Memories of Tunstall Park

[Phoenix]

Reading the post "A Facelift for Tunstall's Heritage Park" brought back many happy memories to our chief executive, David Martin, who was a pupil at Forster Street Primary School.

Every day at lunch time, David rushed out of school and ran to the conservatory in the park where there were tropical fish and exotic plants from far away places.

After helping the attendant feed the fish, he left the conservatory and went to the children's playground. Ignoring the swings, the slides and the roundabouts, he stood on a fence overlooking a railway line watching steam locomotives, Minnie and Roger, bring empty wagons to the sidings.

A mineral line, the railway ran from Chatterley Whitfield Colliery to coal wharfs in Burslem and Tunstall.

Every afternoon, a coal train from the colliery, pulled by a larger locomotive called Edward, ran passed the playground. Even if the train was late, David always stayed to watch it go by before going back to school.

He usually got back ten or 15 minutes after lessons had started. When asked why he was late again, his comment "Better late than never" was not appreciated by Miss Wood, the headmistress, who believed coming to school on time was much more important than train spotting.