Stoke-on-Trent College has announced a major £4 million investment in its Cauldon Campus, which is part of the University Quarter.
A state-of-the-art indoor sports hall, a fitness suite and aerobics facilities will be built to replace the existing sports barn.
Work is due to start in October 2012 and should be completed by August 2013.
S/ND
Here at the Phoenix Trust, our favourite story about oatcakes goes back many, many years to the days when our chief executive, David Martin, was taking A’ levels at the College of Commerce in Shelton.
While visiting Stafford Assizes, with a small party of law students, he was introduced to an American judge from New York. The judge, who was visiting the Potteries, invited the group to have dinner with him at the North Stafford Hotel. After drinks in the Clayhanger Bar, they were escorted into the Six Towns Restaurant by a very formal head waiter, whom everyone called Mr. Grimm.
Those were the days of five course dinners, followed by brandy and cigars, when restaurants served a fish course between the first course and the main meal. Before ordering, the judge asked the head waiter if there was a traditional Potteries dish on the menu. There wasn’t! Knowing how to cope with eccentric Americans and earn an extra large tip, Mr Grimm left the table for a few moments.
He returned with the Chef who suggested replacing the fish course with oatcakes.
Everyone thought this was a great idea. When it arrived, the “North Stafford Hotel’s Oatcake Special” consisted of rolled oatcakes, bacon, black pudding and mushrooms cooked in a cheese and wine sauce.
The “Oatcake Special” was delicious. It made a major contribution to an enjoyable and memorable meal.
Email northstaffs@live.co.uk and tell us what you eat with your oatcakes.
PH/DM
In parts one two and three of our edited extracts from Aikin’s “A Description of the Country From Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester” we saw what Goldenhill, Newfield, Greenfield, Tunstall, Longport, Burslem, Cobridge, Etruria, Hanley and Shelton were like during the last decade of the 18th century. Part Four, the last article in the series describes Stoke, Fenton and Longton in 1795.
STOKE
Stoke is a parish town with a large, ancient, well endowed church which has several chapels and churches under it. The town, like most other parts of the pottery has improved much since the Trent & Mersey Canal was cut. It contains some handsome buildings and from its closeness to a wharf on the canal is well situated for trade. There are many earthenware manufacturers some of whom own large factories. At this place, a gentleman by the name of Spode used the first steam engine to grind flint. The river Trent passes here, at times with rapidity although the brick arches which carry the canal over the river do not seem to have sustained much damage. J. Whieldon, Esq. has a pleasant rural residence here. A new road has lately been made from Stoke to join the main London Road between Newcastle and Trentham.
FENTON AND LONGTON
Fenton and Longton conclude the pottery beyond Stoke. Longton is much larger than Fenton. Part of Stoke parish it has a church, a Methodist Chapel and meeting houses for dissenters. These towns, particularly Longton, manufacture large quantities of earthenware; but it is said to be with less attention than in the other parts of the pottery, consequently it is of inferior quality although there are a few factories whose ware is second to none. At Fenton there is the residence of Charles Smith, Esq. and Sir John Edensor Heathcote lives at Longton Hall.
Some earthenware is also manufactured at Newchapel, Wolstanton, Red Street, Newcastle, Norton and a few other places.
The Potteries in 1795 (Part Four) – Edited by the Phoenix Trust
In the third of our series of edited extracts from Aikin’s “A Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester” we look at Hanley and Shelton.
HANLEY
No part of the pottery can boast of more respectable manufacturers than Hanley. In point of size it is next to Burslem, but built so irregularly that to a person standing in the centre of it the town has the appearance of a moderately sized village. But if the houses had been joined together it would have been a well built major town. Hanley has a good market every Monday. All the produce of the surrounding country is brought here except corn, the public sale of which is not allowed because it is so near to the corn market at Newcastle. All the other markets in the pottery labour under the same restriction for the same reason. However, it is expected that attempts will be made before long to get over this inconvenience as many of the inhabitants here and in other places seem determined to trade as little as possible with Newcastle, on account of some instances of an unaccommodating disposition which has been shown by the later. On the other hand Newcastle, which was formerly the general market of the Potteries, having of course suffered some decline, in consequence of the rapid rise of their markets, has exhibited symptoms of dissatisfaction which has helped to increase the mutual jealousy and discontent between them. Hanley has a recently built and well furnished church. There are also chapels and meeting houses for dissenters. It is a growing town and an inspiring place.
SHELTON
Shelton is an extensive place and has many large pottery factories including the porcelain or china works of Hollins, Warburton & Co. The china made here is very little, if at all, inferior, especially in colours, to that made in the East Indies. The United Kingdom produces all the various types of stone and clay used in this factory and from the number of years it has been established and the regular increase in demand for its products there is no doubt that the owners will continue to reap the fruits of their enterprise and initiative… The Trent & Mersey Canal passes through Shelton and there is a public wharf. The canal brings raw materials to the potteries and takes the ware made there to towns and villages throughout the country and to the ports for export.
The Potteries in 1795 (Part 3) – Edited by the Phoenix Trust
To be continued
In the second in our series of edited extracts from Dr Aikin’s description of the Potteries in 1795 we look at Burslem, Cobridge and Etruria.
BURSLEM
This is the ancient centre of the pottery, where doubtless earthenware of one kind or another has been made for many centuries. Doctor Plot, in his History of Staffordshire, written in 1686, makes special mention of the potteries of this place, and points them out as being the greatest of their kind…. This place has two markets in the week, Monday and Saturday; but the market on Monday is the largest. In the last four or five years regular fairs where cattle are sold have been established which are well attended. Burslem is a parish, which has a good church, lately enlarged and thoroughly repaired, with a good organ. The late Mr. Wesley gained considerable ground here. The Methodists have a chapel, and are very numerous; they have also built chapels in several towns and villages in the pottery: it is, however, believed that the members of this society are not so numerous now as they were in the lifetime of Mr. Wesley. There is also a great variety of other sects in the pottery: few places have so great a diversity of opinion in respect of religion as this; but the effusions of loyalty here upon most occasions may be fairly stated to be general, warm, and sincere.
COBRIDGE
Cobridge is a large village where there are factories making earthenware. It lies partly in Burslem parish and partly in Stoke parish.
ETRURIA
Etruria belongs solely to Josiah Wedgwood, Esq. who has a very extensive earthenware manufactory here, a large village and a handsome residence in extensive grounds. In his pottery enterprises he has most definitely acquired a great fortune with an equal share of reputation. The name of this place was given to it by Mr. Wedgwood, after an ancient state in Italy, celebrated for the exquisite design of its pottery, the remaining specimens of which have served greatly to improve the beauty of modern ware. The Trent & Mersey Canal runs through Etruria, which makes it a good manufacturing situation; but the whole belonging to one individual will most likely operate against an increase in the number of factories there.
The Potteries in 1795 (Part Two) – Edited by the Phoenix Trust 2010
To be continued
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