Latest news with #Burslem
BBC News
6 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Stoke-on-Trent community stalwarts honoured with freedom of city
Port Vale Football Club and the club's chair and co-owner, Carol Shanahan, are set to be awarded the freedom of announcement comes as the club prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary and the city celebrates 100 years since it was federated.A number of other significant figures will also be recognised, including billionaire Bet365 co-founders Denise and Peter Coates, and former Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley.A ceremony is set to take place on Thursday to confer the honours. Freedom of the city is the top honour the council can bestow on people in recognition of their recipients on Thursday include the lord-lieutenant of Staffordshire Sir Ian Dudson, businessman John Goodwin, historian Fred Hughes, businessman Mo Iqbal and music promoter Mike Lloyd.A spokesperson for Port Vale Football Club said the honour was testament to Ms Shanahan's impact on Burslem and wider city in the six years since taking over the award for the club itself recognised its history and commitment to community engagement through the Port Vale Foundation, they added. 'Genuinely touched' Port Vale chief executive, Matt Hancock said: "This is a truly special moment for everyone connected to Port Vale and I am extremely proud to be accepting this honour on behalf of the club."Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status on 5 June 1925 by King George Shanahan said the city meant "the world" to her."I'm genuinely touched and a little bit overwhelmed to be receiving this honour, both for myself and on behalf of everyone at the football club," she added that to receive the individual honour while the club was also recognised made it even more special."Everything we do at Port Vale is rooted in our commitment to this community. I'm so proud of what we've achieved together so far and even more excited for what's still to come." Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Guardian
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt review – bittersweet 1950s tale of the Potteries
The first word ever spoken on the New Vic stage was 'Yes'. The affirmation came at the start of a poem by Arthur Berry, written in 1986 to toast the new theatre and welcome audiences to a place of 'necessary illusions'. In his native Potteries, Berry is a celebrated polymath, known for his drawings, prints and watercolours, as well as poetry, broadcasting and half a dozen plays, including St George of Scotia Road, the theatre's opening production. Appropriately, in this centenary year of Berry's birth and three decades after his death, the theatre has dug out the first draft of his final play, spruced it up and given it a belated debut. It is unlikely anyone would consider Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt a neglected classic. Drawn with the same broad strokes and warm human eye as the sketches that line the upper foyer walls, it is a kitchen-sink drama, evoking the long-lost life of working-class Card Street, Burslem, where the pulse of a pugmill sets a relentless rhythm and the wafer-thin walls permit no secrets. Berry writes with a sense of bittersweet nostalgia: think Terence Davies's Distant Voices, Still Lives with the intensity, violence and poetry dialled down. His characters are trapped by circumstance, their lives made smaller by the need to survive. There is Nellie Salt (Laura Costello), washed out and broken, her hopes of betterment dashed by teenage pregnancy. There is her husband, Sammy (Alasdair Baker), gruff and taciturn, his emotions reserved for the care of his pregnant sow he keeps. And above all, there is Phoebe Salt (Isabella Rossi), the 'daughter of the sun' and the only colour in Lis Evans's perfectly drab 1950s set, a young woman bursting with an energy that cannot be contained. Making a debut as assured as it is bolshie, Rossi has the measure of this ever-restless teenager, bored by her faithful fiance (Elliot Goodhill), enticed by the illicit thrill of her married boss (Perry Moore), entertained by the showbiz ambitions of her stage partner (Andrew Pollard), and worth more than all of them put together. In Abbey Wright's well acted production, she rides above the perfunctory plot and heavily signalled denouement and makes it her own. At New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme, until 21 June
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Plans for Burslem venue in memory of Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister
A planned concert venue in heavy metal legend Lemmy Kilmister's hometown would help to boost the area's music scene, a local artist has proposal would see the vacant Queen's Theatre in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, transformed into an 800-seat venue with a cafe, museum and music those behind the idea is sculptor Andy Edwards, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, who created the statue of the Burslem-born Motorhead Edwards told BBC Radio Stoke the venue, which would be called Kilmister Hall, could help to attract more bands and artists to the city. "We've got a big musical heritage in this city and we used to attract the best bands," he said."That's drifted away and this [new venue] would make a huge difference in getting that back again." The Grade II-listed Queen's Theatre originally closed in 1998 but reopened for occasional events in 2003 before shutting again in neighbours the Lemmy statue on Market Place, which was unveiled on 9 May to mark 10 years since the singer's death from cancer and the 50-year anniversary of Motorhead's to IFK Legacy CIC, which is working on the proposal, plans for the venue were at an early stage and organisers were looking at procuring the building and raising have been held with Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which owns the theatre, and Mr Edwards said they had been "really positive". He said it was important the project was financially viable, adding: "It's not just about wild dreams, it's about making things pay for themselves and not run out of steam."A spokesperson for the city council said there had been "lots of discussions" with interested parties over the future of the Queen's Theatre."While these discussions are in still in the early stages and all options are being explored, it is clear that all interested parties are keen to progress with a project to restore the building, particularly one which will combine a performance space with wider community and educational uses," they added. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pottery workers blame energy bills for factory collapse
Pottery workers campaigning to save a factory which has gone into liquidation have said soaring energy prices are to blame. Moorcroft Pottery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, ceased trading at the end of April with the loss of 57 jobs, following 112 years of trading. Former workers have said the jobs represented a total of 1,500 years of combined service and skills, and hope a takeover bid will be accepted by the deadline on 4 June. Beverley Berry, who has worked as a painter and designer at Moorcroft for 36 years, blamed the rising cost of fuel for the collapse. "What's been the death of Moorcroft has been basically the fuel costs," she said. "I heard a rumour that the bills went from £60,000 a year to £340,000 a year and that's why we just couldn't sustain things." Ms Berry, who joined the firm after leaving school, said the loss felt "like a bereavement". "All my friends worked there, we were all very close and I just feel lost and I know in the end we'll all move on whether we go back to Moorcroft or not but I just feel really lost," she said. Employees are being offered support with finding new jobs by the GMB Union, with dozens of workers recently attending a meeting at the union's headquarters in Hanley to discuss next steps. Louise Edwards, who has worked for Moorcroft for 21 years, said the news was a shock and had "completely blown us out the water". "It's horrific, people have sat there, incredibly skilled painters, tube liners, casters, all these different skills that they've done and devoted themselves to for that length of time and now they're just sitting waiting, not knowing what they're going to do," she said. Moorcroft was the third pottery firm to collapse since the start of the year, following Royal Stafford and Heraldic Pottery. It had warned in March of possible redundancies and at the time cited rising costs and falling sales. Chris Hoofe, GMB organiser, said it was calling on central government to "act now" to support the ceramics industry. "Unless the government supports this sector with the cost of energy, unfortunately we're going to see more Royal Staffords and more Moorcrofts," he said. Following the collapse of the firm, a spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade previously said: "We know this will be a concerning time for Moorcroft Pottery workers and their families. "Ministers continue to engage closely with the ceramics sector to understand the challenges and provide support, ensuring the industry is globally competitive as part of our Plan for Change." This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Pottery firm goes bust after more than 100 years Moorcroft Pottery can be saved - ceramics boss Tile factory set to close with 105 jobs at risk Axed staff from failed pottery to go back to work Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Stoke-on-Trent: Moorcroft pottery workers blame energy bills for collapse
Pottery workers campaigning to save a factory which has gone into liquidation have said soaring energy prices are to Pottery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, ceased trading at the end of April with the loss of 57 jobs, following 112 years of workers have said the jobs represented a total of 1,500 years of combined service and skills, and hope a takeover bid will be accepted by the deadline on 4 Berry, who has worked as a painter and designer at Moorcroft for 36 years, blamed the rising cost of fuel for the collapse. "What's been the death of Moorcroft has been basically the fuel costs," she said."I heard a rumour that the bills went from £60,000 a year to £340,000 a year and that's why we just couldn't sustain things." Ms Berry, who joined the firm after leaving school, said the loss felt "like a bereavement"."All my friends worked there, we were all very close and I just feel lost and I know in the end we'll all move on whether we go back to Moorcroft or not but I just feel really lost," she are being offered support with finding new jobs by the GMB Union, with dozens of workers recently attending a meeting at the union's headquarters in Hanley to discuss next Edwards, who has worked for Moorcroft for 21 years, said the news was a shock and had "completely blown us out the water"."It's horrific, people have sat there, incredibly skilled painters, tube liners, casters, all these different skills that they've done and devoted themselves to for that length of time and now they're just sitting waiting, not knowing what they're going to do," she said. Moorcroft was the third pottery firm to collapse since the start of the year, following Royal Stafford and Heraldic had warned in March of possible redundancies and at the time cited rising costs and falling Hoofe, GMB organiser, said it was calling on central government to "act now" to support the ceramics industry."Unless the government supports this sector with the cost of energy, unfortunately we're going to see more Royal Staffords and more Moorcrofts," he the collapse of the firm, a spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade previously said: "We know this will be a concerning time for Moorcroft Pottery workers and their families."Ministers continue to engage closely with the ceramics sector to understand the challenges and provide support, ensuring the industry is globally competitive as part of our Plan for Change." This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
