Coventry win City of Culture

[RailwayRowdy]

5 towns with no connection ???? Stoke on trent folk have one big connection they are proud of the City, they are warm and friendly.

Two connections to the m6 ?? So what our county town of stafford has no major network.

Stoke on trent will never be dead because it’s people will always be the most resilient, warm hearted and friendly folk in the UK.

 

Live outside stoke for one year then tell me I am wrong

 

These “warm hearted and friendly folk” must be the ones who broke into my house and also stole and wrote off THREE different cars from various locations across the City. Citizens should not be ashamed of their City, but equally neither should they be proud.

[SuperValiant1876]

I was born in hanley before the end of rationing, worked in many places around the country and left about 17 years ago... I return at least once every year, sometimes several times.

I remember when Hanley was a thriving, bustling town, when there was employment, however crap it was and the sense of community, even if it was caused by everyone being in the same mire.

Stoke isnt dead because it didnt win city of culture, its dead/dying because the people who could have made a difference didnt.

Pottery industry gone... nothing to replace it

Steel industry gone... nothing to replace it

Pits gone... nothing to replace them

Factories derelict... nothing to replace them

Shops empty... nothing to replace them [except charity shops]

Communities decimated... nothing to replace them

Hope almost gone... what replaces it?

 

The only time I see Hanley busy now is lunch time... take away the beggars, buskers, drunks, druggies and charity grabbers and its not busy at all.

 

Stoke is not dead because it didnt win city of culture... but perhaps it didnt win city of culture because its dead or dying.

 

Ive lived through the good times, that werent so good in my opinion, and some of the bad times... and through the time when stoke council celebrated because they were give millions by europe because the city was so bad... not hanging their heads in shame because they needed it

 

These things have been replaced tho Geo. We have companies like Vodafone and bet365 who employ more than used to work in the pits.

[Vital Spark]

These things have been replaced tho Geo. We have companies like Vodafone and bet365 who employ more than used to work in the pits.

 

Rubbish, the local pits employed tens of thousands, plus many more companies that provided service and support to these pits.

 

I imagine a lot of the call centre type jobs you refer to will be minimum wage and temporary contracts.

 

 

 

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[geosname]

These things have been replaced tho Geo. We have companies like Vodafone and bet365 who employ more than used to work in the pits.

 

I cant agree with that statement mate... at its height shelton iron and steel [shelton bar] employed over 6000 people without including all the businesses who relied on it. It is estimated that 4000 bottle kilns were in use in the potteries heyday which suggests 10s of thousands of workers.

I would suggest that if the disposable income of the residents in the area is medium to high retailers would come to the area to grab their piece of the pie, not leave it... if its low..... pound shops, pawn brokers and charity shops move in... and hope moves out

 

My mistake....

Shelton Bar employed 10,000 in the steelworks, had five coal mines, a complete railway system, and a by-products processing factory.

[Twitters]

Can people stop saying five towns please? There are SIX towns in Stoke-on-Trent; Burslem, Tunstall, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton!

[RailwayRowdy]

If five towns were good enough for Arnold Bennett, then five is good enough for me ! Bennett later said that he omitted Fenton, as the title of The Five Towns “sounded better” than The Six Towns. Don’t quite see it myself, but who am I to argue with such an accomplished wordsmith.

[Vital Spark]

Can people stop saying five towns please? There are SIX towns in Stoke-on-Trent; Burslem, Tunstall, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton!

 

Correct, its been six towns since 1910.

 

 

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[whotobeakiller]

Have to agree with bluedevil. Tunstall and Burslem have hit new lows and still the Labour mps keep getting voted in around here.

 

Sad state of affairs the north of stoke on trent is dead. The council should take a huge part of the blame for the money they squander every year. Never mind there's always the lottery then we can all move away

[Warren]

Have to agree with bluedevil. Tunstall and Burslem have hit new lows and still the Labour mps keep getting voted in around here.

 

Sad state of affairs the north of stoke on trent is dead. The council should take a huge part of the blame for the money they squander every year. Never mind there's always the lottery then we can all move away

 

A few weeks ago I stayed in Hanley on Tuesday night in a hotel and that was to go to a game when I was not driving. So I took the chance to walk between Burslem, Hanley, Fenton and Longton. I obviously know the Potteries very well having been born there, but left 31 years ago, so when i come back I can have some objectivity.

 

The places that most disturbed me, or should I say upset me, were Fenton and Longton. I don't think Burslem is doing that badly, in fact it is pretty reasonable for a town of its type. Hanley is not as bad as I remembered it a few years ago, except the outer edge, and redevelopment linking towards the Festival Park has been done pretty well.

 

I go through Tunstall quite a lot, it doesn't look too bad, but Burslem looks more vibrant.

 

I have visited and worked in the other equivalent cities in the Midlands in the last few years. Nottingham is clearly in the best shape, followed by Leicester and Derby. So Stoke on Trent is regeneration wise behind these cities.

 

It is not hopeless though. And 10 years ago I was pretty despairing of what I saw, but quite a lot has improved. It is depressing to remember all the industry lost, but there is no point behaving like Trump in the US and promising to bring it all back when that is not going to happen. Everywhere has to move on and wherever one goes in the UK these days it is much harder to visibly see the economic activity, but the UK economy is in reasonable shape overall. Stoke on Trent needs to leverage its cheap land and buildings to attract investment.

[Andyregs]

Have to agree with bluedevil. Tunstall and Burslem have hit new lows and still the Labour mps keep getting voted in around here.

 

Sad state of affairs the north of stoke on trent is dead. The council should take a huge part of the blame for the money they squander every year. Never mind there's always the lottery then we can all move away

 

So now we have a conservative/ukip run council we should be seeing massive change and regeneration. What’s first on the list?

 

 

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[Robbie Earle's Perm]

You seem to have overlooked the fact that Coventry made the first British motor car and built up an industry that the Luftwaffe felt worthy of their bombs. Even when Coventry was bombed it stilled looked a lot easier on the eye than the bulk of our current surroundings.

 

 

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Spot on, a visit to their city would enlighten our bid leaders why we were light years behind Cov.

 

 

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[Conrad]

Spot on, a visit to their city would enlighten our bid leaders why we were light years behind Cov.

 

 

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Who said we were light years behind Cov? I got the impression it was a close run thing and we were not far off winning.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Who said we were light years behind Cov? I got the impression it was a close run thing and we were not far off winning.

 

I don’t think anyone will know that unless they were part of the judging committee, I’m talking about the infrastructure of both cities. They are lightyears ahead.

 

 

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[Bea Smith]

Who said we were light years behind Cov? I got the impression it was a close run thing and we were not far off winning.

 

You are right - Coventry is just as run-down as the Potteries, and lacks nice surrounding areas. What a pity we cannot deport Smurf and his Smurfettes to Coventry to even up the amount of decrepit nonsense-sprouting rubbish in both places.

[geosname]

So now we have a conservative/ukip run council we should be seeing massive change and regeneration. What’s first on the list?

 

 

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Potteries gallows humour at its finest.