Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located to the north-west of Stoke-on-Trent and east of Crewe. The town's population was 13,389 at the 2021 census. ''The Mere'' is a ...

Kidsgrove Kidsgrove is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the Cheshire border. It is part of the Potteries Urban Area, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 26,276 (2019 census). ...

Biddulph Biddulph is a town in Staffordshire, England, north of Stoke-on-Trent and south-east of Congleton, Cheshire. Origin of the name Biddulph's name may come from Anglo-Saxon/Old English ''bī dylfe'' = "beside the pit or quarry". It may also ...

and

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, which form a conurbation around the city. Stoke is

polycentric Polycentric is an English adjective, meaning "having more than one center," derived from the Greek words ''polús'' ("many") and ''kentrikós'' ("center"). Polycentricism (or polycentricity) is the abstract noun formed from polycentric. They may r ...

, having been formed by the federation of six towns in 1910. It took its name from

Stoke-upon-Trent Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 18 ...

where the main centre of government and the principal

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the district were located. Hanley is the primary commercial centre; the other four towns which form the city are

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. T ...

, Tunstall,

Longton Longton may refer to several places: * Longton, Kansas, United States * Longton, Lancashire, United Kingdom * Longton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom See also * Longtan (disambiguation) * Longtown (disambiguation) Longtown may refer to several plac ...

and Fenton. Stoke-on-Trent is the home of the

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

industry in England and known as

The Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ...

. Formerly a primarily industrial

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

, it is now a centre for

service industries Service industries are those not directly concerned with the production of physical goods (such as agriculture and manufacturing). Some service industries, including transportation, wholesale trade and retail trade are part of the supply chain de ...

and distribution centres.

History

Toponymy and etymology

The name ''Stoke'' is taken from the town of

, the original

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

, with other settlements being chapelries. ''Stoke'' derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''stoc'', a word that at first meant little more than ''place'', but which subsequently gained more specific – but divergent – connotations. These variant meanings included ''dairy farm'', ''secondary or dependent place or farm'', ''summer pasture'', ''crossing place'', ''meeting place'' and ''place of worship''. It is not known which of these was intended here, and all are plausible. The most frequently suggested interpretations derive from a crossing point on the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

that ran from present-day

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

to Chesterton or the early presence of a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, said to have been founded in 670 AD. Because ''Stoke'' was such a common name for a settlement, some kind of distinguishing

affix In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. Affixes may be derivational, like English ''-ness'' and ''pre-'', or inflectional, like English plural ''-s'' and past tense ''-ed''. They ar ...

was usually added later, in this case the name of the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

. 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.

Administration

An early proposal for a federation took place in 1888, when an amendment was raised to the Local Government Bill which would have made the six towns into districts within a county of "Staffordshire Potteries". It was not until 1 April 1910 that the "Six Towns" were brought together. The

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

of Hanley, the

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

s of Burslem, Longton, and Stoke, together with the urban districts of Tunstall and Fenton now formed a single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. In 1919, the borough proposed to expand further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Wolstanton United Urban District, both to the west of Stoke. This never took place, due to strong objections from Newcastle Corporation. A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of the Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill. Ultimately, Wolstanton was instead added to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1932. Although attempts to take Newcastle, Wolstanton and

(north of Tunstall) were never successful, the borough did expand in 1922, taking in

Smallthorne Urban District Smallthorne Urban District was an urban district in Staffordshire, England.Stoke upon Trent Rural District. The borough was officially granted

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

in 1925, with a lord mayor from 1928. When the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent initially applied for city status in 1925, citing its importance as the centre of the pottery industry, it was refused by the Home Office as it had fewer than 300,000 inhabitants. The decision was overturned, however, when a direct approach was made to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

, who agreed that the borough ought to be a city. The public announcement of the elevation to city status was made by the king during a visit to Stoke on 4 June 1925. The county borough was abolished in 1974, and Stoke became a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

of Staffordshire. Its status as a unitary authority was restored on 1 April 1997, although it remains part of the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

of Staffordshire. For

Eurostat Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statis ...

purposes it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG23).

Industry

Pottery

Restored bottle kilns, Stoke-on-Trent - geograph

Porcelain teapot, Walker Art Gallery (1)

Since the 17th century, the area has been almost exclusively known for its industrial-scale pottery manufacturing. Companies such as

Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...

, Dudson,

Spode Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced by the company of the same name, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two extremely ...

(founded by

Josiah Spode Josiah Spode (23 March 1733 – 18 August 1797) was an English potter and the founder of the English Spode pottery works which became famous for the high quality of its wares. He is often credited with the establishment of blue underglaze tran ...

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

(founded by

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...

), Minton (founded by

Thomas Minton Thomas Minton (1765–1836) was an English potter. He founded Thomas Minton & Sons in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, which grew into a major ceramic manufacturing company with an international reputation. During the early 1780s Thomas Minton ...

) and Baker & Co. (founded by William Baker) were established and based there. The local abundance of coal and clay suitable for earthenware production led to the early (initially limited) development of the local pottery industry. The construction of the

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middle ...

(completed in 1777) enabled the import of

china clay Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...

from

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

together with other materials and facilitated the production of

creamware Creamware is a cream-coloured refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body, known in France as '' faïence fine'', in the Netherlands as ''Engels porselein'', and in Italy as ''terraglia inglese''.Osborne, 140 It was created about 175 ...

and

bone china Bone china is a type of ceramic that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phospha ...

. Other production centres in Britain, Europe and worldwide had a considerable lead in the production of high-quality wares. Methodical and highly detailed research and experimentation, carried out over many years, nurtured the development of artistic talent throughout the local community and raised the profile of

Staffordshire Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of cer ...

. This was spearheaded by one man,

, who cut the first sod for the canal in 1766 and erected his

Etruria Works The Etruria Works was a ceramics factory opened by Josiah Wedgwood in 1769 in a district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which he named Etruria. The factory ran for 180 years, as part of the wider Wedgwood business. Wedgwood kept ...

that year. Wedgwood built upon the successes of earlier local potters such as his mentor

Thomas Whieldon Thomas Whieldon (September 1719 in Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent – March 1795) was a significant English potter who played a leading role in the development of Staffordshire pottery. The attribution of actual pieces to his factory has long been ...

and along with scientists and engineers, raised the pottery business to a new level.

introduced

at Trent in 1796, and

opened his manufactory. With the industry came a large number of notable 20th-century ceramic artists including

Clarice Cliff Clarice Cliff (20 January 1899 – 23 October 1972) was an English ceramic artist and designer. Active from 1922 to 1963, Cliff became the head of the factory creative department. Early life Cliff's ancestors moved from the Eccleshall area ...

Susie Cooper Susan Vera Cooper OBE (29 October 1902 – 28 July 1995) was a prolific English ceramic designer working in the Stoke-on-Trent pottery industries from the 1920s to the 1980s. Life and work Born in Burslem, Staffordshire, she was the youngest of ...

, Charlotte Rhead,

Frederick Hurten Rhead Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880–1942) was a ceramicist and a major figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. A native of England, worked as a potter in the United States for most of his career. In addition to teaching pottery techniques, Rhead wa ...

and

Jabez Vodrey Jabez Vodrey (1795–1861) was the first English potter to emigrate to and work west of the Appalachian Mountains. Early years Vodrey was born on January 14, 1795 in Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Thi ...

Coal mining

North Staffordshire was a centre for coal mining. The first reports of coal mining in the area come from the 13th century. The Potteries Coalfield (part of the North Staffordshire Coalfield) covers . Striking coal miners in the Hanley and

area ignited the nationwide 1842 General Strike and its associated Pottery Riots. When coal mining was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1947, about 20,000 men worked in the industry in Stoke-on-Trent. Notable Collieries included Hanley Deep Pit, Trentham Superpit (formerly Hem Heath, Stafford and Florence Collieries), Fenton Glebe, Silverdale, Victoria, Mossfield, Parkhall, Norton,

Chatterley Whitfield Chatterley Whitfield Colliery is a disused coal mine on the outskirts of Chell, Staffordshire in Stoke on Trent, England. It was the largest mine working the North Staffordshire Coalfield and was the first colliery in the UK to produce one mil ...

and

Wolstanton Wolstanton is a suburban town on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. History The Roman road the Rykeneld Street passed through Wolstanton. Wolstanton is mentioned in the Norman Domesday book where it is listed amongst the ...

. The industry developed greatly, and new investments in mining projects were planned within the City boundaries as recently as the 1990s. However, 1994 saw the last pit to close as the Trentham Superpit was shut. The Stoke mining industry set several national and international records.

Colliery, when modernised, had the deepest mining shafts in Europe at 3,197 ft. In 1933, Chatterley Whitfield Colliery became the first Colliery in the country to mine one million tons of coal. In the 1980s Florence Colliery in

repeatedly set regional and national production records; in 1992 the combined Trentham Superpit (Hem Heath and Florence) was the first mine in Europe to produce 2.5 million saleable tonnes of coal. Today the mines are all closed, though the scars of mining still remain on the landscape. Slag heaps are still visible on the skyline, now covered with flora and fauna. The

site reopened as a museum two years after its closure in 1976. The museum closed in 1991 and the site became a local nature reserve. It was declared a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

by English Heritage in 1993. The abandoned subterranean mines are inaccessible, though they still add complications to many building projects and occasionally cause minor tremors, detectable only by specialised equipment. The Phoenix Trust, an independent not-for-profit foundation, is campaigning to turn Stoke-on-Trent and the wider

North Staffordshire Coalfield The North Staffordshire Coalfield was a coalfield in Staffordshire, England, with an area of nearly , virtually all of it within the city of Stoke on Trent and the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, apart from three smaller coalfields, Shaffalong ...

into a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

due to its historic economic significance, its leading role in the industrial revolution, and as the birthplace of

Primitive Methodism The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

Steel

The iron and steel industries occupied important roles in the development of the city, both before and after federation. Especially notable were those mills located in the valley at Goldendale and

Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire *Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire *Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfor ...

below the hill towns of Tunstall, Burslem and Hanley. Shelton Steelworks' production of steel ended in 1978—instead of producing crude steel, they concentrated on rolling steel billet which was transported from

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

by rail. The rolling plant finally closed in 2002. From 1864 to 1927 Stoke housed the repair shops of the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was based i ...

and was the home of independent railway locomotive manufacturers

Kerr, Stuart and Company Kerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent, England. History It was founded in 1881 by James Kerr as "James Kerr & Company", and became "Kerr, Stuart & Company" from 1883 when John Stuart was taken on as a pa ...

from 1881 to 1930. Shelton Steel Works and the mining operations were heavily involved in the World War II industrial effort. Central to the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

's success was the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

Butt Lane Butt Lane is a village in North Staffordshire near the town of Kidsgrove in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, North Staffordshire. Butt Lane borders on Church Lawton in Cheshire. A ward of the borough is named after the place. Notable people ...

, had his

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

at Kerr, Stuart and Company's railway works.

Other

The

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

tyre company also has a presence in Stoke-on-Trent, and in the 1920s built their first UK plant in the city. In the 1980s nearly 9,000 workers were employed at the plant; in 2006 about 1,200 worked there. RAF Meir was located on the outskirts of the city.

Geography

Stoke-on-Trent is between

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and adjoins the town of

to the west. It lies on the upper valley of the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

at the south-west foothills of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

, near the uplands of the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

to the north-east and the lowlands of the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

and

Cheshire Plain The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland within the county of Cheshire in North West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from the Mersey Valley in the north to the Shropshire Hills in the south, bounded b ...

to the south and west. The city ranges from 96 to 250 metres (315 to 820 ft) above sea level. For

purposes it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG23) and is one of four counties or unitary districts that compose the Shropshire and Staffordshire NUTS 2 region. Stoke-on-Trent is often known as "the city of five towns", the name given to it by local novelist

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

, and is the only polycentric city in the UK. In his novels, Bennett used mostly recognisable aliases for five of the six towns (although he called Stoke "Knype"). However, Bennett said that he believed "Five Towns" was more euphonious than "Six Towns", so he omitted Fenton (now sometimes referred to as "the forgotten town"). As it is a city made up of multiple towns, the city forms a

(although in this case the conurbation is bigger than Stoke itself, because the urban area of Stoke is contiguous with that of administratively-separate Newcastle). The six towns run in a rough line from north to south along the

A50 road A5 and variants may refer to: Science and mathematics * A5 regulatory sequence in biochemistry * A5, the abbreviation for the androgen Androstenediol * Annexin A5, a human cellular protein * ATC code A05 ''Bile and liver therapy'', a subgroup of ...

– Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton. Although the city is named after the original town of Stoke, and the City Council offices are located there, the city centre is usually regarded as being in Hanley, which had earlier developed into a major commercial centre. As well as

other nearby towns include

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...

Eccleshall Eccleshall is a town and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles northwest of Stafford, and six miles west-southwest of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France. His ...

, Cheadle,

and

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

Suburbs

As well as the Six Towns, there are numerous suburbs including

Abbey Hulton Abbey Hulton is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, named after the abbey that existed between the 13th and 16th centuries. History The name Abbey Hulton is derived from 'hilltown' (Anglo-Saxon ''hyll'' + ''tūn''; Middle Engli ...

, Adderley Green, Ball Green,

Baddeley Green Baddeley Green is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Baddeley Green is part of the Abbey Green ward, which covers the areas of Baddeley Green, Milton and Abbey Hulton as well as Baddeley Edge and Light Oaks.http://www.stoke ...

Bentilee Bentilee is a housing estate in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, between Hanley and Longton, and parallel with Fenton. History Built in the 1950s, Bentilee was at that time one of the largest estates in Europe, with around 4,500 propert ...

, Birches Head,

Blurton Blurton is a district in the south of Stoke on Trent, in the English county of Staffordshire. Hollybush, Old Blurton, Blurton Farm and Newstead are the names of the areas in which make up the town known as Blurton. Education Sutherland Prim ...

, Bucknall,

Bradeley Bradeley is a village in Staffordshire, England, in the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book but became more established as a mining community for the local coal pits in Norton and Chatterley Whitfield. A hostel exis ...

, Chell, Cliffe Vale,

Cobridge Cobridge is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, in the City of Stoke-on-Trent district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Cobridge was marked on the 1775 Yates map as 'Cow Bridge' and was recorded in Ward records (1843) as Cobridge Gate. Cobrid ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

, Fegg Hayes, Florence,

Goldenhill Goldenhill is an area on the northern edge of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. It is centred along the High Street, part of the A50 road that runs from south-east to north-west. It is about north of Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall an ...

Hartshill Hartshill is a large village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, 2.5 miles (4 km) north-west of the town of Nuneaton. The parish borders the district of Nuneaton and Bedworth at the south, the North Warwickshire district parishes ...

Heron Cross Bottle Oven, Heron Cross Geograph-497312-by-Phil-Eptlett

Meir Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfre ...

, Meir Park, Meir Hay, Middleport,

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

, Normacot,

Norton le Moors Norton le Moors is in the north-east of the city of Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England, mostly within the city boundary, with the rest in the Staffordshire Moorlands district. Geography The suburb borders Ball Green in the north, Stockto ...

, Oakhill, Packmoor,

Penkhull Penkhull is a district of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, part of Penkhull and Stoke electoral ward, and Stoke Central parliamentary constituency. Penkhull is a conservation area, and includes Grade II listed buildings such a ...

, Sandyford,

Smallthorne Smallthorne (population: 5,827 – 2011 Census) is an area in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is in the north-east of the city, near Burslem. Smallthorne borders Bradeley and Chell, Staffordshire, Chell in the north, Nort ...

Sneyd Green Sneyd Green is an area in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, in the north-east of the city, from Hanley. Sneyd Green borders Smallthorne in the north, Milton in the east, Birches Head in the south, and Cobridge in the west. ...

, Trentham, Trent Vale and

Weston Coyney Weston Coyney is a suburb of the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. It lies on the south eastern edge of the city and borders the neighbouring Staffordshire Moorlands district. Originally developed around a crossroads the area now also i ...

Blythe Bridge Blythe Bridge is a village in Staffordshire, England, south-east of Stoke-on-Trent. Etymology Blythe Bridge is so called as it is built around the site of a bridge over the River Blithe (spelt differently from the name of the village itself), a ...

, Werrington and

Endon Endon is a village within the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire, England. It is southwest of Leek and north-northeast of Stoke-on-Trent. Endon was formerly a township in civil parish of Leek. Together with neighbouring Stan ...

, although outside the city's boundaries, are part of the built up area.

Climate

Stoke-on-Trent, as with all of the United Kingdom, experiences a temperate

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

, lacking in weather extremes. The local area is a little more elevated than much of Staffordshire and Cheshire, resulting in cooler temperatures year round compared to the nearby Cheshire Plain. However, on calm, clear nights this is often reversed as cold air drainage causes a

temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. No ...

to occur. As such, the Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle area are generally not susceptible to severe frosts. The nearest

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...

weather station is

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

, about four miles west of the city centre. The absolute high temperature is 32.9 °C (91.2 °F), recorded in August 1990, although more typically the average warmest day of the year should be 27.0 °C (80.6 °F). In total, just under fourteen days should report a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The absolute minimum temperature stands at −13.3 °C (8.1 °F), recorded during January 1963. In an average year, a total of 48.3 air frosts will be registered. Rainfall averages around 806 mm a year.

Green belt

Stoke is at the centre of the Stoke-on-Trent Green Belt, which is an

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...

policy that regulates the rural space in Staffordshire surrounding the city and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and extending into Cheshire. It is in place to prevent

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

and minimise further convergence with outlying settlements such as Kidsgrove and

. First defined in 1967, the vast majority of area covered is outside the city, but there are some landscape features and places of interest within that are covered by the designation mainly along its fringes, these include the Trentham and Goldenhill golf courses, Hem Heath Wood Nature Reserve, Meir Heath, Barlaston Common, Caverswall Cricket Club, Park Hall Nature Reserve,

Country Park and enterprise centre, the villages of Baddeley Edge and Ravenscliffe, Bucknall Reservoir, Caldon Canal, the River Blythe, and the Head of Trent, Wedgwood Museum and estate, Strongford Treatment Works and Trent Vale Pumping Station.

Demographics

Based on the 2011 census, the total population of the city was 249,008. This was a modest increase from the 240,636 recorded in the 2001 census. 50.2% of the population is female. 91.68% of the population of Stoke-on-Trent were born in the UK. 86.43% of the population identified themselves as

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

, 4.19% identified as

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

, and 1.88% identified as

Other White The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, S ...

. 1.35 % identified as Other Asian and 1.36 % as

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

. Regarding religion, 60.89% described themselves as

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, 6.02% as

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and 25.19% had no religion. 14.28% of the population was retired and 5.61% were students.

Ethnicity

Religion

Points of interest

The city's ceramics collection is housed in the

Potteries Museum & Art Gallery The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Bethesda Street, Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free. One of the four local authority museums in the city, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum ...

in Hanley.

Etruria Industrial Museum The Etruria Industrial Museum is located in Etruria, Staffordshire, in England. The museum is a typical and well-preserved example of a nineteenth century British steam-powered potter's mill. It is situated between the Trent and Mersey Canal a ...

on the

Caldon Canal Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the Froghall Tunnel. History The first plans by the proprietors of the ...

, and

Gladstone Pottery Museum The Gladstone Pottery Museum is a working museum of a medium-sized coal-fired pottery, typical of those once common in the North Staffordshire area of England from the time of the industrial revolution in the 18th century to the mid 20th cent ...

in a former potbank in Longton are dedicated to the city's industrial heritage. There is also

Stoke Minster Stoke Minster is the main church of St Peter ad Vincula and main church in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Which is now the main church of the wider city of Stoke-on-Trent. Name and dedication The dedication to St Peter ad Vincu ...

which is located in the Stoke-upon-Trent area and is the only official church with Minster status. Most of the major pottery companies based in Stoke-on-Trent have factory shops and visitor centres. The £10 million

Wedgwood Museum Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

visitor centre opened in the firm's factory in

Barlaston Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the Stafford (borough), borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone, Staffordshire, Stone. According ...

in October 2008. The Dudson Centre in Hanley is a museum of the family ceramics business, which is partly housed in a Grade II listed bottle kiln. It is also a volunteer centre. Burleigh in Middleport is the world's oldest working Victorian pottery. There are also smaller factory shops, such as Royal Stafford in Burslem,

Moorcroft W. Moorcroft Limited (trading as W Moorcroft Ltd) is a British art pottery manufacturer based at Burslem in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The company was founded by William Moorcroft in 1913. History In 1897, Staffordshire pottery manufacturers ...

in Cobridge and

Emma Bridgewater Emma Bridgewater is a British ceramics manufacturing company founded in 1985 which is named after Emma Rice (''née'' Bridgewater). It is run by her and her husband Matthew Rice. Noted for their polka dot design among others, the company "Emma B ...

in Hanley. In addition, there are ambitious plans to open the huge

Colliery as a mining museum, since it has been given

status. The

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

Ford Green Hall Ford Green Hall is a Grade II* listed farmhouse and historic house museum in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The oldest parts of the house date from the late 16th century, with one wing being either added or greatly repaired at some point in t ...

is a 17th-century farmhouse which is now a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

Although

Trentham Gardens The Trentham Estate, in the village of Trentham, is a visitor attraction located on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. History The estate was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At t ...

is in the

Borough of Stafford The Borough of Stafford is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after the town of Stafford. It also includes the towns of Stone and Eccleshall, as well as numerous villages such as Weston, Hixon, ...

, it is just south of the city and is considered by many locals to be part of Stoke-on-Trent. Next door is Trentham Monkey Forest, which houses 140

Barbary macaque The Barbary macaque (''Macaca sylvanus''), also known as Barbary ape, is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar. It is the type species of the ...

s in a enclosure that visitors can walk through. The Alton Towers Resort is east of Stoke-on-Trent and is one of the United Kingdom's best known attractions. The

Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charl ...

indoor swimming complex on Festival Park near Hanley is also a significant children's attraction. Each of the six towns in Stoke-on-Trent has at least one park. At nine hectares,

Burslem Park Burslem Park is a public park in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was opened in 1894, and is essentially unchanged from the original layout. It is listed Grade II* in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens. History T ...

is one of the largest registered Victorian parks in the UK. Park Hall Country Park in Weston Coyney is a national nature reserve, and its sandstone canyons are a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. Hartshill Park in Stoke is also a nature reserve, and Bucknall Park is home to the City Farm. Westport Lake in Longport is the largest body of water in Stoke-on-Trent and has a nature reserve. Queens Park or Longton park in Dresden is one of the city's heritage parks and is famous for its horticulture and lakes. It houses several buildings including a clock tower and three bowling pavilions.

Economy

Stoke-on-Trent was a world centre for fine ceramics—a skilled design trade has existed in the area since at least the 12th century. But in the late 1980s and 1990s Stoke-on-Trent was hit hard by the general decline in the British manufacturing sector. Numerous factories,

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

collieries Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

, and potteries were closed, including the renowned

Shelton Bar Shelton Bar (Shelton Iron, Steel & Coal Company) was a major steelworks in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. In its heyday, Shelton Bar employed 10,000 in the steelworks, had five coal mines, a complete railway system, and a b ...

steelworks. This resulted in a sharp rise in unemployment in the 'high-skilled but low-paid' workforce. The pottery firm

and its subsidiary

are based in nearby

, although much production now takes place in the firm's

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n factory.

Portmeirion Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the com ...

is based in Stoke town, and now owns the

and

Royal Worcester Royal Worcester is a porcelain brand based in Worcester, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by Royal Crown De ...

ceramics brands. Ceramics firm

is based in Hanley;

Burleigh Pottery Burleigh Pottery (also known as Burgess & Leigh) is the name of a pottery manufacturer in Middleport, Staffordshire, Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent. The business specialises in traditionally shaped and patterned domestic earthenware of high quality. ...

is in Middleport;

Wade Ceramics Wade Ceramics Ltd is a manufacturer of porcelain and earthenware, headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Its products include animal figures for its Collectors Club, whisky flagons, and a variety of industrial ceramics. In the 1950s, the Wa ...

is in Etruria;

and Royal Stafford are based in Burslem;

Aynsley China Aynsley China Ltd. was a British manufacturer of bone china tableware, giftware and commemorative items. History The company was founded in 1775 by John Aynsley in Lane End, Longton, Staffordshire. In 1861 his grandson John Aynsley built the ...

is in Longton, and is one of the last remaining manufacturers of

in the city. Fine china manufacturer Dudson have premises in Hanley and Burslem. Churchill China have their main factory in Tunstall, while hotelware manufacturer Steelite is based in Middleport at the former Dunn Bennett site. About 9,000 firms are based in the city. Amongst the more notable are

Bet365 Bet365 Group Ltd (commonly known and stylized as bet365 and spoken as "bet three-six-five") is a leading British online gambling company based in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Denise Coates, who remains the majority shareholder and joint ...

, founded by local businessman and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

chairman

Peter Coates Peter Coates (born 13 January 1938) is an English businessman, the co-founder of bet365, and the chairman of Stoke City Football Club. He has been listed as the 25th-richest person in British football. He founded Stadia Catering in the 1960s an ...

; and formerly

Phones4U Phones 4u was a large independent mobile phone retailer in the United Kingdom. It was part of the 4u Group based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. Opening in 1996, it expanded to over 600 stores. On 14 September 2014, EE and Vodafone, ...

, a large retailer of mobile phones started by

John Caudwell John David Caudwell (born 7 October 1952) is a British billionaire businessman who founded the now defunct mobile phone retailer Phones 4u. He also invests in fashion, real estate and other industries, and chairs Caudwell Children, a children ...

. until it ceased trading in September 2014. Stoke City Football Club itself has been a major symbol of the city since the turn 20th century, having spent most of its history in the highest two divisions of the English league, constantly attracting large crowds and signing or launching the careers of many high-profile players - most notably

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

and

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...

. The club was based at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

from 1878 until 1997, when it moved to the Britannia Stadium (now the

Bet365 Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an All-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City F.C., Stoke City. The stad ...

) at Trentham Lakes. This was one of the early stages of regeneration in the Trentham area of the city, which also included the regeneration of

several years later, when retail and food outlets were added to the visitor attraction. Trentham Monkey Forest opened nearby in 2005. The

tyre company has a complex in the city which houses its commercial head office, training centre and a truck tyre re-treading facility.

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

supermarket and

The Co-operative Pharmacy Well, formerly known as The Co-operative Pharmacy, is the largest independent pharmacy business and the third largest overall pharmacy chain after Boots UK and Lloyds Pharmacy in the United Kingdom. It is the largest pharmacy chain in Wales. Fo ...

have large warehouses in the city.

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

has a large call centre on Festival Park and the UK subsidiary of the lubricant manufacturer

Fuchs Petrolub Fuchs Petrolub SE is a German multinational manufacturer of lubricants, and related speciality products. The company's headquarters are at Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where the company was founded in 1931. Fuchs is a public company l ...

has its head office at its factory in Hanley. There is a steel foundry owned by

Goodwin Steel Castings Ltd Goodwin Steel Castings Limited is a heavy engineering firm located in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England. The company specialises in the production of large, bespoke, machined steel castings. History Goodwin Steel Castings has been a su ...

in Joiner's Square.

Premier Foods Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, Lyons, Sharwood's, Loyd ...

make

Mr Kipling Mr Kipling is a brand of cakes, pies and baked goods made in Carlton, South Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and marketed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and North America. It was introduced in May 1967 (at a time when cakes were more of ...

slices and Cherry Bakewells in Trent Vale.

The Co-operative Travel The Co-operative Travel is a travel agency brand used by some independent retail co-operatives in the United Kingdom, such as Midcounties Co-operative, through their access to The Co-operative brand. Between 2011 and 2016 the brand was also used ...

had its head office in Burslem, before it merged with

Thomas Cook Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was an English businessman. He is best known for founding the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was also one of the initial developers of the "package tour" including travel, accommodation ...

in 2010.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council Stoke-on-Trent City Council is the local authority of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. As a unitary authority, it has the combined powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council and is administratively separate from the rest of ...

is the city's largest single employer. Another major employer is the

Royal Stoke University Hospital Royal Stoke University Hospital (formerly the University Hospital of North Staffordshire) is a teaching and research hospital at Hartshill in the English county of Staffordshire. It lies in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, near the border with New ...

, with over 7,000 staff. 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 affordable business property, while being surrounded by a belt of affluent areas such as the

, south

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, and having excellent road links via the A500 and nearby M6 and rail links. Tourism to the city was kick-started by the National Garden Festival in 1986, and is now sustained by the many pottery factory-shops and tours, and by the improved canal network. Hanley stoke on trent city centre

The main shopping centre is the

Potteries Shopping Centre Potteries Shopping Centre (formerly Intu Potteries) is an indoor shopping centre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, in the Staffordshire Potteries. Stores and facilities The centre houses anchor outlet Primark, as well as a Starbucks coffee shop, a Rive ...

in Hanley, which has of retail space with 87 units including a

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

, (formerly

Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...

) and major stores for

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

, New Look, Monsoon Stores Ltd, Monsoon, Gap (clothing retailer), Gap, HMV, River Island, H. Samuel, La Senza, Superdrug, Topshop, Topman and Burton (clothing), Burton. Marks & Spencer and T.K. Maxx also have stores in Hanley. A new shopping centre on the site of Hanley's former bus station was due to open in 2016, but development has been delayed and the project is now in doubt. The other five towns of the city all have their own smaller town centres. Festival Park is a large retail and business park in Etruria, built on the former Garden Festival site. There are also retail parks in Tunstall, Fenton and Longton. A new retail park in Longton opened and has Currys, Smyths, Pets at Home and Matalan. A pub, McDonald's and Pizza Hut are also on the site. Other notable business people from the city include Reginald H. Jones (Chairman of General Electric), venture capitalist Jon Moulton, and John Madejski (chairman of Reading F.C. and former owner of ''Auto Trader Group, Auto Trader''). Night-time industry has boomed in recent years, with Hanley becoming increasingly popular for its nightclubs, theatres, pubs, bars and restaurants. In 2016, Stoke-on-Trent was ranked the second best city to start a business by Quality Formations, based on a number of factors including commercial property, energy, virtual offices, public transport and financial access.

Government

The city is covered by three House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons constituencies: Stoke-on-Trent North (UK Parliament constituency), Stoke-on-Trent North, Stoke-on-Trent Central (UK Parliament constituency), Stoke-on-Trent Central and Stoke-on-Trent South (UK Parliament constituency), Stoke-on-Trent South. Until 2019 the northern and central seats had returned Labour MPs since their creation in 1950. However, in the 2019 general election, all 3 Stoke-on-Trent constituencies returned a Conservative MP. The former Labour heartland is highly eurosceptic leading to a 69.4% vote to leave the European Union in 2016. The city was within the West Midlands (European Parliament constituency), West Midlands European Parliament constituency.

Mayoral system

Stoke-on-Trent Town Hall (geograph 4569782)

The position of Lord Mayor is largely ceremonial. The title of Lord Mayor was first conferred on the City of Stoke-on-Trent by King George V of the United Kingdom, George V who visited Stoke-on-Trent Town Hall to award the town city status on 5 June 1925. The role of Lord Mayor is decided upon by a vote amongst the elected councillors; the candidates are also selected from the councillors. Between 1910 and 1928 the Borough, and later, City of Stoke-on-Trent had a Mayor rather than a Lord Mayor. The first Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent was Cecil Wedgwood of the Wedgwood pottery dynasty. The city was one of a limited number of English districts with an elected mayor and the only council to use the 'mayor and council manager' executive arrangements, although it was removed following a local referendum on 23 October 2008. A local referendum approved a directly elected mayor system on 3 May 2002 by 28,601 votes to 20,578 (turnout of 27.8%). Mike Wolfe (politician), Mike Wolfe, an independent candidate, became the first directly elected mayor after an election on 17 October 2002, narrowly beating Labour Party candidate George Stevenson (MP), George Stevenson by just 300 votes. The elected Mayor from 5 May 2005 to 5 June 2009 was Mark Meredith (Labour Party). The 2005 election was notable because about 10% of the ballot papers were either spoiled or ineligible. Meredith's election platform included a pledge to have another referendum on the post of elected mayor. This was scheduled for May 2007 and resulted in the abolition of the mayoral system. On 23 October 2008, voters returned to the polls to choose between modifying the system (to Mayor and Cabinet) or abolishing the position of elected Mayor. Votes were 21,231 for abolition and 14,592 for modification on a turnout of 19.23%.

Council Leader and Cabinet system

Following a citywide referendum abolishing the position of elected mayor, a cabinet-style council, Leader and Cabinet system was adopted on 5 June 2009. The Leader of the council is elected by councillors. Each cabinet member makes the decisions on their portfolio area and explains the decisions at the monthly cabinet meetings. The current leader of the council is Cllr Abi Brown who is also leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative group, one of the parties that forms the city's coalition administration.

Councillor representation

Since the 2015 local elections, no party has had overall control of the city council. Following the 2019 Stoke-on-Trent City Council election, local elections in May 2019 the council is a Conservative and City Independents Coalition government, coalition.

Members of Parliament

Public services

The city's acute hospital is the

run by the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust. It formerly comprised two sites: the Royal Infirmary and the City General. The hospital was rebuilt on the City General site on the A34, London Road. Community health services are run by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust with mental health services provided by North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust. Policing in Stoke-on-Trent is provided by Staffordshire Police, which has police stations in Hanley, Bucknall, Burslem, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court and county court, Stoke-on-Trent County Court share a building in Hanley. There is no magistrates' court (England and Wales), magistrates' court. Hearings were held in Fenton Town Hall until it closed in 2012; all magistrates proceedings now take place in Newcastle. Fire service in the United Kingdom, Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, which has fire stations in Hanley, Longton, Burslem and Sandyford. Severn Trent manages Stoke-on-Trent's drinking and waste water. The city's main library is the City Central Library in Hanley, which is also home to the city's archives. The city council operates eight smaller libraries throughout the city. The council also operates sixteen children's centres, nine local service centres and five "one stop shops" for council services.

Religion

Stoke-on-Trent does not have a cathedral, but the city's main, Church of England, civic church, is

. The city is within the Church of England, Anglican Diocese of Lichfield The city is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham and the immediate area has six Catholic Church, Catholic parishes; they are dedicated to: the Sacred Heart, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of the Angels and St Peter in Chains Church, Stoke-on-Trent, Our Lady of the Angels, Saint George, Pope Gregory I, Saint Gregory the Great, Maria Goretti, Saint Maria Goretti and Thérèse of Lisieux, Saint Teresa.

was founded by Hugh Bourne, a native of Stoke-on-Trent, at a public gathering in the nearby village of Mow Cop. He originally followed the John Wesley, Wesleyan form of Methodism but in 1801 he reformed the Methodist service by conducting it outside. He founded the first chapel in Tunstall with his brother in 1811. He promoted Sunday schools as a method of improving children's education, advocated the equal treatment of women and men, and was involved in the temperance movement in England, temperance movement. It was from the Primitive Methodists that many early trade unions found their early leaders. Also of note is John Lightfoot, a 17th-century churchman and rabbinical scholar. The city's first purpose-built mosque was completed in 2012. The city's only synagogue closed in 2006, and was replaced with a smaller one in nearby

. In September 2017 an anti-terrorist undercover officer secretly recorded 17 sermons by radical preacher Kamran Hussain at Tunstall mosque. He went to trial and was convicted for encouraging terrorism and glorifying the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Islamic State.

Transport

Major roads

Stoke-on-Trent is linked to the nearby M6 motorway at junctions 15 and 16 by the A500. Locally the A500 road, A500 is known as the ''D road'', as its loop between the two motorway junctions, along with the straight section of the M6 between the junctions, resembles the shape of a capital letter D. Coincidentally, the number 500 expressed in Roman numerals is ''D''. The A50 road, A50 provides an east–west link between the M6 and the M1 motorway; it joins up with the A500 road, A500 close to the

. Improvements to the road network have led to the construction of product distribution centres in the area.

Rail

Stoke-on-Trent railway station is located on the Stafford-Manchester line. The other railway stations in the city are Longport railway station, Longport and Longton railway station, Longton both on the Crewe-Derby line. Etruria railway station, Etruria station was closed in September 2005. Avanti West Coast British Rail Class 390, ''Pendolino'' 390029 is named after Stoke-on-Trent. Potteries Rail Map

Bus

Local public transport is provided almost exclusively by bus. Bus services are mainly operated by First Potteries. There are also several smaller companies operating bus services in the city, like D&G Bus. There are central bus stations in Hanley and Longton Interchange, Longton. National Express Coaches, National Express operate long-distance coach services from Hanley bus station. As part of the city's regeneration, a new bus station has been constructed in Hanley, allowing the old one to be demolished, making room for further redevelopment. As of January 2015 there are no local authority supported bus services in the city.

Canals

The city is served by the

, which sees traffic of some 10,000 boats a year. Additionally, the

branches off from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Etruria, within the city boundaries, going to Froghall with one branch going to

Cycling

As of November 2009 there are of new National Cycle Network off-road bicycle paths through the city, connecting to the national long-distance paths which were completed in 2005. Together with those in

, there are now over of cycle paths in the urban conurbation. A further £10 million of funding has now been secured for the city's cycling network, to be spent in 2009–2011 through Cycling England's support for Stoke as a Cycling City.

Education

Higher education

Staffordshire university stoke campus frontage

There are four further and higher education institutions in the local area, the two further education colleges being City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College and Stoke-on-Trent College. Formerly of Fenton, now located in a newly built structure on Leek Road, the Sixth Form college provides GCE Advanced Level, A Level teaching for around 1,800 students. Stoke-on-Trent College is much larger and less specialised, offering apprenticeships and adult education, and has a main campus (Cauldon Campus) in Shelton, and a secondary campus in Burslem. The city is also home to Staffordshire University (formerly North Staffordshire Polytechnic), with its main site in Shelton, near Stoke-on-Trent railway station. It gained its university status in 1992 as one of the New Universities, post-1992 universities. Keele University Medical School, Keele University School of Medicine uses facilities at the

in Hartshill.

itself was founded as the University College of North Staffordshire in 1949 with major involvement by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and is located in the nearby village of Keele.

Secondary education

The city currently has 15 secondary schools: Sir Thomas Boughey Academy, Birches Head Academy, Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent, Discovery Academy, Stoke-on-Trent, Discovery Academy, Excel Academy, Stoke-on-Trent, Excel Academy, Haywood Academy, Ormiston Horizon Academy, Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy, St Joseph's College, Stoke-on-Trent, St Joseph's College, St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy, Ormiston Meridian Academy, St Peter's Academy, St Thomas More Catholic Academy, Stoke Studio College (with sites in Longton and Burslem), Thistley Hough Academy and Trentham High School. A major re-structure of Stoke-on-Trent's high school system was proposed in 2007. As part of these plans several established secondary schools closed or merged including Longton High School (closed 2010), Mitchell High School (Stoke-on-Trent), Mitchell High and Edensor High (merged to form The Discovery Academy), St Peter's CE High School and Berry Hill High (merged to form St Peter's Academy).

Potters' Holidays

One of the legacies of the pottery industry was Stoke's own version of the wakes week. Although better known in industrial Lancashire, the Stoke week is known locally as the Potters' Holidays or Potters' Fortnight and occurred the last week in June, the first week in July and another week in August. This gave what appeared to be strange school holidays—with the summer term having a two-week break at the end of June, then children returning to school for three weeks before taking a five-week summer holiday. This observance has disappeared from the local schools, due to decreased emphasis on traditional industries.

Sport

Football

Stoke-on-Trent is the smallest city to boast two professional clubs in the English Football League. The club bearing the area's name is

, formed in 1863 and is the second-oldest professional football club in England. They currently play at the

at Stanley Matthews Way, Stoke-on-Trent, which has been their home since 1997 when they relocated from the

in Stoke after 119 years. They were among the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888, but did not win their first and, to date, only major trophy until 1972 Football League Cup Final, 1972, when they lifted the EFL Cup, League Cup. In 1985, they were relegated from the Football League First Division, First Division and began a 23-year exile from the top flight of English football which did not end until they won promotion in 2007–08 Stoke City F.C. season, 2008, by which time the First Division had become the Premier League. Stoke City reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time in 2011, but 2011 FA Cup Final, were defeated by Manchester City. Stoke City were relegated from the Premier League in 2018. The club and the city's most famous player is the late Sir

, who began and ended his playing career with Stoke City, sandwiching a 14-year spell at Blackpool F.C., Blackpool where he played in what became known as the 1953 FA Cup Final, Matthews Final. He also managed Port Vale from 1965 to 1968. He was the first active footballer to receive a Knighthood. Matthews made 54 appearances for his England national football team, country, scoring 11 times. There are two statues of Matthews in the city: one in Hanley and one at the Bet365 Stadium. Vale Park - 4

The city's other professional football club is Port Vale F.C., Port Vale, who were formed in 1876 and play at Vale Park in the

area. Previous stadiums include the Athletic Ground (Cobridge), Athletic Ground in Cobridge (1886–1913) and The Old Recreation Ground in Hanley (1913–1950).''What If There Had Been No Port In The Vale?: Startling Port Vale Stories!'' (Witan Books, 2011, ) They joined the Football League in 1892 but were forced to resign in 1906–07 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season, 1907 due to financial problems, only to return in 1919–20 Port Vale F.C. season, 1919. Their highest league position came in 1930–31 Port Vale F.C. season, 1931 when they finished fifth in the Football League Second Division, Second Division. In 1954, while in the Football League Third Division North, Third Division North, they progressed to the FA Cup semi-final when they were knocked out by First Division West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park. This remains the furthest they have progressed in the competition. Unlike Stoke City, their local rivals in the Potteries derby, they have never played top division football and hold the record for most years spent in the second tier without ever playing in the first. Individuals of note include John Rudge (who managed the club for 16 years from 1983 to 1999) and Roy Sproson (who made a List of Port Vale F.C. records and statistics, club record 842 appearances for the club from 1950 until 1972 and was later their manager). Previous clubs from the city include Dresden United F.C., Dresden United, a club which was disestablished before the city was federated; as well as amateur clubs Meir KA F.C., Meir KA (1972–2010) and Norton United F.C., Norton United (1989–2015). Currently, the city is represented at amateur level by Eastwood Hanley F.C., Eastwood Hanley (1946–1997; re-established in 2014) and Hanley Town F.C., Hanley Town (established 1966).

Other sports teams

The city motorcycle speedway, speedway team is the Stoke Potters. Speedway was staged at the Greyhound Stadium in Sun Street, Hanley intermittently between 1929 and 1939. In 1947, the Potters were part of the post-war boom rising from Division Three of the National League to Division Two before closing in the early-1950s. The Potters were revived in 1960 and they raced in the Provincial League until the end of 1963, when the stadium was closed and the site redeveloped. Speedway was revived at Loomer Road Stadium in Newcastle-under-Lyme, initially as Chesterton, before it reverted to the Stoke name. For many years, the Potters raced in the Premier League (speedway), Premier League, the sports second division, but as of November 2010 have dropped a division and in 2011 will race in the National League (speedway), National League. The stadium is also used for BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars and BriSCA Formula 2 Stock Cars during the summer. Cycle Speedway was very popular in the city from the 1940s. Boys would travel all over the city to race against rival teams. The most famous team in the 1960s was Shelton Tigers; they travelled all over England and Wales to race against other teams. The Tigers won the Midland League and the British "Champion's of Champions" Trophy, against Southampton. The ski race team based at the artificial ski slope in Festival Park compete in national Snowsport England and international FIS Fédération Internationale de Ski events. The city has a number of amateur sports clubs, including rugby union and cricket; the latter competing in the North Staffs and South Cheshire Cricket League. The cricket ground in Longton Cricket Club Ground, Longton is one of the venues used by Staffordshire County Cricket Club. As well as the Longton club, Meir Heath Cricket Club are also active, though the County Ground, Stoke-on-Trent, County Ground and the Michelin Ground are no longer used for cricket. Stoke Spitfires was the name of the city's American football team. The team eventually folded in 1992 after a record of 35-34-1. In 1994, the Staffordshire Surge was formed and played their matches in and around Stoke-on-Trent. Currently the team play at Longton Rugby Club in Division One North of the British American Football League.

Individual sports persons

The city has a sporting Hall of Fame, opened in 2011 to honour sporting legends from the city. As of March 2011, it holds the names of

and Phil Taylor (darts player), Phil Taylor, legends of football and darts respectively, were the first names to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. They were quickly followed by Port Vale legend Roy Sproson and England's World Cup winning goalkeeper

(who spent five years with Stoke City). The World Professional Darts Championship was hosted in the Jollees venue in the south of the city from 1979 to 1985. Phil Taylor has won the World Championship a record 16 times, winning the championship in both the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Two-time PDC World Champion Adrian Lewis and two-time BDO World Champion Ted Hankey are also from the Stoke area. Other well-known players from or based in Stoke include Chris Mason (darts player), Chris Mason, Andy Hamilton (darts player), Andy Hamilton and Ian White (darts player), Ian White. World champion squash (sport), squash player, Great Britain and England international Angela Smith (squash), Angela Smith, was born in the city and was largely responsible for the ladies' game going open. She is regarded as one of the most famous players of British squash. Wicket-keeper Bob Taylor (cricketer), Bob Taylor, who played for Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Derbyshire and England cricket team, England was born and still lives in the area. He represented England 58 times and still holds the world record for the most dismissals in the first class game (1649). In golf, Trenthams' David Lynn (golfer), David Lynn, the golfer, (born 1973) was the KLM Open Champion of 2004. Other notable sports people from the area include footballers turned TV pundits Mark Bright, Garth Crooks and Robbie Earle; tennis player Andrew Foster (tennis), Andrew Foster; snooker players Ray Reardon, Dave Harold and Jamie Cope; field hockey player Imran Sherwani; cycling world-record holder Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912), Tommy Godwin, wrestler Peter Thornley (better known as Kendo Nagasaki), professional strongman Eddie Hall and European taekwondo champion Charlie Maddock.

Culture art and architecture

Architecture

From the Half timbered, half-timbered Vernacular architecture, farmhouse vernacular of

, through the 18th century canal-side

estate of Etruria Works, Etruria one of the hubs of the Industrial Revolution, to 19th Century country house estates eg Trentham Estate, Trentham Hall and railway buildings such as Stoke-on-Trent railway station, Stoke Station and more lately in the 20th century, the expansion and renewal of industrial, civic and amenity buildings including Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, the architecture of Stoke-on-Trent has a history expressive of locally acquired or manufactured building materials: quarried stone, coal and clay for brick and tile-making, ash, sand gravel and cement for concrete, and also cast iron steel and timber. Stoke-on-Trent's architecture is tied closely to the industrial heritage of the city. Bottle oven, Bottle ovens (used for early pottery manufacture), canal-side and railway-related mill, factory, or warehouse buildings evolved - within the tightly-knit street pattern of each of the six townships - from transport links and adjacency to local generationally skilled labour. Post WWII pottery factories developed a style typified by Open plan, open-plan manufacturing areas, surrounded by wide expanses of window-walling from floor to ceiling, allowing good daylighting for intricate tasks such as lithography, fettling and decoration. ASREGENT WORKS 1

In 1966, Stone, Staffordshire, Stone (Staffordshire) born Cedric Price had proposed a Potteries Thinkbelt design which sought to make use of decommissioned railway routes following the Beeching cuts, Beeching Cuts and the scarred landscape of coal mining to provide linked learning centres for a technical industry-based curriculum. The Staffordshire University Architecture course has introduced an annual Cedric Price day celebrating this and other projects of his.

Science

Oliver Lodge (1851–1940) was a British physicist and writer involved in the development of, and holder of key patents for, radio. He was born in

. William Astbury (1898–1962) was an English physicist and molecular biologist who made pioneering X-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules. He was born in Longton.

Visual art

The major art gallery is The

, located in Hanley. It contains a collection of fine ceramics, a rotating programme of exhibitions and a permanent collection. In 2010, it became one of the permanent homes of the Staffordshire Hoard, the most important collection of Anglo-Saxon gold yet found. The city's Cultural Quarter in Hanley contains the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Regent Theatre and the Victoria Hall (Hanley), Victoria Hall. There are also smaller elements, including the independent Dazed Gallery and AirSpace, the city's only contemporary art gallery, artist-led and artist run. The Artbay Gallery in Fenton has a contemporary range of original works as well as limited editions. Edwardian Burslem School of Art, School of Art in Burslem has been refurbished with £1.2 million, and is now run without a public subsidy. The Hothouse Centre for Ceramic Design, and the Roslyn Works complex of craft studios operate in Longton. Also based in Burslem is the Barewall Gallery, which has a large collection of work by local artists including original art by Arthur Berry (playwright), Arthur Berry (The Lowry of The Potteries), Jack Simcock, and by new emerging Potteries artists. Stoke-on-Trent is the birthplace of several artists including Arthur Berry (playwright), Arthur Berry (also a novelist, playwright & poet), Glenys Barton (sculptor), Arnold Machin (sculptor, coin & stamp designer) and Sidney Tushingham, A.R.E.

Public art

The Grade II* listed statue of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', which stands adjacent to the lake at Trentham Gardens, a part of Trentham Estate, is a copy of an original work by Benvenuto Cellini, which was sculpted for Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I Duke of Tuscany from 1545 to 1554. In the early 19th Century, the then Duke of Tuscany, allowed a cast of Cellini’s statue to be taken for his friend, the 2nd Duke of Sutherland; it is the only bronze cast of the statue The bronze sculpture was installed at Trentham in 1840 during Charles Barry’s remodelling of the estate and the statue forms a focal point for his Italianate gardens located by the lake at the south end of the central axis of the parterre. Barry designed the circular platform on which the statue is set. Careful with the knife Perseus (geograph 2017699)

Careful with the knife Perseus (geograph 2017699)

Welcoming visitors to the city as they alight from their train at Stoke-on-Trent railway station, Stoke-on-Trent station is a statue of

, the centrepiece to the Grade II listed Winton Square area. The statue by Edward Davis (sculptor) was cast in bronze in 1860 and first displayed at the 1862 London Exhibition (also known as the 1862 International Exhibition, International Exhibition of 1862) which was the successor to the 1851 Great Exhibition. Funded by public subscription, the Stoke-on-Trent unveiling took place on 24 February 1863. A replica of the statue was cast in the 1950s for the Wedgwood Barlaston factory site, where it now stands - outside the Wedgwood Museum. In Josiah's hand is an example of his pre-eminent work, the Portland Vase. Josiah Wedgwood - geograph

''The Spirit of Fire'' also known as ''The Man of Fire'' or sometimes locally as ''Jack Frost'' or even ''The Spiky Man'', a 1964 sculpture by David Wynne (sculptor), David Wynne, is mounted upon the façade of what was the

Department Sore (designed by Percy Thomas Partnership, the Percy Thomas Partnership). Inscription below the sculpture reads: "Fire is at the root of all things visible and invisible" - a reference to the industrial heart of The Potteries: ceramics, railways, steelmaking and mining. Man of Fire Geograph-342265-by-Steven-Birks

Man of Fire Geograph-342265-by-Steven-Birks

''A Man Can't Fly'', commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in 1989, is a statue of "a figure of a man balancing horizontally upon one leg (Arabesque (ballet position), arabesque, a Dance positions, ballet pose), by Cheshire sculptor Ondre Nowakowski (b.1954). The pose appears as a reference to Superman in flight. It stands atop a column with the words 'A MAN CAN'T FLY' repeated vertically around its circumference". The location is at the Leek Road/ Glebe Street junction close to Stoke Station. A Man Can't Fly, Stoke-on-Trent (2)

The outskirts of Tunstall became home to a new public art statue called Golden (sculpture), ''Golden'' in 2015. The 69 ft (21m) steel work of art by Wolfgang Buttress was privately funded with £180,000 Section 106 agreement, Section 106 monies and is made from corten steel, COR-TEN Steel, the same material as the ''Angel of the North''. The tapered lozenge design features powerful LED lights that will illuminate 1,500 glass prisms containing the written wishes or memories of local residents. Each prism will be suspended from the main body of the sculpture by a short arm, giving the artwork a bristly appearance. It is located on the former site of the Potteries Pyramid, which was to have been moved to a nearby roundabout. In October 2013 a sculpture, ''Unearthed (Lidice)'' designed by Sarah Nadin (b.1983) and Nicola Winstanley (b.1984) also known as Dashyline studios, commemorating the efforts of miners to rebuild the Czech village of Lidice devastated during the Second World War was unveiled. The steel sculpture cost £100,000 to build and features 3,000 tags bearing the initials of people who promise to share the story of the 1942 Barnett Stross#Lidice Shall Live, Lidice Shall Live movement. North Staffordshire-based Dashyline was commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council to create the artwork, which has been installed near Hanley bus station. The sculpture was manufactured and installed by local Company, Patera Engineering Ltd based in Fenton.

Theatre

The city's main theatre is the 1,603-person capacity Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Regent Theatre, which is in Hanley. Nearby is the main concert hall, the Victoria Hall (Hanley), Victoria Hall. The purpose-built theatre in the round New Vic Theatre is just outside the city's boundary in Newcastle-under-Lyme. The Victorian Kings Hall in Stoke-on-Trent Town Hall is used for smaller events. In Burslem, the Queen's Theatre, Burslem, Queen's Theatre has been refurbished and restored at private expense. The Stoke-on-Trent Repertory Theatre is based in Stoke and puts on amateur productions. The previously city council-run Mitchell Memorial Youth Theatre, based in Hanley, completed its £4.3m refurbishment in 2011 and is now known as the Mitchell Arts Centre. It is named in honour of one of the city's most famous sons, Reginald Mitchell, designer of the legendary World War II fighter plane, the Spitfire.

Cinema

On 17 December 2015 a new 9 screen Cineworld Cinema opened in Hanley. It is situated at The Hive which is an extension to the Intu Potteries shopping centre. There is an Odeon Cinemas, Odeon multiplex cinema on Festival Park. The independent volunteer-run art-house cinema, The Stoke-on-Trent Film Theatre, is located very near the railway station, and shows art-house and subtitled films, as well as films that have finished their run in larger cinemas.

Literature

Arnold Bennett - Project Gutenberg etext 13635

Through the works of

, described by some as the greatest Realism (theatre), realist writer of the 20th century, the "Six Towns" were sometimes known as the "Five Towns". In his novels, Bennett wrote about local events in the 19th century and consistently changed all proper names and associations, thus Hanley became Hanbridge and Burslem became Bursley. The "Six Towns" were not federated until 1910 when Fenton was still relatively new; it was also the smallest in terms of population and area. Bennett also changed the name of the local newspaper from ''The Sentinel'' to ''The Signal'', an identity that was subsequently adopted by the city's commercial radio station. Other notable contributors to literature include Elijah Fenton (poet), Peter Whelan (playwright), John Wain (poet, critic and scholar), Pauline Stainer (poet) and Charles Tomlinson (poet, graphic artist, translator, editor and critic). In Jorge Luis Borges' novel "The Garden of Forking Paths", Dr. Yu Tsun goes to a suburb of Fenton to meet Stephen Albert.

Young Poet Laureate

Since 2010, the council's library service has run a competition to appoint a Young Poet Laureate for the city. This is a competition for local poets aged between 11 and 19. The first winner was Daniel Tatton, and he was succeeded in 2011 by Bethanie Hardie.

Media

* The Sentinel (Staffordshire), The Sentinel daily local newspaper * BBC Radio Stoke the third BBC local radio station to begin broadcasting * Signal 1 local commercial radio * Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire local commercial radio * 6 Towns Radio local community radio * Cross Rhythms City Radio Local television news is covered by BBC Midlands Today and Central Independent Television, ITV Central; and in certain parts of the city by BBC North West and ITV's Granada. The city is to be part of the second wave of UK cities to get its own local TV Station.

Famous entertainers

Stoke has been the birthplace of many actors and entertainers, including: * Hugh Dancy actor * Neil Morrissey actor * Rachel Shenton actress * Anthea Turner TV presenter * Nick Hancock TV presenter * Freddie Jones actor * Adrian Rawlins actor * Bruno Brookes former BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio One presenter * Dominic Burgess actor

Music

Stoke has a vibrant music scene. The Golden Torch, a local nightclub, became the centre of the Northern soul scene in the early 1970s. Shelley's Laserdome nightclub in Longton played a pivotal role in the house and rave scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, helping launch the career of Sasha (DJ), Sasha and featuring regular appearances from Carl Cox, until it was eventually shut down by Staffordshire Police. The Void, a Hanley nightclub, developed a sister relationship with Sankey's Soap in Manchester, helping the latter to revive its fortunes during the late 1990s via the promotion of a club night called ''Golden''. Lemmy-02

Robbie Williams is the most famous pop star to hail from the city. Many of his songs refer to Stoke-on-Trent, either directly or indirectly. These include "It's Only Us", "Burslem Normals", "The 80's" and the spoken introduction to his duet with Jonathan Wilkes of the song "Me and My Shadow". The song "Angels" was partly inspired by the golden angel at Old Town Hall, Burslem, Burslem Town Hall. In 2015, three streets in a new housing estate in Middleport were named after Williams' hit songs: Supreme (song), Supreme Street, Candy (Robbie Williams song), Candy Lane and Angels (Robbie Williams song), Angels Way. Saul Hudson, the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses better known by his stage name "Slash (musician), Slash", was born in Stoke-on-Trent. His father, Anthony Hudson, was from the area, and he spent a few of his early childhood years living in the city before moving to his mother's native United States in 1970. He did not meet many of the British side of his family until 1992 when Guns N' Roses played Wembley Stadium as part of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Slash has recalled in interviews and his autobiography that his Stoke relatives drank all of the band's considerable rider: "I witnessed one of my uncles, my cousin, and my grandfather, on his very first trip to London from Stoke, down every drop of liquor in our dressing room. Consumed in full, our booze rider in those days would have killed anyone but us." Lonnie Cook is a rock 'n' roll guitarist and local celebrity who played with Screaming Lord Sutch in the 1970s. He is remembered in the area for his Radio Stoke show ''Sunday Best'', and for standing as a Monster Raving Loony Party candidate. In 2010 he started getting airplay on a New York radio station for his 1994 song "Knock Me Down, Pick Me Up". This led to the song being released for mp3 download in the US and the UK. Other notable individuals and groups from the area include Andy Moor (DJ), Andy Moor who is a DJ and producer, Gertie Gitana (music hall star and singer), Lemmy, the founder of the rock band Motörhead, Patricia Leonard (singer/contralto), Jem Finer (banjoist, The Pogues), Broken Bones (band), Broken Bones and Discharge (band), Discharge (punk band), who invented the D-beat style. Experimental musician Phil Todd, best known for his Ashtray Navigations project, grew up in Madeley. Other bands to hail from the city include: ''This Is Seb Clarke'' (soul-punk), ''Agent Blue (band), Agent Blue'' (alternative rock), ''Epilogue (band), Epilogue'' (prog rock), ''All the Young'' and ''The Title'' (indie). In October 2007, Stoke-on-Trent City Council introduced a new theme tune – "Moving Forwards Together". It was described by the council as "part of our drive to help us move the city forward and create a better Stoke-on-Trent for people to live, learn, work and enjoy". Murdoc Niccals, a fictional member of the group Gorillaz with the role of bass guitarist is (in his constructed biography) said to have been born in Stoke-on-Trent. The cat in ''Dick and Dom in da Bungalow'' once sang a song about Stoke-on-Trent. Havergal Brian (1876–1972), the classical composer and music writer, who Composer, composed 32 Symphony, symphonies and five operas, was born in Stoke (in Dresden). The large scale and unfashionable style of his compositions led to them being neglected for most of his lifetime and not a note of his music was commercially issued on record during his lifetime. He died without having heard many of his finest works.

Food

Staffordshire oatcakes (very different from the Scottish version and traditionally made in corner-shop style oatcake bakeries) are a much-loved local culinary speciality. They remain popular although are no longer the cheap alternative to bread. Oatcakes can be eaten cold or hot with any sweet or savoury fillings. Lobby (food), Lobby, a stew not unlike Lancashire hotpot, is still made by local people.

Stoke Pride

Stoke Pride is the city's annual pride march that has been running since 2005, although it was not officially called Stoke Pride until 2008. It is a celebration of the city's LGBT community and attracts visitors from many different areas across the country and the globe. There were talks about such an event in 2003, but the idea was faced by opposition from the local BNP councillors and their supporters. Originally held in Hanley, the event was held at Northwood Park until 2016 and has since moved to Hanley Park in 2017 attracting over 7000 attendants, six times the amount of the previous year. It continued in 2018 with increased attendance, and in 2019. It was due to continue in 2020, on 20 June, but was postponed because of COVID-19.

Dialect

The Potteries has a distinctive Potteries dialect, local dialect. Whilst it contains many non-standard words (e.g. ''nesh'' meaning "soft, tender, or to easily get cold"; and ''slat'' meaning "to throw"), the best known word is ''duck'', which is used as a greeting to either men or women. It is believed to be derived from the Old English, Saxon word ''ducas'', used to indicate respect; in Middle English this became ''duc'' or ''duk'', which denotes a leader; in turn, it became the title ''Duke'' and the Old French word ''duché'', which indicates the territory ruled by a Duke. Another common variation on the standard English dialect is the use of the word ''shug'' for sugar. This is usually used as a term of endearment when closing a sentence, as in "Ta Shug" (thank you, sugar). A local Cartoon#Mass media, cartoon called ''May un Mar Lady (Me and my Wife)'', published in the newspaper ''The Sentinel (Staffordshire), The Sentinel'' and written in Potteries dialect, first appeared on 8 July 1986 and ran for over 20 years. Since the death of cartoonist Dave Follows in 2003, the full twenty-year run (7,000) of ''May un Mar Lady'' strips are being republished in ''The Sentinel'' as ''May un Mar Lady Revisited'', keeping the dialect alive for another twenty years. Alan Povey's ''Owd Grandad Piggott'' stories which have aired on BBC Radio Stoke for a number of years are recited in the Potteries dialect by the author.

International relations

Twin towns - sister cities

* East Liverpool, Ohio, East Liverpool, Columbiana County, Ohio, Columbiana County, Ohio, United States, United States of America * Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany

Freedom of the City

* List of Freemen of the City of Stoke-on-Trent.

Notes

References

External links

*
The Potteries
The history of the North Staffordshire Potteries
Creative Stoke
creativestoke.org.uk
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service
staffordshire.gov.uk
The People's Archive
Chronicling the changing face of North Staffordshire

Local media

Local Information
from ''The Sentinel (Staffordshire), The Sentinel'' newspaper
Local Information
from the ''BBC'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoke-On-Trent Stoke-on-Trent, Cities in the West Midlands (region) Local government in Staffordshire Towns in Staffordshire Unitary authority districts of England Local government districts of the West Midlands (region) NUTS 3 statistical regions of the United Kingdom Populated places established in 1910 1910 establishments in England Unparished areas in Staffordshire Boroughs in England