Latest news with #Burslem
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Port Vale FC announce plans for Stoke-on-Trent community campus
A community campus will be created near Port Vale Football Club after £2.3m of government funding was project will transform Sproson Park in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, and surrounding land by creating a community hub building, youth football pitches, a multi-use games area, padel courts and walking has been spearheaded by the football club, the Port Vale Foundation and Stoke-on-Trent City Vale co-owner and chair Carol Shanahan said it would be a "catalyst for positive change" in the Burslem community. "We are creating a place where people can be active, connect with others and feel proud of their local area," she said."The campus will provide a platform for long-term community activity, health support and wellbeing opportunities across all ages and abilities, while obviously creating a better community connection to Port Vale FC." Council leader Jane Ashworth said the funding awarded by the government was "fantastic news" during the city's centenary added: "It is a transformational project that will bring so many benefits to the community in terms of health, leisure and potential employment opportunities."The development will be led by sports development consultancy STRI, the council said, with planning, consultation and design works currently engagement events will be organised in the coming months and local partners, businesses and providers will have opportunities to be a part of the project. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Legend of Burslem 'witch' retold in opera by community group
An opera based on the legend of a Stoke-on-Trent witch in the 1600s opens to audiences on story of Margaret "Molly" Leigh is shrouded in myth and conjecture. She was born in Burslem in about 1685, and as she grew older she became a landowner but never became ostracised by people in the town, which was thought to be because she looked "different", and rumours about her being a witch behind the contemporary performance at B-Arts on Hartshill Road said it would explore these as well as the theme of being different in the modern day. Francesca Le Lohé is the composer and co-director of the she first came across the story of the accused witch, she said she felt immediately drawn to it."Molly's story is all rumour. It's all fabricated, everything we know about her is from everyone else's point of view"."I thought it's really interesting that you have got all these different perspectives but we don't know how Molly would have described herself," she Le Lohé added that she and others created the opera with the aim that it would help people investigate the rumours and devise their own opinions of the legend. Maurice Greenham is chair of the North Midlands LGBT+ Older Peoples Group and is one of those taking part in the 80-year-old once had a career in the West End in his 30s, and now finds himself treading the boards again after he was drawn to the parallels between Molly Leigh and the LGBT+ performer said he felt as if Molly Leigh was an outsider, an attribute he believed connected her to how people in that community feel."There's all sorts of clues there, so nowadays I regard her as part of the LGBT community," Mr Greenham of the show run until Sunday. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Yahoo
Police update on residents living above Stoke-on-Trent kebab shop struck by car
The occupants of a building struck by an out-of-contol car have escaped from the property uninjured. They were above Rose Fast Food - on Scotia Road, in Burslem - when a car ploughed into the kebab shop. One man has been taken to hospital following the collision. Staffordshire Police have not confirmed whether the casualty is the driver. The crash happened at 6am this morning. It closed Scotia Road between its junctions with Baddeley Street and Darwin Drive. READ MORE: Scene of devastation as car ploughs into Stoke-on-Trent kebab shop READ MORE: Neighbours at war as tarmac row sees shopkeeper install car park barrier A police spokesman said: "We remain at the scene of a road traffic collision. One man has been taken to hospital. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening or life-changing at this time. The occupants of the building were not injured. Our investigation is ongoing." Any witnesses can call the police on 101. Sign up for the latest breaking news and top stories from StokeonTrentLive on WhatsApp
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Is this Britain's most depressing ghost town? How once-thriving market town has 'gone to the dogs' and is lined with empty shops
Nowhere sums up the decline of the British high street quite as graphically as Burslem. Once a thriving, mega-rich market town, it is now so dominated by boarded-up buildings that there seem to be more empty storefronts than occupied ones. It may also be the grandest place you've never heard of, containing 27 listed buildings and as many blue plaques as there are open shops. The small Stoke-on-Trent town's stunning architecture stemmed from the 18th and 19th centuries when the area's Pottery industries dominated the globe. Now parts of it are so derelict they make you wonder whether you've slept through an apocalypse. As Terry Cotes, 72, who has lived in the area all his life, observed: 'The only banks now in Burslem are food banks. 'Everything has closed and deteriorated. The market has been gone for decades now.' Everyone over the age of 50 remembers a bustling town. Jim, 74, recalled: 'When I was a clay delivery driver in the 1970s your greatest fear would be a drop off in Burslem because the place was rammed.' But by 2019, Burslem had a higher percentage of empty units than anywhere else in the UK. By 2019 the market town had the highest percentage of empty units compared to anywhere else in the UK Culturally, the change is stark. Terry pointed to the George Hotel, built in the 1920s and close to the town square. 'My wife and I had our wedding reception at the George. It was a lovely hotel – the place to go in Burslem for a special occasion.' Not anymore. The hotel still has distinctive features – a cabinet in the lobby showcasing the china cups that made the Potteries famous and a drawing room with plush leather sofas, but that is where the chic ends. An online search says it is 'permanently closed', there is no-one on reception, and a sign next to the desk lists a selection of local soup kitchens and food banks. Locals say that for over a decade it had been a refuge for those with drug and alcohol issues, but is now mainly used by asylum seekers and homeless families. Terry Landis, 60, visiting the cobblers opposite, said: 'I have seen that building over 20 years now and in that time the curtains have never been cleaned. 'The frames look like they could fall out at any minute and most of us think it's a blessing that it is now used by refugees. 'Before that it was alcoholics and druggies. There'd be an ambulance out every day, often twice a day and the clientele scared everybody off.' For years, Stoke-on-Trent, which comprises six towns of which Burslem is known as the 'Mother', became synonymous with monkey dust, a powerful and cheap hallucinogen. Former pottery worker Shelley Bond, 62, visiting the Post Office across the road, said: 'It's true. I was frightened to bring my grandchildren into Burslem. 'You don't want them to see people in that state. You don't want to have those conversations. 'This was a buzzing little town but in the nineties the decline became really rapid. 'The pottery firms moved production to Indonesia – chasing a profit as they do and now there's not much left.' Next door to the Post Office, which sits opposite the spectacularly grand old Town Hall, is literally carnage. It was once the Grade II listed Leopard Hotel, serving punters since the early 18th century. It was where the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution - Josiah Wedgwood, James Brindley and Erasmus Darwin met for a pint in 1765 to discuss the building of the Trent-Mersey Canal. Fast forward a quarter of a millennia and along came Covid. The Leopard then morphed from a pub into a cannabis farm and, in January 2022 it was ravaged by a mysterious fire, for which there has been no official explanation. Now it stands derelict, held up by scaffolding and masked by ugly boards. Plans were submitted last year to turn it into a string of shops with flats above but they have now been withdrawn and there was little optimism locally. 'As far as we are aware there is nothing at all happening with the Leopard,' said the sub post-mistress next door. And no wonder, the four shops next to the Leopard have been boarded up for so long few can remember what they once were. Oh how different it once was. The area was gifted the perfect combination for making china and pottery – a rich clay soil, coal and woodland. And during the 18th century, as Britain cemented its control over the Indian sub-continent and tea became the national drink, the Potteries provided the cups and saucers. In addition, Pottery patterns were used to redecorate the Houses of Parliament after a fire destroyed much of it in 1834. It gave the area a rich artistic tradition and at the heart of that history is Queen's Street where the vast, gothic Wedgwood Institute sits with stone carvings representing each month of the zodiac. It was built from public subscription in 1863 incorporating what remained of Wedgwood's original Brick Works from a century before. It became an art school, then a library and now it, like many other buildings in Burslem, is on English Heritage's At Risk Register. A former councillor Alan Dutton quipped: 'You could fire a canon up Queen Street and there'd be no danger of hitting anyone.' That's not quite true – there is an art centre opposite the Institute, a butchers open one day a week, a barbers operating under a Trusted Autos shop front and a Polski Slep supermarket. Explore further and, according to local gossip, there's a swinger's club but the overwhelming impression is emptiness. Gone is the Boots along with a letting agent, a courier shop, an insurance broker and a takeaway. And, although the sign is still there, it is decades since the huge indoor market was open. Marilyn Mountford, 72, said: 'I heard they had £1.25 million to do this street up. I'm told it's going to be tree-lined. 'But it's been like this for years. The place has gone to the dogs. All we hear is talk of what they are going to do to but nothing happens. 'Businesses cannot afford the rents so the shops are empty and their doorways are full of rough sleepers.' Pointing to another imposing 19th century building, she added: 'That was a cannabis farm. Now there's some foreign chap wants to do it up into flats and but he can't afford the standards the Council are after.' Burslem born Steve Cleveland 78 said: 'This place used to heave with working people. What has happened in the last 20 or 30 years could make you weep.' Some old buildings have survived. On Cleveland Street is the snooker club with the same stain glass over its entrance that it had when it opened in 1914. 'We've got eleven full sized tables, nine of which are the originals from 1914,' said manager Trevor Scragg, 43, 'and 845 members.' He worked all hours to revive it after Covid but he admits the local area is a problem: 'We have a lot of homeless people on the street and a lot of recent arrivals and it doesn't help the area. 'We have got such a lot of history to be proud of from the brick kilns to Robbie Williams.' Robbie spent his earliest years in Burslem's Red Lion pub, run by his parents, before moving just up the road to Tunstall. The angel atop the old Town Hall is said to have inspired his greatest hit. That pub, said to have been serving drinks since the 15th century, now has sold signs on the hoardings and is set to be turned into flats. But now hope has arrived in Burslem from beyond the grave in the shape of another music icon – Lemmy, lead singer of heavy metal legends Motorhead. Unlike Robbie, Lemmy, real name is Ian Fraser Kilmister, was Burslem born and bred and in May of this year his statue was erected in the town square. Now the words, 'Lemmy Forever' stretch out across another abandoned architectural wonder. The Queen's Theatre, with its marble staircases and art deco interior, was originally built in 1911 as a new town hall. But when Stoke-on-Trent gained city status in 1925, it was transformed into a theatre which has been unused since 2014. Now plans are afoot to turn it into an event space with 850 seats, room for 1,200 standing, a café and a Rainbow Gar and Grill. Amanda Bromley, 58, who runs the Barewall Art Gallery opposite, says it could save the town. 'Lemmy's statue was designed by Andy Edwards who did the Beatles in Liverpool,' she said. 'It is a beautiful piece of work and since the statue went up we have seen people coming here from all over the world. 'We are becoming a global destination for rock fans. Two days ago I had an Ozzy Osbourne impersonator from Japan in the shop. 'Motorhead's management company in Los Angeles are involved and that theatre is a sleeping giant. 'People are calling this place Burslemmy. His legacy could save this place.' There are other signs that the area's luck may be about to change – the local football team, Port Vale were promoted last year to League One. Sitting next to the statue, retail worker Rob Hassall, 62, was sceptical. 'Don't get me wrong,' he said, 'rock music has a very big following and I would love to see something in that place. 'There's been talk of Slash from Guns n Roses, another Stoke lad, coming to play. 'Perhaps things are changing. Port Vale is very important to the area, it's where the biggest of the markets used to be and they're on the up. 'It would be great but as for Lemmy saving Burslem, I'll believe it when I see it.'
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Second Burslem do for Motörhead frontman Lemmy
Weeks after hundreds flocked to see the unveiling of a statue of Motörhead frontman Lemmy in his hometown, organisers have decided to stage a second Encore will take place in the shadow of the statue on 3 August in Market Place in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, now nicknamed Lemmy Andy Edwards said the cast bronze memorial, which contains some of the legendary singer's ashes, had since been visited by fans from across to keep momentum for those fans, he said: "You've got to give them something when people travel those kind of distances. Referring to the unveiling on 9 May, which marked 10 years since Lemmy's death, he said: "We put the flag in the ground with the statue. "We want to see Burslem come back to life in the way that it was on that Friday."Somebody's gotta do it, and it does need to keep that momentum up." Lemmy Encore will take place from 14:00-18:00 BST, with live music, food vans, retro clothing and used record stalls and a motorbike rock band Falling Doves will perform later in the day at Grumpys in nearby Longport. Mr Edwards said plans to convert the Grade II listed Queens Theatre in Burslem into a venue as part Lemmy's legacy were "gaining more and more traction".He said the council were "keen" on the Kilmister Halls proposal, which would incorporate a recording studio, cafe and museum."It's going to be a community facility," he added. "Music school, musical instrument library, and breathe life back into the city, not just Burs-Lemmy." Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on Facebook, X and Instagram.
