The History of Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent, also known as the Six Towns, is a city situated in Staffordshire, which forms a metropolitan area of about 12 miles longs and covers an area of about 36miles² and together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove form the Potteries Urban Area. Stoke-on-Trent continues to be polycentric (multi-central), having been formed by a federation of six original towns and numerous little villages in the area in the early part of the 20th Century. This federated town, which wasn’t granted city status until 1925, took the name Stoke-on-Trent, as the town of Stoke is where the main administration and mainline railway station are located. This would later cause some confusion to outsiders, who visit the city, as Hanley emerged as the primary commercial centre of the city despite the efforts of Burslem.
The name Stoke derives from the Old English ‘stoc,’ a word that means place, and because Stoke was such a common name for a settlement some kind of distinguishing affix was added later. In this case it was the name Trent. In 1925 when granted city status, the city took the motto ‘Vis Unita Fortior,’ which translates one of three ways as: ‘United Strength is Stronger,’ or, ‘Strength United is the More Powerful,’ or, ‘A United Force is Stronger.’
Since the 17th Century the area has been exclusively known for its pottery manufacturing, with world-renowned names as Royal Doulton, Dudson, Spode, Wedgwood, and Minton.
With the presence of abundant supplies of coal and clay which could be used in earthenware production led to the development of the area’s pottery industry. When the Trent and Mersey Canal was constructed enabled the import of china clay from Cornwall, and together with other materials enabled the production of creamware and bone china. Josiah Wedgwood together with other local potters whose willingness to experiment and carry out detailed research, along with scientists and engineers, nurtured, developed and raised the profile of the Staffordshire Potteries.
North Staffordshire was once a centre for coal mining and the first reports of coal mining in the area come from the 13th century. The Potteries Coalfield covers an area off 100miles². The industry developed over time, with new mining projects planned for the 1990’s before the collieries were shut down. 1933 saw Chatterley Whilfield Colliery become the first colliery in the UK to mine 1 million tons of coal, and in the 1980’s Florence Colliery, in Longton, repeatedly set regional and national production records.
Other industry in the area includes the iron and steel industry located at Goldenhill and Shelton. The Shelton Steel Works operated heavily in the World War II industrial effort, but was closed down in 1978. Between 1864 and 1927 the North Staffordshire Railway housed their repair shops in the area, and between 1881 and 1930 Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd, manufactured locomotives in the area. Michelin Tyre Company built their first UK plant in Stoke-on-Trent in the 1920’s.

Stoke-on-Trent is the home to two professional football teams, Port Vale and Stoke City. Stoke City was formed in 1863 and is the second oldest professional football team in England. They currently play at Britannia Stadium after moving there in 1997 from Victoria Ground. In 1888 Stoke City was among 12 football teams that formed the Football League, but they didn’t win their first and only major trophy until 1972, when they won the Football League Cup.
The second team, Port Vale (originally called Hanley Port Vale), where formed in 1876 and play at Vale Park after moving there from a ground in Hanley. Port Vale joined the Football League in 1892, but had to resign in 1907 due to financial problems. They returned to the league
in 1919. In 1931 they finished fifth in Football League Second Division, which is there highest league position to date.
Stoke-on-Trent’s most famous footballer is Stanley Matthews. He played for Stock City and Blackpool, and he also managed Port Vale between 1965 and 1968. Matthews was the first active football player to receive a knighthood. He died aged 85 in 2000.

One of the legacies of Stoke-on-Trent is that it has its own version of the Lancashire holiday Wakes Week. Potter’s Holiday occurs in the last week of June, first week of July, and there is a further week at the end of August. Before all school holidays across the country were made the same, children in the area would have two weeks holiday, go back to school for three weeks, and then have a five week summer holiday.
Stoke-on-Trent has two much loved culinary specialities, the Potteries Oatcake and Lobby. The oatcake is popular in Staffordshire, even though it is no longer a cheap alternative to bread. They can be eaten hot or cold, with a mixture of ingredients inside. Lobby, made with meat, vegetables, potatoes and gravy, is not unlike the hotpot you can get in Lancashire.
The dialect of the Potteries is very distinctive. While it contains many non-standard words, like ‘nesh’ which can mean soft, tender, or cold, and ‘slat’ which means to throw, the best known work is ‘duck’ which is used as a greeting to both men and women. The best known phrase is, “Going up ‘anley, duck.” A cartoon published in The Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent’s local paper) called May un Mar Lady (Me and My Lady) was written in the Potteries dialect, and first appeared on July 8th 1986 and the original run lasted for over 20 years. The Sentinel continues to this date to re-print the cartoon strip.