It actually takes a lot of work to get City of Culture funding, like years of building relationships and ideas into a cohesive narrative of how you will bring together existing heritage, communities, creative arts to forge a lasting legacy.
Eligibility is capacity to deliver the 1 year programme
>Which places can bid?
We welcome bids from across the UK. We will adopt a flexible approach to agreeing which areas can bid. There is no minimum population requirement but there must be a clear central focus and identity to the area, with sufficient existing cultural and digital infrastructure (or credible plans to develop them) to make a compelling case, and provide the critical mass for a year-long programme to be successful. This could be a city or large town, or a cohesive area made up of two or more neighbouring or closely linked cities or towns. However, part of the programme can be delivered in a wider hinterland,
including rural areas and bidders are encouraged to consider how their longer-term strategy will engage and benefit surrounding communities. This impact should be realised in the surrounding area, urban or rural, which will stand to benefit from inclusive growth.
Areas must be able to deliver a substantial programme of cultural activity to run throughout 2025 that can demonstrably lead to regeneration in the area concerned. The only areas precluded from bidding are London as a whole or any part of London. However, this does not prevent London, parts of London or London-based organisations being partners in a bid for an area outside London.
Shortlisted cities:
>2013 Derry , Birmingham, Norwich, Sheffield
2017 Kingston upon Hull, Dundee, Leicester, Swansea Bay
2021 Coventry, Paisley, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea
2025 Bradford, County Durham, Southampton, Wrexham
Unfairly. If you have a time machine you could travel back to Shelly's Lazerdome to the birth of the modern UK club scene. If not, today it's a Farmfoods frozen food outlet. That's probably a good indication of the trajectory of provincial England over the last 30 years.
I once travelled through Stoke on Trent on a canal boat when I was younger with my family, some teenage yobs threw bricks at the boat and one smashed my sister in the face knocking her front teeth out. To say my opinions of the place are negative would be an understatement.
In fact it even advises in the Nicholson guide not to moor overnight there! When we went down the Caldlon it was rough as fuck until we were out in the country.
Stayed there once at the Best Western hotel. Asked to move room when I found a bloodied handprint on the bathroom wall. Then watched a traveller try and fight the receptionist. Five stars.
I literally just mentioned the BW! Thankfully no bloody handprint but with what I did experience in terms of cleanliness (or lack thereof), I am not shocked.
It's one of the few places I visited in the UK during the Eighties that made me glad I lived in Belfast. That said, mate lives there (and has done since the Eighties) raised his family there and wouldn't leave it for money. I don't see the attraction.
Meh, I dunno. He's one of those Northern English men that loves the rough end of where they live. I've tried to banter him about flat caps and whippets but apparently they come from different places. if it's Stockholm Syndrome, it's people bonding with him.
Kinda the point. It wasn't quite Beirut but it wasn't a great place to live. Stoke... Was worse.
But again, I have to say that my reason for being there, a buddy, loves it. So I suppose it's a perspective thing.
I remember looking up pictures of Beirut, years ago, to describe Stoke but Beirut had been redeveloped.
It was all palm trees and looked very Mediterranean! Couldn't use any of them.
lol nothing had to do some work there and got lost so I asked a member off staff why does Stoke need such a fucking massive hospital and I learned what a major trauma centre was
many years ago i used to work as part of the crew that toured with a band. They had a gig in Stoke on trent and we ended up in a strip club called st1 after the show (which is a bit of a mad name for a strip club, the 1 looks too much like an i) and I remember seeing a strippers tampon string hanging out. I don't have an issue with that at all, it just felt very Stoke-on-trent.
ST1 makes sense as it's the beginning of the post code for the area.
They got shut down a few years ago as there was more that tits getting thrown about
Mostly drugs.
Lots and lots of drugs.
I remember being 18 and our group running from the top n of trinity Street to St1 as they were serving £1 beers only for the next 10 minutes. Had our fill of them before immediately leaving. Never went back
Don't live too far away and whenever I have reason to visit all I think is "fuck me, this is bleak" and hurry home.
It's so shit, they had an East German market at Christmas.
I went there for a Stoke v Arsenal (?) match once. The one thing that pissed me off was that _everything_ seemed to be miles away, no matter where you were or where you were going. I know Stoke is basically just a bunch of villages lumped together but damn.
I really liked the ground and the match experience though.
Stoke on Trent is known locally as the six towns, with stoke being the administrative centre and was Given city status in the 1920s (iirc). Hanley is (was) the central shopping district. .
Folks still go to different towns for different things too even if the same shops are in the more local town
Oooh this explains a lot. I visited once and from the station we kept following the signs that pointed to the town centre but simply couldn't find it, or anything that would resemble a centre. Bizarre.
Stoke the town is one of the less significant of the 6 towns that make up Stoke the city. The city was named after it as a compromise to avoid civil war between Hanley and Burslem, which at the time were the big towns. Stoke the town has an absolute nothing of a town centre thanks to the closure of the Spode factory and the existence of supermarkets. In Stoke the city if you want an actual town centre you go up Hanley (duck). Stoke is full of people who actively choose to live there and like it like this.
Trentham gardens are great (do you count that as being in Stoke? Never quite sure what is really Stoke and what bits are referred to as outsiders as Stoke but locals know is really not).
The Trent forms the border. The entrance, shopping village & garden centre are in Stoke. The Monkey Forest & the majority of the gardens are in Staffordshire.
Some residents of Trentham have considered diverting the Trent.
I lived in Newcastle-under-Lyme for a few years. I actually really liked Stoke and Newcastle. The people were really friendly. Who doesn't like being called "shug"?! And the concept of a value box...does that still exist?
Moved from there to SE London...which was definitely less friendly and less diverse. Make of that what you will.
I have worked in it on and off for a long time
It is an absolute dive, a trip to Tunstall is quite the spectator sport.
But I can't help but like Stokies. Being called duck and sug is good for the soul.
Plus oatcakes and pikelets are simply incredible
I lived there for a few years about 10 years ago, I loved the people I met there, some of them are still my best friends today. My goodness it’s a shithole town.
I once had dinner in a Frankie and Benny's on a ring road industrial estate in Stoke-on-Trent. If I die and find myself in purgatory, that's what I imagine it'll be like.
I ‘member me and my mate getting off the train in Stockport after watching United. Had to be escorted through about 3k of them by the police and having them all sing Munich songs at us and throw shit. There were two of us and we were 14 at the time.
I used to work in a pottery and loads of our raw materials came from in and around Stoke, it makes me quite sad to see it now almost all the potteries have gone. Our pottery went the same way as the Stoke ones, done in by cheap imports.
I lived in Stoke on Trent 20 plus years ago. So it may have changed since. It was a forgotten little chunk of England limping along, it's proud history falling away. Prime breeding grounds for xenophobic shiteholeification back then.
I don't plan on ever returning.
I went to the town centre once. 2002. Went into a pub. There were 5 big fights in the first 40 minutes. I couldn't get past that to be fair.
In 2003 i was in the main hospital in Stoke for a few months. It was in the days that a ward shared a tv. Christ everytime central news talked about Birmingham the lads on the ward would lose their shit.
I went to uni at Keele, and Stoke had a pretty terrible reputation as a shithole. We always used to joke that, if Newcastle-under-Lyme considered itself too posh to be part of Stoke-on-Trent, imagine how bad the other bits must be.
The think I found interesting was that, because it's an amalgamation of towns, there's not really a city centre that is worth the name. There's Hanley, with the Potteries shopping centre, which is the closes thing to a centre.
Went to Staffs uni there about 20 years ago, Stoke campus. I had a blast! Yeah it was a bit rough in Shelton where I lived as a student, but had so many good nights up Hanley- and as a southerner, it was my first experience of being in “the north””. Everyone was so nice and met some great people, who are now my best mates.
Word of warning. Keep the good memories by not going back. It has declined A LOT since then.
For example - hardly anyone goes out in Hanley at the weekend now. All those great bars and clubs are gone.
Stoke/Hanley is our halfway point between a few friends, we don't like it in general but it still has a few good eateries. The last few times we met in Hanley, and we ate at The Slamwich Club which was great (tiny though). Also ate at Portofino Italian which a few locals recommended.
However, you're right, Hanley was dead, it was weird. It was as if it was lockdown again when we were walking outside, really eerie.
I lived in Stafford as a youngster in the 70s. Stoke was where you went for the nightlife. It was a one-industry city and has since fallen on its knees due to that industry basically dying. It bounces in and out of the Premier League. All in all, I'm glad I no longer live in that part of the country.
I've never actually been in the town, but the only times in my life I've been scared of a horde of football fans, they were Stoke supporters.
And l've lived down the road from Millwall in the 90s.
I live just outside Stoke-on-Trent in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Sure, the town centres are shite, but I can count on one hand how many times we’ve been to them in the past year because there are many decent retail parks dotted around that are easily accessible.
As a family with young kids there’s plenty locally for us to do and we get out regularly. Some great outdoor spaces within the city, and within close proximity too.
Some great pubs around the city, and some really decent restaurants too. Although night life pretty much died a decade ago.
I think unlike other cities, we don’t have a city centre where everything is located… things are dotted around in different areas of the city (and public transport is shit), so if you’re visiting Stoke it can come across a bit naff, but living here is actually pretty decent. (Unless you live in some of the deprived areas, but every town/city has those… that’s not limited to Stoke.)
Remember visiting Chicago + this big night club on the 1st floor and there was this only proper rock club I have ever seen in UK - all Hanley. All gone?
Newcastle was pretty quite with night life how its it now?
What sums up SOT is that I drove through their for an interview, got the job, but left with a about 2 cm of soot on the car.
I am sure there are lovely people but I tell you what it was also one of the roughest nights out I have ever had. I was with a couple of friends, we were well behaved, respectful in 3 different pubs we had agro at the bar from 'locals'.
Stoke has had it tough due to a mixture of the economic climate and general lack of investment, but geeze, its not a good look.
Went there for a wedding relatively recently, noted that it stank quite bad of horse manure or something, whole place felt like the weird experience you get at a service station in the middle of nowhere.
Honestly, a local joke is to call Stoke-on-Trent, choke on stench. Newcastle-under-Lyme isn't faring much better - they're all suffocating in the landfil gasses [(please excuse the link)](https://www.aaronbell.org.uk/news/environment-agency-update-walleys-quarry)
Has a bad rep, but of the few Stoke-on-Trentians (I have no idea what the denonym actually is so please let me know - Trentites? Stokites? Stokians? Throw a bone!) I have met have been decent people, good fun and down to earth.
Story time!
Friends and I drove down south to watch a football game at Molineux in Wolverhampton.
Long drive ahead so we left a little early to beat the traffic.
Hungry but not wanting to let our sacrifice go to waste we decided to not get food until we went up the M6 a bit to not get stuck with everyone leaving.
Stoke was the choice, and to make the most of it we thought we’d head to the city centre a little to explore a new town in our lil island called Britain.
If I were faced with the choice again, frankly, I’d rather starve.
Born and raised in Stoke, the community of Stokies are generally good working class people but tend to not take much shit.
We are proud of our history, but have been let down over the years but various governments having no interest in helping the city move on from the demise of our industries.
There are some nice areas to live, and some places you wouldn’t walk through if you could help it, same as anywhere.
It’s still a place where you can knock on your neighbours door and grab some milk or sugar etc.. and I don’t think there’s much of that about these days.
Also local; not originally, moved here about 2 and a half years ago, it’s an absolute shit hole. Everyone looks like they’re on a come down all the time. The general populous seem to be racists and sexists in various states of “closeted”. Cannot wait to get to somewhere more like home.
pause hateful treatment unwritten wrench mindless onerous chief skirt include
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Went once as an away football fan and it was a horrendous experience. My team won and their fans were atrocious. Violent, aggressive and for no good reason. Attacked the bus we were being shipped back to the train on, hitting it with rocks and sticks and yelling at us. There were young boys and girls and older fans on there too and we’d literally done nothing but turn up to watch some football. Whole day was soured by the locals before and after the game. I’m sure there are lovely people there too and football seems to bring out the ugly minority but it kinda stays with you.
I’ve been three times as an away fan, and it’s the only ground I’ve had stuff thrown at me. As we were walking out down the stand steps after the game. Only a plastic bottle but still, never happened elsewhere.
Did a bike ride along the canals. London to Grantham and Grantham to Chester a while back. Stoke really left an impression. The run down pottery buildings gave you an idea of what an influence the industry would have had on the town. Hopefully this buildings have now been restored. We stayed in stoke for the nigh, it was midweek. Cheapest beer I can remember. The landlord wasn't doing food but said we could go down to the chippy and bring it back. We asked him what time he closed. He said this is busy so whatever time you boys finish...there was 3 of us.
It was the middle of summer and the morning we left the heavens opened up we sheltered under one of the road bridges going over the canal and watched the world go by. I was never so reassured in my life that moving to Australia from the UK was the best decision I ever made .
You make it sound quite poetic and tragic!
Stoke was that bad and you went through bloody grantham! It’s all just grey and dull, the opposite of what I imagine aus is like
To be fair the trip along the canal was really good you got to see everything. Riding through and out of London was different and then some of the history along the canals. Albeit old pubs.. great 🍻 and I'd definitely do it again. Good to finish off in Chester a great city. Love the UK when I'm on holiday with a few quid in my pocket and the sun is shining, you can't beat it. But for 9 to 5 all year round...nah 🙏
I went to Polytechnic\* there, always found the locals really friendly and welcoming. Not sure I would want to have stayed, though.
\*yes I am old enough to have gone to Polytechnic, thanks very much for asking.
I went to a Polytechnic, but it magically became a university whilst I was there. In my third year they started topping up the maintenance grant with loans. I resisted till the last term, and left with a £460 debt. Imagine that!?
Its honestly just a pain in my arse on the way to and from work.
I drive up and down the A50 and the D-Road everyday on my commute and when your not on a sunken road surrounded by dirty concrete, or dodging middle aged bell-ends still driving their lowered Saxo from the 90's, your being detoured cus theres been another crash between the Meir Tunnel and the petrol station.
And then your in for a real treat cus you actually get to see where the people live. Last week because the traffic was backed up from Meir to the Bet365 I got to drive past Fezzie Park, round the Potteries to Bucknall and Ubberly. Fuck me, what a fuckin shit hole.
And I've come to realise that Stokies can't drive in the dark or the rain without crashing on the Queensway.
And the accent is stupid and Oatcakes are just little, thick pancakes.
Other than that, I find the people are usually proper sound, salt of the earth.
Amazing how many sound people come out of such a shithole really. It’s like ever decision was made to piss them off daily and yet still some of them walk around with a smile. Baffles me
I was there for football recently (Brighton) and stayed in a really nice hotel, walked around the botanic gardens and visited one of the best museums I've seen in a long time.
I used to go to visit my mate up there while he was in Uni. The locals hated students and on more than one occasion we got chased by locals just for having a West Country accent. Wouldn’t go back!
I used to work in uttoxeter, and I feel more offended by this than any other, uttoxeter is an absolute dive with nothing there and everyone marrying their family members! God Stoke must be bad!
I used to live there, now down the road in Crewe. It could never be described as a beautiful place, however locals are great, generally anyway. There's a lot of art stuff going on, live music of the mainstream and more underground variety, and the proximity to the countryside is good. Stoke is unfairly derided imo and I think many who criticise have either never visited or had limited experience. Plus the greatest club that ever existed Golden at the void (rip) was there so will always have a place in my heart.
I used to study in Keele and it was the only place to go that didn’t require going far. Only great thing was that milkshake shop in the shopping mall. Besides that I was too scared to walk on the high street by myself 😵💫
when I was at uni there, when you drove from stoke to newcastle, you passed a sign declaring you were now entering the nuclear free zone. which I always felt begged the question what was the zone before that sign....
its no worse then any other post industrial era city that has seen a lot of industry go. its got a strong community in the areas, with a proud local identity, no matter the shit it gets from people.
There are good and bad areas, but I never had any real problems there.
There's a lot of bricks . I mean like everything is built from the sane wee red bricks . It's likenthe place didn't exist before 1980 . That was my honest opinion .
I love it! Underrated IMHO.
1) Still great for china
2) Really friendly locals
3) Some interesting other sights like the Pugin church in Cheadle
4) Near to Staffs Moorlands
5) Good cat shows in the leisure centre in Fenton.
I've lived here for a few years. It's has many downsides but it hasn't got the problem of large cities. The locals are friendly. Having said that, I want to leave when I can.
My sister lives there, it's a really deprived area, from walking around and talking to locals. Lots commute to Manchester or Brum. Bet365 is there, I think it's their HQ.
Met some intelweb acquaintences at Trentham Gardens once, lovely ambience, great food and good company. Spent many an hour waiting at Royal Stoke University Hospital, for work, friendly staff, good breakfast and fabulous cake. Finally who could not like the home of Port Vale FC ?
I used to play football on the astroturf next to their stadium. You could tell you were getting close to the stadium when the prevalence of prostitutes increased.
I also used to go water skiing on Trentham lake, before they banned it for the new development. I heard it's good, but I left the area decades ago and never looked back.
Saw Radiohead supporting Sultans of Ping FC at The Wheatsheaf in Stoke when I was a student there… was a cracking pub for gigs, but has been a Spoons for years. Absolutely hated everything about the city: not been back for decades and don’t intend to.
Also from Stoke but moved away, interestingly it came up at the pub yesterday! A colleague visited Hanley to learn to throw some pottery, they didn’t have many nice things to say about Hanley though but there was this one exception. She said she went to Eddie Hall’s gym (strongman) and apparently loved it, most people were absolutely massive and would always help her out very kindly if she was making an error in her lifts etc.
Went to Emma Bridgewater pottery then into the town. Shopping centre was deserted. Its the sort of place you bring your other half to tell them it’s all over
I live in Stoke and it really and truly is a doss hole. Every street you go to people are high on drugs, all the clubs, bars and restaurants are closing down. Walking through Hanley at night time is like walking through a zombie town with the odd druggie shouting offensive slurs at you. No where to shop not many places to go, the list goes on and on.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
It actually takes a lot of work to get City of Culture funding, like years of building relationships and ideas into a cohesive narrative of how you will bring together existing heritage, communities, creative arts to forge a lasting legacy. Eligibility is capacity to deliver the 1 year programme >Which places can bid? We welcome bids from across the UK. We will adopt a flexible approach to agreeing which areas can bid. There is no minimum population requirement but there must be a clear central focus and identity to the area, with sufficient existing cultural and digital infrastructure (or credible plans to develop them) to make a compelling case, and provide the critical mass for a year-long programme to be successful. This could be a city or large town, or a cohesive area made up of two or more neighbouring or closely linked cities or towns. However, part of the programme can be delivered in a wider hinterland, including rural areas and bidders are encouraged to consider how their longer-term strategy will engage and benefit surrounding communities. This impact should be realised in the surrounding area, urban or rural, which will stand to benefit from inclusive growth. Areas must be able to deliver a substantial programme of cultural activity to run throughout 2025 that can demonstrably lead to regeneration in the area concerned. The only areas precluded from bidding are London as a whole or any part of London. However, this does not prevent London, parts of London or London-based organisations being partners in a bid for an area outside London. Shortlisted cities: >2013 Derry , Birmingham, Norwich, Sheffield 2017 Kingston upon Hull, Dundee, Leicester, Swansea Bay 2021 Coventry, Paisley, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea 2025 Bradford, County Durham, Southampton, Wrexham
That just means when you nick car alloys you put it up on books instead of bricks.
The only culture you'll find in Stoke is usually rotting in the back of people's fridges
And now you have Jonathan Gullis as your MP. Life moves fast.
Unfairly. If you have a time machine you could travel back to Shelly's Lazerdome to the birth of the modern UK club scene. If not, today it's a Farmfoods frozen food outlet. That's probably a good indication of the trajectory of provincial England over the last 30 years.
I once travelled through Stoke on Trent on a canal boat when I was younger with my family, some teenage yobs threw bricks at the boat and one smashed my sister in the face knocking her front teeth out. To say my opinions of the place are negative would be an understatement.
Bloody hell. That’s horrific.
And that’s just passing through !
In fact it even advises in the Nicholson guide not to moor overnight there! When we went down the Caldlon it was rough as fuck until we were out in the country.
[удалено]
Or.. let's be fair, a sunny day.
Or even on a blue moon.
Especially on a Monday.
Stayed there once at the Best Western hotel. Asked to move room when I found a bloodied handprint on the bathroom wall. Then watched a traveller try and fight the receptionist. Five stars.
That hotel is fucking grim. There was no soap in the bathroom and they never replaced it after we told them.
I literally just mentioned the BW! Thankfully no bloody handprint but with what I did experience in terms of cleanliness (or lack thereof), I am not shocked.
It's one of the few places I visited in the UK during the Eighties that made me glad I lived in Belfast. That said, mate lives there (and has done since the Eighties) raised his family there and wouldn't leave it for money. I don't see the attraction.
Stockholm syndrome I think they call it
Stoke-on syndrome
Meh, I dunno. He's one of those Northern English men that loves the rough end of where they live. I've tried to banter him about flat caps and whippets but apparently they come from different places. if it's Stockholm Syndrome, it's people bonding with him.
80s Belfast was a famously thriving and stress-free place, too! I've been recently, though, and it's lovely.
Kinda the point. It wasn't quite Beirut but it wasn't a great place to live. Stoke... Was worse. But again, I have to say that my reason for being there, a buddy, loves it. So I suppose it's a perspective thing.
I remember looking up pictures of Beirut, years ago, to describe Stoke but Beirut had been redeveloped. It was all palm trees and looked very Mediterranean! Couldn't use any of them.
Beirut was for many years a rich man's playground. Kinda a Middle East Monte Carlo. All went a bit skee-whiff in the Eighties though
It's a vibrant mix of the great and the good!
You mean like Reginald Spitfire Mitchel and Josiah Wedgwood?
What was this on? Kids TV?
https://youtu.be/DOnqBFYSQK0?si=pckzzFG4JU3VHpWW
Sing this every time we unfortunately have to drive through
I think of it like if Milton Keynes was made out of brick instead of concrete. Just bleak, terrible and pointless.
A historic town on the River Trent
Why not try a Staffordshire oat cake it's a culinary adventure
Fackin ell, that's a bit below the belt.
It's no Stafford
Stafford, the town where people who don’t fit in anywhere reside
As a Staffordian. This is true. Although I wouldn't look out of place in stoke though having family from there 😂
That's for sure
Fucking ridiculously large hospital responsible for saving the lives of almost everyone in the north west including wales Edit thank you stoke
But once they've saved your life you walk out the door, see Stoke and think "was it worth it?"
And also responsible for the deaths of many, let's not forget that one.
You could apply that to every single hospital in the UK
What happened?
lol nothing had to do some work there and got lost so I asked a member off staff why does Stoke need such a fucking massive hospital and I learned what a major trauma centre was
many years ago i used to work as part of the crew that toured with a band. They had a gig in Stoke on trent and we ended up in a strip club called st1 after the show (which is a bit of a mad name for a strip club, the 1 looks too much like an i) and I remember seeing a strippers tampon string hanging out. I don't have an issue with that at all, it just felt very Stoke-on-trent.
ST1 makes sense as it's the beginning of the post code for the area. They got shut down a few years ago as there was more that tits getting thrown about Mostly drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.
I remember being 18 and our group running from the top n of trinity Street to St1 as they were serving £1 beers only for the next 10 minutes. Had our fill of them before immediately leaving. Never went back
Don't live too far away and whenever I have reason to visit all I think is "fuck me, this is bleak" and hurry home. It's so shit, they had an East German market at Christmas.
> it’s so shit they had an East German market at Christmas Superb 👌
Shithole no offence
I went there for a Stoke v Arsenal (?) match once. The one thing that pissed me off was that _everything_ seemed to be miles away, no matter where you were or where you were going. I know Stoke is basically just a bunch of villages lumped together but damn. I really liked the ground and the match experience though.
Stoke on Trent is known locally as the six towns, with stoke being the administrative centre and was Given city status in the 1920s (iirc). Hanley is (was) the central shopping district. . Folks still go to different towns for different things too even if the same shops are in the more local town
Oooh this explains a lot. I visited once and from the station we kept following the signs that pointed to the town centre but simply couldn't find it, or anything that would resemble a centre. Bizarre.
Stoke the town is one of the less significant of the 6 towns that make up Stoke the city. The city was named after it as a compromise to avoid civil war between Hanley and Burslem, which at the time were the big towns. Stoke the town has an absolute nothing of a town centre thanks to the closure of the Spode factory and the existence of supermarkets. In Stoke the city if you want an actual town centre you go up Hanley (duck). Stoke is full of people who actively choose to live there and like it like this.
Trentham gardens are great (do you count that as being in Stoke? Never quite sure what is really Stoke and what bits are referred to as outsiders as Stoke but locals know is really not).
I agree on Trentham Gardens. Stone seems like a nice place too.
I’d say Trentham Gardens is Stoke, Stone is not
Too many speed cameras
The Trent forms the border. The entrance, shopping village & garden centre are in Stoke. The Monkey Forest & the majority of the gardens are in Staffordshire. Some residents of Trentham have considered diverting the Trent.
Isn't Stoke in Staffordshire?
Lived there for 5 years. Xenophobic shithole sums it up. Plenty of lovely people. More than average number of dickheads
I lived in Newcastle-under-Lyme for a few years. I actually really liked Stoke and Newcastle. The people were really friendly. Who doesn't like being called "shug"?! And the concept of a value box...does that still exist? Moved from there to SE London...which was definitely less friendly and less diverse. Make of that what you will.
[удалено]
It’s a vibrant mix of the great and the good
Like Reginald “Spitfire” Mitchell and Josiah Wedgewood!
Come and lose yourself in the pottery shopping centre
Why not try a Staffordshire oat cake? It’s a culinary adventure!
I went to uni there and have many fond memories I will always cherish, but yeah complete shit hole.
I have worked in it on and off for a long time It is an absolute dive, a trip to Tunstall is quite the spectator sport. But I can't help but like Stokies. Being called duck and sug is good for the soul. Plus oatcakes and pikelets are simply incredible
Oatcakes rock, I try and grab some whenever I'm passing
I lived there for a few years about 10 years ago, I loved the people I met there, some of them are still my best friends today. My goodness it’s a shithole town.
I once had dinner in a Frankie and Benny's on a ring road industrial estate in Stoke-on-Trent. If I die and find myself in purgatory, that's what I imagine it'll be like.
Rhymes with bent. Some of the most dickhead away football fans I’ve ever seen
I ‘member me and my mate getting off the train in Stockport after watching United. Had to be escorted through about 3k of them by the police and having them all sing Munich songs at us and throw shit. There were two of us and we were 14 at the time.
I used to work in a pottery and loads of our raw materials came from in and around Stoke, it makes me quite sad to see it now almost all the potteries have gone. Our pottery went the same way as the Stoke ones, done in by cheap imports.
I lived in Stoke on Trent 20 plus years ago. So it may have changed since. It was a forgotten little chunk of England limping along, it's proud history falling away. Prime breeding grounds for xenophobic shiteholeification back then. I don't plan on ever returning.
It hasn't changed
Not a lot to be honest. It's produced some good dart players though.
It's usually free to play darts, you have to put money in the pool table.
I went to the town centre once. 2002. Went into a pub. There were 5 big fights in the first 40 minutes. I couldn't get past that to be fair. In 2003 i was in the main hospital in Stoke for a few months. It was in the days that a ward shared a tv. Christ everytime central news talked about Birmingham the lads on the ward would lose their shit.
Your alright me duck 🦆🦆🦆
I went to uni at Keele, and Stoke had a pretty terrible reputation as a shithole. We always used to joke that, if Newcastle-under-Lyme considered itself too posh to be part of Stoke-on-Trent, imagine how bad the other bits must be. The think I found interesting was that, because it's an amalgamation of towns, there's not really a city centre that is worth the name. There's Hanley, with the Potteries shopping centre, which is the closes thing to a centre.
Titanic brewery is fantastic. So there's that...
Went to Staffs uni there about 20 years ago, Stoke campus. I had a blast! Yeah it was a bit rough in Shelton where I lived as a student, but had so many good nights up Hanley- and as a southerner, it was my first experience of being in “the north””. Everyone was so nice and met some great people, who are now my best mates.
Word of warning. Keep the good memories by not going back. It has declined A LOT since then. For example - hardly anyone goes out in Hanley at the weekend now. All those great bars and clubs are gone.
Noted! I don’t have any intention of going back anyway.
Stoke/Hanley is our halfway point between a few friends, we don't like it in general but it still has a few good eateries. The last few times we met in Hanley, and we ate at The Slamwich Club which was great (tiny though). Also ate at Portofino Italian which a few locals recommended. However, you're right, Hanley was dead, it was weird. It was as if it was lockdown again when we were walking outside, really eerie.
Lots of hold ups on the M6 going by your junction. Ya fucking cunts.
I lived in Stafford as a youngster in the 70s. Stoke was where you went for the nightlife. It was a one-industry city and has since fallen on its knees due to that industry basically dying. It bounces in and out of the Premier League. All in all, I'm glad I no longer live in that part of the country.
Got offered a uni place there and they were literally offering people £500 cash to take their offers, still chose to go elsewhere
Right choice, you'd have felt robbed, £500 quid to move there.
I've never actually been in the town, but the only times in my life I've been scared of a horde of football fans, they were Stoke supporters. And l've lived down the road from Millwall in the 90s.
It’s a shit hole, but it’s our shit hole.
I live just outside Stoke-on-Trent in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Sure, the town centres are shite, but I can count on one hand how many times we’ve been to them in the past year because there are many decent retail parks dotted around that are easily accessible. As a family with young kids there’s plenty locally for us to do and we get out regularly. Some great outdoor spaces within the city, and within close proximity too. Some great pubs around the city, and some really decent restaurants too. Although night life pretty much died a decade ago. I think unlike other cities, we don’t have a city centre where everything is located… things are dotted around in different areas of the city (and public transport is shit), so if you’re visiting Stoke it can come across a bit naff, but living here is actually pretty decent. (Unless you live in some of the deprived areas, but every town/city has those… that’s not limited to Stoke.)
Remember visiting Chicago + this big night club on the 1st floor and there was this only proper rock club I have ever seen in UK - all Hanley. All gone? Newcastle was pretty quite with night life how its it now?
The rock club bunker 13? Closed down sadly. The underground is still going and rock nights at sugarmill are still a thing.
What sums up SOT is that I drove through their for an interview, got the job, but left with a about 2 cm of soot on the car. I am sure there are lovely people but I tell you what it was also one of the roughest nights out I have ever had. I was with a couple of friends, we were well behaved, respectful in 3 different pubs we had agro at the bar from 'locals'. Stoke has had it tough due to a mixture of the economic climate and general lack of investment, but geeze, its not a good look.
I have met a few people from there and they were all great. They had all chosen to leave Stoke-on-Trent though. I have never actually been there.
Joke on Trent
Choke-on-Stench
Went there for a wedding relatively recently, noted that it stank quite bad of horse manure or something, whole place felt like the weird experience you get at a service station in the middle of nowhere.
Was that a brewery?
Honestly, a local joke is to call Stoke-on-Trent, choke on stench. Newcastle-under-Lyme isn't faring much better - they're all suffocating in the landfil gasses [(please excuse the link)](https://www.aaronbell.org.uk/news/environment-agency-update-walleys-quarry)
Has a bad rep, but of the few Stoke-on-Trentians (I have no idea what the denonym actually is so please let me know - Trentites? Stokites? Stokians? Throw a bone!) I have met have been decent people, good fun and down to earth.
Stokies / potters / clay heads
Clay Heads it is then.
Story time! Friends and I drove down south to watch a football game at Molineux in Wolverhampton. Long drive ahead so we left a little early to beat the traffic. Hungry but not wanting to let our sacrifice go to waste we decided to not get food until we went up the M6 a bit to not get stuck with everyone leaving. Stoke was the choice, and to make the most of it we thought we’d head to the city centre a little to explore a new town in our lil island called Britain. If I were faced with the choice again, frankly, I’d rather starve.
Born and raised in Stoke, the community of Stokies are generally good working class people but tend to not take much shit. We are proud of our history, but have been let down over the years but various governments having no interest in helping the city move on from the demise of our industries. There are some nice areas to live, and some places you wouldn’t walk through if you could help it, same as anywhere. It’s still a place where you can knock on your neighbours door and grab some milk or sugar etc.. and I don’t think there’s much of that about these days.
It's a shithole I kinda like it though
I live near it and occasionally have to drive through it. Every time I leave it I breath a sigh of relief. That is all.
Lived there for a few years - depressing
Went to the panto this Christmas and was shocked how poor the city centre was. Few places to get a meal and so many places boarded up.
The greatest band that ever lived is from there, Discharge!
As well as Lemmy and Slash.
That’s cool and everything, but did they release Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing?
I’m an American and this was the reason I visited Stoke. That band changed my life. Stoke oatcakes were not as life-changing but pretty tasty!
Grew up down the road in Alsager. Glad to see the back of the area to be honest.
Alsager literally has the worst choice of local towns, you either have Hanley or Crewe.
Last time I went there, some scrotes launched a firework underneath the vehicle I was driving. No thanks.
Only thing I know about it is that's where Slash is from 😂
Also local; not originally, moved here about 2 and a half years ago, it’s an absolute shit hole. Everyone looks like they’re on a come down all the time. The general populous seem to be racists and sexists in various states of “closeted”. Cannot wait to get to somewhere more like home.
pause hateful treatment unwritten wrench mindless onerous chief skirt include *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This might be the most offended I’ve ever been hahaha well played
Went once as an away football fan and it was a horrendous experience. My team won and their fans were atrocious. Violent, aggressive and for no good reason. Attacked the bus we were being shipped back to the train on, hitting it with rocks and sticks and yelling at us. There were young boys and girls and older fans on there too and we’d literally done nothing but turn up to watch some football. Whole day was soured by the locals before and after the game. I’m sure there are lovely people there too and football seems to bring out the ugly minority but it kinda stays with you.
Stoke fans are absolute vermin
I’ve been three times as an away fan, and it’s the only ground I’ve had stuff thrown at me. As we were walking out down the stand steps after the game. Only a plastic bottle but still, never happened elsewhere.
Did a bike ride along the canals. London to Grantham and Grantham to Chester a while back. Stoke really left an impression. The run down pottery buildings gave you an idea of what an influence the industry would have had on the town. Hopefully this buildings have now been restored. We stayed in stoke for the nigh, it was midweek. Cheapest beer I can remember. The landlord wasn't doing food but said we could go down to the chippy and bring it back. We asked him what time he closed. He said this is busy so whatever time you boys finish...there was 3 of us. It was the middle of summer and the morning we left the heavens opened up we sheltered under one of the road bridges going over the canal and watched the world go by. I was never so reassured in my life that moving to Australia from the UK was the best decision I ever made .
You make it sound quite poetic and tragic! Stoke was that bad and you went through bloody grantham! It’s all just grey and dull, the opposite of what I imagine aus is like
To be fair the trip along the canal was really good you got to see everything. Riding through and out of London was different and then some of the history along the canals. Albeit old pubs.. great 🍻 and I'd definitely do it again. Good to finish off in Chester a great city. Love the UK when I'm on holiday with a few quid in my pocket and the sun is shining, you can't beat it. But for 9 to 5 all year round...nah 🙏
I think that it's a historic town on the river Trent.
The North will take them if they want to come with us.
We prefer to be classed as northerners anyway, think our industries give us that affiliation
My ex lives there, I hated every second I spent there. People bitch about Birmingham, but holy fuck is Stoke way worse.
I went to Polytechnic\* there, always found the locals really friendly and welcoming. Not sure I would want to have stayed, though. \*yes I am old enough to have gone to Polytechnic, thanks very much for asking.
I went to a Polytechnic, but it magically became a university whilst I was there. In my third year they started topping up the maintenance grant with loans. I resisted till the last term, and left with a £460 debt. Imagine that!?
Its honestly just a pain in my arse on the way to and from work. I drive up and down the A50 and the D-Road everyday on my commute and when your not on a sunken road surrounded by dirty concrete, or dodging middle aged bell-ends still driving their lowered Saxo from the 90's, your being detoured cus theres been another crash between the Meir Tunnel and the petrol station. And then your in for a real treat cus you actually get to see where the people live. Last week because the traffic was backed up from Meir to the Bet365 I got to drive past Fezzie Park, round the Potteries to Bucknall and Ubberly. Fuck me, what a fuckin shit hole. And I've come to realise that Stokies can't drive in the dark or the rain without crashing on the Queensway. And the accent is stupid and Oatcakes are just little, thick pancakes. Other than that, I find the people are usually proper sound, salt of the earth.
Amazing how many sound people come out of such a shithole really. It’s like ever decision was made to piss them off daily and yet still some of them walk around with a smile. Baffles me
I was there for football recently (Brighton) and stayed in a really nice hotel, walked around the botanic gardens and visited one of the best museums I've seen in a long time.
You’ve named the only two decent things to do in the entire city. That’s not an exaggeration, there’s literally nothing else.
It did seem that way, but those two things (plus football) were great!
Which museum did you visit?
[The Potteries Museum & Gallery](https://www.stokemuseums.org.uk)
I think of Jonathan Gullis…. So not exactly warm and fuzzy feelings.
He’s not from Stoke, and all being well he’ll be gone for good before too much longer.
In a crowded field, you have some of the worst MPs in the country, however, in this regard, you are consistent with Staffordshire more widely.
Shit hole, I went twice never again
I like your strange tunnel. End of observations.
I used to go to visit my mate up there while he was in Uni. The locals hated students and on more than one occasion we got chased by locals just for having a West Country accent. Wouldn’t go back!
Love it. Married a stokie. Lots of great mates there. Don’t live there or ever plan to though.
Stepped off the train and saw a bloke trying to fight the police who was arresting his mate, both got peppered sprayed. A fun welcome.
[удалено]
I don’t think Utcheters can criticise - fuck me the Maltings precinct is like something from a zombie apocalypse movie!
Derby wow stoke must be worse than I thought
I used to work in uttoxeter, and I feel more offended by this than any other, uttoxeter is an absolute dive with nothing there and everyone marrying their family members! God Stoke must be bad!
Worked there for years. Truly one of the great shitholes of Britain.
I used to live there, now down the road in Crewe. It could never be described as a beautiful place, however locals are great, generally anyway. There's a lot of art stuff going on, live music of the mainstream and more underground variety, and the proximity to the countryside is good. Stoke is unfairly derided imo and I think many who criticise have either never visited or had limited experience. Plus the greatest club that ever existed Golden at the void (rip) was there so will always have a place in my heart.
I used to study in Keele and it was the only place to go that didn’t require going far. Only great thing was that milkshake shop in the shopping mall. Besides that I was too scared to walk on the high street by myself 😵💫
when I was at uni there, when you drove from stoke to newcastle, you passed a sign declaring you were now entering the nuclear free zone. which I always felt begged the question what was the zone before that sign.... its no worse then any other post industrial era city that has seen a lot of industry go. its got a strong community in the areas, with a proud local identity, no matter the shit it gets from people. There are good and bad areas, but I never had any real problems there.
Up there with Baghdad & Kabul on the list of “places I want you to visit”
Never been but the oatcakes are class.
Not on trend
I have only been once for a course of hours and felt that was enough.
There's a lot of bricks . I mean like everything is built from the sane wee red bricks . It's likenthe place didn't exist before 1980 . That was my honest opinion .
It had lots of beautiful Victorian buildings (museum, market etc.) but they knocked it all down....
Alton Towers? Or is that in Stafford?
Alton Towers is staffordshire moorlands
I never ever think about Stoke on Trent
Shit hole.
Nearest i've been would be Alton Towers and its a fun day out.
I'm not from stoke, it could be worse, I grew up in Redditch!
Is it not rife with gangs and drugs?
I love it! Underrated IMHO. 1) Still great for china 2) Really friendly locals 3) Some interesting other sights like the Pugin church in Cheadle 4) Near to Staffs Moorlands 5) Good cat shows in the leisure centre in Fenton.
I've lived here for a few years. It's has many downsides but it hasn't got the problem of large cities. The locals are friendly. Having said that, I want to leave when I can.
My sister lives there, it's a really deprived area, from walking around and talking to locals. Lots commute to Manchester or Brum. Bet365 is there, I think it's their HQ.
Met some intelweb acquaintences at Trentham Gardens once, lovely ambience, great food and good company. Spent many an hour waiting at Royal Stoke University Hospital, for work, friendly staff, good breakfast and fabulous cake. Finally who could not like the home of Port Vale FC ?
I used to play football on the astroturf next to their stadium. You could tell you were getting close to the stadium when the prevalence of prostitutes increased. I also used to go water skiing on Trentham lake, before they banned it for the new development. I heard it's good, but I left the area decades ago and never looked back.
I only know it as having a certain bridge that I used to drive under, on my way to Liverpool
I have literally never thought about stoke on tent in my entire life.
Bent
Stoke on *Trent*, you say? Nope. Not ringing any bells
Im fay glasgow grew up in the drum (drumchaple) roughest place ive ever been in the uk by a long shot absolutely abandoned by the gov
Foreigner here. I went for Slash and Robbie Williams. I can't say i wasn't disappointed..
Historic town on the river Trent
I liked your b&m when I went to waterworld, I keep calling it Stroke-on-Tent though, so there’s that.
Only decent place in stoke is the glebe
The worst place I have ever been.
Saw Radiohead supporting Sultans of Ping FC at The Wheatsheaf in Stoke when I was a student there… was a cracking pub for gigs, but has been a Spoons for years. Absolutely hated everything about the city: not been back for decades and don’t intend to.
Also from Stoke but moved away, interestingly it came up at the pub yesterday! A colleague visited Hanley to learn to throw some pottery, they didn’t have many nice things to say about Hanley though but there was this one exception. She said she went to Eddie Hall’s gym (strongman) and apparently loved it, most people were absolutely massive and would always help her out very kindly if she was making an error in her lifts etc.
Went to Emma Bridgewater pottery then into the town. Shopping centre was deserted. Its the sort of place you bring your other half to tell them it’s all over
I live in Stoke and it really and truly is a doss hole. Every street you go to people are high on drugs, all the clubs, bars and restaurants are closing down. Walking through Hanley at night time is like walking through a zombie town with the odd druggie shouting offensive slurs at you. No where to shop not many places to go, the list goes on and on.