
Normacot
Road, Longton - Normacot
Road was once an important thoroughfare from Normacot to Longton Town.
Many of the houses and works were demolished between the 1930's and the
1970's and the opening of the A50 road in 1997 meant that the end of
Normacot Road was sealed off - so now it is a road to nowhere.
Normacot -
“I wouldn’t live anywhere else,”
Normacot
Road, Longton - road to nowhere links past to future.
Normacot
in detail - Normacot has been a site of habitation and activity
for around 3 to 4,000 years. It was recorded in the 1087 Domesday Book
as part of the "Land of Richard Forester"
Northwood
Northwood
Park
A walk
around Northwood Park - "The opening of Northwood Park by
the Mayor of Hanley, Alderman T. Hampton, took place on May 23rd, 1907,
after a procession from Hanley Town Hall.
Although the park was
then incomplete the opening was put forward to take place on the day
celebrating the jubilee of the Incorporation of the Borough of
Hanley."
Northwood
- good night out with wine, women and song?
Norton
Norton - in the Labour fold -
Harry Brown, former councillor and Labour stalwart.
Penkhull
Penkhull: Josiah
Spode & the Mount Estate - A look at The Mount - home and
estate created by Josiah Spode II (1754-1827), master potter, of Stoke
and also to examine the relationship between the estate and the village
of Penkhull.
Pitts
Hill
Pitts
Hill on the Potteries Loop Line
Goldenhill
and Pitts Hill on the Loop Line in depth - The
loop line Tunstall to Goldenhill opened to both passengers and goods on
the 1st of October 1874 and the section from Goldenhill to Kidsgrove
over a year later on the 15th of November 1875.
Rushton
Grange
the
monks of Hulton Abbey & Rushton
Hulton
Abbey to Ruston Grange -
this article examines Hulton Abbey, the trackway along Sneyd Street
and the monks farmland at Ruston Grange.
Sneyd
Green
the monks of
Hulton Abbey & Sneyd Green
Hulton
Abbey to Ruston Grange -
this article examines Hulton Abbey, the trackway along Sneyd Street
and the monks farmland at Ruston Grange.
Sneyd
Green - if you go down the wrong street you’ll miss it
Shelton
Stoke
Road, Howard Place & Snow Hill -
this road well travelled deserves a second look.
John Ridgway
& Shelton. - Walk around the Howard and Cauldon Place area
of Shelton in the 1850-1890 period. The Ridgway pottery family and the
development of the streets and houses.
Smallthorne
‘Smothern
Rindabite’ - the Devil’s Island
Trubshaw
Cross
Trubshaw
Cross in detail - Trubshaw Cross is the upper part of Longport,
situated on the junction of Newcastle Street and Davenport Road - it was
an important point on the packhorse lanes from Newcastle-under-Lyme to
Burslem and Tunstall.
Trubshaw
Cross - major gateway provides a glimpse into cities past
Werrington
Ash Estate, Ash
Bank - 'old lanes tell own story of area's hidden history'
The Ash
Estate was a strategic location in the mid nineteenth century
because the Bridle Path was the route of coal carts from Hanley Hayes
Colliery to the Hanley-Cheadle Turnpike Road. The exploitation of the
coal seams under the estate - reflected in the names of the fields:
"Coal Pit Field" and "Slack Pit Field" — helped to
pay for the construction of the new Ash Hall estate buildings and the
enlargement of the estate.
Werrington
starts to make sense: Armshead, Salters, Washerwall
Wetley
Rocks
Climbing
to the top of Wetley Rocks is no easy task
Winton's
Wood
A photo walk across
Stoke Fields to Winton's Wood - the parish of St. Simon and St.
Jude (Hanley), the area around Staffordshire University. Winton's Wood
and Poxon's field.
Winton
Square - the
best face of the Potteries.
Winton
Fields area in detail - Winton's
Field and Winton's Wood were part of the Glebe lands of the Stoke
Church. Nowadays the area is home to Staffordshire University buildings,
Federation House, Stoke Railway Station and the North Stafford Hotel. -
Winton Square has 8 listed buildings and is a Stoke-on-Trent
conservation area
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