Stoke-on-Trent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

City of Stoke-on-Trent
Victoria Hall, Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent shown within England and Staffordshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Ceremonial county	Staffordshire
Admin HQ	Stoke-upon-Trent
Government
- Type	Unitary, City (1925)
- Mayor & Council Manager
- Council Leader	Mark Meredith (L)
- Council Control	(Labour)
- MPs	Mark Fisher (L) Robert Flello (L) Joan Whalley (L)
Population (2001 Census)
- Total	240,636
- Density	6,643.3/sq mi (2,565/km²)
- Ethnicity	94.8% White 3.5% S.Asian 1.1% Mixed Race 0.8% Black
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
- Summer (DST)	British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Website: www.stoke.gov.uk

Stoke-on-Trent (pronunciation (help·info)) (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost twelve miles (19 km) long, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km²). Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke forms the The Potteries Urban Area. This, together with the rural Staffordshire Moorlands area, forms North Staffordshire, which in 2001, had a population of 457,165.

The city formed by the Federation of six originally separate towns and numerous villages in the early 20th century. The original settlement from which the federated town (not a City until 1925) took its name was Stoke-upon-Trent, because this was where the administration (and chief mainline railway station) was located. After the union, Hanley emerged as the primary commercial centre in the city, despite the efforts of its rival, Burslem. The three other component towns are Tunstall, Longton, and Fenton.

Stoke-on-Trent is considered to be the home of the pottery industry in the United Kingdom and is commonly known as The Potteries. Formerly a primarily industrial conurbation, it is now a centre for service industries and distribution centres. The city is a unitary authority with a directly elected mayor.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Suburbs 2 History 2.1 Etymology 2.2 Administration 2.3 Industry 2.4 Religion 3 Present day 3.1 Administration and politics 3.2 Demographics 3.3 Economy 3.4 Transport 4 Culture 4.1 Arts & literature 4.2 Music 4.3 Dialect 4.4 Food 4.5 Higher education 4.6 Places of interest 4.7 Sport 5 Twin town 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Geography

Stoke-on-Trent is situated approximately half-way between Manchester and Birmingham^[1] and the city adjoins the town and borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is administered separately and situated to the west. To the east is the Peak District National Park, which includes part of the Staffordshire Moorlands district, as well as parts of Derbyshire and West and South Yorkshire.

Stoke-on-Trent is often known as "the city of five towns", because of the name given to it by local novelist Arnold Bennett. In his novels, Bennett used mostly recognisable aliases for five of the six towns (although he called Stoke "Knype"). However, Bennett said that he believed "Five Towns" was more euphonious than "Six Towns", so he omitted "Fenton" (now sometimes referred to as "the forgotten town").

A city like Stoke made up of multiple towns is known as a conurbation (although in this case the conurbation is bigger than Stoke itself, because the urban area of Stoke is now continuous with that of administratively-separate Newcastle).

The six towns run in a rough line from north to south along the A500 road - Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton. Although the city is named after the original town of Stoke, and the City Council offices are located there, the city centre is usually regarded as being in Hanley, which had earlier developed into a major commercial centre.

[edit] Suburbs

As well as the Six Towns, there are numerous suburbs including Abbey Hulton, Blurton, Bentilee, Birches Head, Bucknall, Cliffe Vale, Etruria, Hartshill, Meir, Meir Park, Meir Hay, Middleport, Milton, Penkhull, Shelton, Smallthorne, Sneyd Green, Trentham and Trent Vale.

[edit] History

[edit] Etymology

The name Stoke is taken from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent, the original ancient parish, with other settlements being chapelries. 'Stoke' derives from the Old English stoc, a word that at first meant little more than a 'place', but which subsequently gained more specific – but divergent – connotations. These variant meanings included 'dairy farm', 'secondary or dependent place or farm', 'summer pasture', 'crossing place', 'meeting place' and 'place of worship'. It is not known which of these was intended here, and all are feasible. The most frequently suggested interpretations derive from a crossing point on the Roman road that ran from present-day Derby to Chesterton or the early presence of a church, said to have been founded in 670. Because 'Stoke' was such a common name for a settlement, some kind of distinguishing affix was usually added later, in this case the name of the river.

The motto of Stoke-on-Trent is Vis Unita Fortior which can be translated as: United Strength is Stronger, or Strength United is the More Powerful or A United Force is Stronger.

[edit] Administration

An early proposal for a federation took place in 1888, when an amendment was raised to the Local Government Bill which would have made the six towns districts within a county of 'Staffordshire Potteries'. It was not until April 1, 1910 that the Six Towns were brought together. The county borough of Hanley, the municipal boroughs of Burslem, Longton, and Stoke, together with the urban districts of Tunstall and Fenton now formed a single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent.^[2] The combined borough took the name of town of Stoke.

The borough proposed in 1919 to expand further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Wolstanton United Urban District, both to the west of Stoke: this met strong objections from Newcastle's Corporation and never took place.^[3] A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of the Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill.^[4] Ultimately, Wolstanton was added to Newcastle-under-Lyme instead in 1932. Although attempts to take Newcastle, Wolstanton and Kidsgrove (north of Tunstall) were never successful, the borough did however expand in 1922, taking in Smallthorne Urban District, and parts of other parishes from Stoke upon Trent Rural District. The borough was officially granted city status in 1925 with a Lord Mayor from 1928.

The city's county borough status was abolished in 1974, and it became a non-metropolitan district of Staffordshire. Its status was restored as a unitary authority with the local authority as Stoke-on-Trent City Council whilst remaining part of the ceremonial county of Staffordshire on April 1, 1997.

[edit] Industry

Since the 17th century the area has been almost exclusively known for its industrial-scale pottery manufacturing, with such world renowned names as Royal Doulton, Dudson Ltd, Spode (founded by Josiah Spode), Wedgwood and Minton (founded by Thomas Minton) being born and based there. The presence locally of abundant supplies of coal and of suitable clay for earthenware production led to the early but at first limited development of the local pottery industry. The construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal enabled the import of china clay from Cornwall together with other materials and facilitated the production of creamware and bone china.^[specify]

However, many other production centres elsewhere in Britain, Europe and worldwide had a considerable lead in the production of high quality wares. It was largely the methodical and highly detailed research and a willingness to experiment carried out over many years, initially by one man, Josiah Wedgwood, and later by other local potters, scientists and engineers, together with the development of great artistic talent throughout the local community, that raised the Staffordshire Potteries to the internationally dominant position that they have held for many years.^[specify] Also of note is Thomas Whieldon. With the industry also came a large number of notable ceramic artists including Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper, Lorna Bailey, Charlotte Rhead, Frederick Hurten Rhead and Jabez Vodrey.

North Staffordshire was a centre for coal mining. The first reports of coal mining in the area come from the 13th Century.^[5] Part of the North Staffordshire Coal Field, the Potteries Coal Field covers 100 square miles (300 km²)^[6] and the city had several pits including Hanley Deep Pit, Trentham Superpit (formerly Hem Heath), Fenton and Wolstanton^[7] The last mine to close was the Trentham Superpit in 1994.^[8] The industry developed greatly with new investment in mining projects within the City boundaries as recently as the 1960s and 1970s.^[specify]

Other industries have also occupied important roles in the development of the city both before and after federation. Notably the iron and steel making industry located in the valley at Goldendale and Shelton below the hill towns of Tunstall, Burslem and Hanley. Shelton Steel Works production of steel ended in 1978 and the final parts of the plant closed in 2002^[9] From 1864 to 1927 Stoke housed the repair shops of the North Staffordshire Railway^[10] and was also the home from 1881 to 1930 of independent railway locomotive manufacturers Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd..^[11]

Shelton Steel Works as well as the mining operations were heavily involved in the World War II industrial effort. Central to the RAF's success was the Supermarine Spitfire designed by Reginald Mitchell who, whilst born in nearby Talke, had his apprenticeship at Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd's railway works.^[12]

[edit] Religion

Primitive Methodism was founded by Hugh Bourne a native of Stoke. He originally followed the Wesleyan form of Methodism but in 1801 he reformed the Methodist service by conducting it outside. By 1811 with his brother he founded the first chapel in Tunstall.^[13] He promoted Sunday Schools as a method of improving children's education as well as treating women as equals. He also was involved in the temperance movement. It was from the Primitive Methodists that many early Trades Unions found their early leaders.^[14] Also of note is John Lightfoot a 17th century churchman and rabbinical scholar.

[edit] Present day

[edit] Administration and politics

The city is the only one of the twelve English districts with elected mayors to use the mayor and council manager system rather than the mayor and cabinet system.^[15] Following a local referendum, passing the motion 28,601 votes to 20,578 (turnout of 27.8%), on May 3, 2002 a directly elected mayor system was approved.^[16] Mike Wolfe an independent candidate became the first directly elected mayor after an election on October 17, 2002 an independent, who narrowly beat Labour Party candidate George Stevenson by just 300 votes.^[17] The current Mayor from May 5, 2005 to date is Mark Meredith (Labour Party).^[18] The 2005 election was notable because approximately 10% of the ballot papers were either spoiled or ineligible.^[19] Meredith's election platform included a pledge to have another referendum on the post of elected mayor.^[20] This is scheduled for May 2007. The council has 60 councillors who scrutinise the decisions of the mayor.^[21]

The city is covered by three House of Commons constituencies. They are Stoke-on-Trent North, Stoke-on-Trent Central and Stoke-on-Trent South.^[22] The city is within the West Midlands European Parliament constituency.

Two current politicians from Stoke are David Sumberg MEP for North West England and David Kidney MP for nearby Stafford.

In July 2007, the nation-wide public smoking ban in England failed to come into effect in Stoke-On-Trent because of an apparent "bureaucratic blunder".^[23] As Stoke-On-Trent has both a Council Manager and a Mayor, the enforcement of the ban must undergo a formal approval by both.^[23]

[edit] Demographics

Based on the 2001 census, the total population of the city is 240,636 in 103,196 households^[24] This was a decline of 3.5% since 1991.^[25] 51.3% of the population is female.^[26] 96.3% of the population of Stoke-on-Trent were born in the UK.^[27] 94.8% of the population identified themselves as white, 2.6% as Asian British Pakistani, 0.5% Asian British Indian and 0.3% as Black Afro Caribbean.^[27] With religion, 71.8% described themselves as Christian, 3.0% Muslim, 1.1% Hindu, 0.6% Sikh, 0.5% Jewish and 14.8% had no religion.^[27] In the same census, 19.9% were identified as under 15 and 21.0% over 60. The average age of residents was 38½.^[26] A total of 24.2% of non-pensioner households were recorded as having no working adults.^[28]

[edit] Economy

North Staffordshire is a world centre for fine ceramics - a skilled design trade established in the area since at least the 12th century.

In the late 1980s & 1990s Stoke-on-Trent was hit hard by the general decline in the British manufacturing sector. Numerous factories, steelworks, mines, and potteries were closed, including the renowned Shelton Bar steelworks. This resulted in a sharp rise in unemployment in the 'high-skilled but low-paid' workforce. However, at Q2 2004 the unemployment rate had recovered to almost the same as in the wider West Midlands. The city's present employment levels are currently stable and likely to grow from 2004 to 2008, according to a detailed 2003 study by Experian Business Strategies. About 9,000 firms are based in the city. Amongst the more notable are Bet365,^[29] founded by local businessman and Stoke City chairman Peter Coates,^[30] and Phones4U a large retailer of mobile phones started by John Caudwell.^[31]

KPMG's 'Competitive Alternatives 2004' report declared Stoke-on-Trent to be the most cost-effective place to set up a new UK business.^[32] The city currently has the advantage of offering very affordable business property - while being surrounded by a belt of extremely affluent areas (The Peak District, Stone, South Cheshire, Newcastle-under-Lyme) and having excellent road links via the A500 and nearby M6 and rail links.

According the HM Land Registry, the annual increase in house prices over the third quarter of 2005 was 8.0%, down form 13.5% in the previous quarter. House prices were the 4th lowest in England and Wales.^[33]

Around five million tourists visit Stoke each year, directly supporting around 4,400 jobs. Stoke-on-Trent shows its popularity through the number of repeat visits; around 80 percent of visitors have previously visited. Tourism to the city was kick-started by the National Garden Festival in 1986, and is now sustained by the many pottery factory-shops/tours and by the improved canal network.

A 2003/4 mapping study found 1,000 active creative businesses & artists based within a ten mile (16 km) radius of the city. The survey did not include the thousands of ceramics companies.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Stoke-on-Trent at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.^[34]

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[35]	Agriculture[36]	Industry[37]	Services[38]
1995	2,577	2	1,212	1,364
2000	2,833	1	1,107	1,725
2003	3,238	1	1,199	2,038

The main shopping centre is Hanley; location of the Potteries Shopping Centre (housing many well known national retail outlets), many well-known high street shops and some unique specialist retailers. The Potteries Shopping Centre has recently opened high quality coffee shops including Starbucks and Costa coffee. And with the Peak District National Park just ten miles (16 km) away, Hanley naturally boasts five outdoors clothing & equipment shops.

Other notable business people from the city includes Reginald H. Jones (Chairman of General Electric) and John Madejski chairman of Reading F.C. and former owner of Auto Trader.^[39]

[edit] Transport

Stoke-on-Trent is linked to the nearby M6 motorway at junctions 15 and 16 by the A500. Locally the A500 is known to as the D road^[40] (500 in Roman Numerals is D) as its loop between the two motorway junctions resembles a D. The A50 cuts through the city, providing an East-West link between the M6 and M1 motorways. Improvements to the road network have led to a number of companies building distribution centres in the area.^[41]

Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline station on the Stafford to Manchester Line, which is a part of the West Coast Main Line between Manchester and London, as well as the Crewe to Derby Line. Virgin Pendolino train 390029 is named after Stoke-on-Trent. Other stations in the city include Longport and Longton stations. Etruria station was closed in September 2005.

Local public transport is almost exclusively by bus. Bus services are mainly operated by Potteries Motor Traction, now owned by First Group under the name First PMT. There are also several smaller companies operating bus services in the city. There are central bus stations in Hanley city centre and Longton town centre. National Express operate long distance coach services from Hanley bus station.

The city is served by the Trent & Mersey Canal, which sees traffic of some 10,000 boats a year. Additionally, the Caldon Canal branches off from the Trent and Mersey at Etruria, within the city boundaries, going to Froghall with one branch going to Leek. Recently numerous improvements to the canal system have been made.

There are 100 miles (160 km) of new National Cycle Network off-road bicycle paths through the city, connecting the city to the national long-distance paths, completed in 2005.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Arts & literature

Nightlife has boomed in recent years, with Hanley becoming increasingly popular for its nightclubs, theatres, pubs, bars and restaurants. There are also several theatres outside the city centre, and a long-established 'art-house' cinema in Shelton.^[specify]

Several nationally recognised TV presenters have been born in the area including Frank Bough who presented Nationwide & Breakfast Time, Anthea Turner from Blue Peter and Nick Hancock who chaired the comedy quiz show They Think It's All Over and was host on Room 101.^[42] Bruno Brookes the former BBC Radio 1 disc jockey who hosted the station's breakfast show also presented Top of the Pops.^[specify] Peter Wyngarde as Jason King in "Flamingoes only fly on Tuesdays" makes a quip about a "knicker salesman from Stoke-on-Trent".^[specify] The cat in Dick and Dom in da Bungalow once sang a song about Stoke-on-Trent.^[43]

Master illusionist Andrew Van Buren was born & still is based in the area, although is more often found performing out of the country.

In 2005 the installation of £1,000,000 worth of new public art was completed.^[specify]

Originally through the works of Arnold Bennett, described by some as the greatest realist writer of the 20th century,^[44] the 'Six Towns' were also sometimes known as the 'Five Towns'.^[45] In his novels Bennett wrote about local events in the 19th century^[46] consistently changed all proper names and associations, thus Hanley became Hanbridge and Burslem became Bursley.^[47][48][49] It is thought that Bennett chose to write about five towns, rather than six, because he refused to acknowledge Fenton as a proper town.^[specify] The six towns weren't federated until 1910 but Fenton was still relatively new by that time, it was also the smallest in terms of population and area. As well as this Bennett changed the name of the towns' newspaper from the Sentinel to the Signal, an identity that was subsequently adopted by the city's commercial radio station.^[50]

Other notable contributors to the world of literature includes Elijah Fenton^[specify] (poet), Peter Whelan^[specify] (playwright), John Wain^[specify] (poet, critic and scholar), Pauline Stainer (poet), Charles Tomlinson^[specify] (poet, graphic artist, translator, editor and critic). Stoke is also the birthplace of many artists including Arthur Berry^[specify] (also a novelist, playwright & poet), Arnold Machin^[specify] (sculptor, coin & stamp designer) and Sidney Tushingham, A.R.E.^[specify]

The city's main daily newspaper is The Sentinel, based in Etruria. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Stoke, the commercial Signal 1 and Signal 2 and Cross Rhythms City Radio (Community Radio). Television news is covered by Birmingham-based BBC Midlands Today, Manchester-based BBC North West Tonight, ITV Central and ITV .

Stoke has been the birthplace of many actors, including Hugh Dancy who has been in Black Hawk Down,^[51] Freddie Jones,^[specify] Alan Lake (widower of Diana Dors),^[specify] Adrian Rawlins,^[specify] Hanley Stafford (American radio actor, born Alfred John Austin in Hanley),^[specify] Jonathan Wilkes^[52] and Neil Morrissey, star of Men Behaving Badly.^[53]

[edit] Music

Stoke has a vibrant music scene. Local nightclub the Golden Torch became the centre of the Northern soul scene in the early 70s.^[54] Shelley's Laserdome nightclub in Longton played a pivotal role in the house and rave scene of the late 80s and early 90s too, helping to launch the career of Sasha and featuring regular appearances from Carl Cox, until it was eventually shut down by Staffordshire Police.^[55] Stoke also held the brief title (possibly invented by the media) of 'Techno City' in the early 90s, through the work of acts such as Altern 8 and Bizarre Inc.^{[citation needed]} Hanley nightclub 'the Void' developed a sister relationship with Sankey's Soap in Manchester, helping the latter to revive its fortunes during the late 90s through the promotion of club night 'Golden'.^[56]

Robbie Williams is perhaps the most famous pop star to hail from the city. Many of his songs refer to Stoke-on-Trent, either directly or indirectly. These include "It's Only Us" and "Burslem Normals" as well as the spoken introduction to his duet with Jonathan Wilkes of the song "Me and My Shadow", while the song "Angels" was partly inspired by the gold angel at Burslem Town Hall.^[57] Slash was born in Hampstead, but grew up in Stoke from an early age.^[58][59] Other notable individuals and groups from the area include [HEADRUSH} who are the areas biggest Rock band and have worked with AC/DC's producer on their debut album, HEADRUSH are a band who are keeping alive the Music that Legends like Slash and Motorhead made Famous. Andy Moor who is a Dj and Producer^[specify], Havergal Brian who composed 32 symphonies and five operas,^[60] Gertie Gitana (music hall star and singer),^[specify] Lemmy, the founder of the rock band Motörhead,^[61][62][63] Patricia Leonard (singer/contralto),^[64] Jem Finer (Banjoist, The Pogues)^[65] and Broken Bones, Discharge (Punk Band).^[66] Murdoc Niccals, a member of the fictional group Gorillaz with the role of bass guitarist is said, in his constructed biography, to have been born in Stoke-on-Trent.^[67] Indie rocker Stephen Malkmus mentions Stoke-on-Trent in "Pink India", released on his self-titled solo album, singing that the song's protagonist, Mortimer, is a "rook" in The Great Game, who "came from Stoke-on-Trent."

In October 2007, Stoke-on-Trent City Council introduced a new theme tune - Moving Forwards Together. Although described by the council as 'part of our drive to help us move the city forward and create a better Stoke-on-Trent for people to live, learn, work and enjoy' it was widely received as a wholly patronising, dispiriting piece of non-music.^[68]

[edit] Dialect

The Potteries has a distinctive local dialect. It is believed to descend from Anglo-Saxon (Old English). Whilst it contains many unique words (for example "Nesh” meaning soft, tender, or to easily get cold,^[69] and “Slat” meaning to throw^[69]), the best known word is "duck" used as a greeting to either men or women. It is believed to be derived from the Saxon word ‘ducas’ used to indicate respect, which in Middle English became "duc" or "duk" which denotes a leader, which in turn, became the title Duke and the Old French word ducheé which indicates the territory ruled by a Duke..^[69]

A local cartoon called May un Mar Lady, published in the The Sentinel newspaper, written in Potteries dialect, first appeared on July 8, 1986 and ran for over 20 years.^[70] Since the Cartoonist Dave Follows' death in 2003 the full twenty-year run (7,000) of May un Mar Lady strips are being republished in The Sentinel, as May un Mar Lady Revisited, keeping the dialect alive for another twenty years.

Also, Alan Povey's Owd Grandad Piggott stories which have aired on BBC Radio Stoke for a number of years are recited in the Potteries dialect by the author.^[71]

[edit] Food

Two local culinary specialities are the much loved Potteries Oatcake (very different from the Scottish version and traditionally made in corner-shop style oatcake bakeries), whose fame has yet to travel far outside Staffordshire and neighbouring Derbyshire and Cheshire, and are as popular as ever although no longer the cheap alternative to bread. Oatcakes can be eaten cold or hot with any sweet or savoury fillings. Lobby, a stew not unlike Lancashire Hotpot, is still made by local people.

[edit] Higher education

There are four higher education institutions in the local area. The city is home to Staffordshire University (formerly North Staffordshire Polytechnic), with its main site in Shelton near to Stoke-on-Trent railway station. It gained its university status in 1992 as one of the post-1992 universities. Keele University Medical School uses facilities at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Hartshill. Keele University itself was founded as the University College of North Staffordshire in 1949 with major involvement by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Stoke-on-Trent College [1] is the largest college in England^[specify] and has two sites: one in Burslem (media & performing arts) and the main centre in Shelton. Also situated in Fenton there is a Sixth Form Centre, which is a Music & Performing Arts college.

[edit] Places of interest

The city's rich past can best be explored through visiting one of its many museums & galleries; such as the Etruria Industrial Museum, the Elizabethan Ford Green Hall, the world-class ceramics collection at the main Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Gladstone Pottery Museum (an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage) and the newly opened Ceramica in Burslem. Burleigh in Middleport is the world's oldest working Victorian pottery. There are ambitious plans to open the huge Chatterley Whitfield colliery as a Mining Museum, since it has been given Ancient Monument status, ranking it in importance with Stonehenge. Trentham Gardens is in the south of the city and a £100 million refurbishment was completed in 2005.

Although not in the city, Alton Towers theme park is one of the United Kingdom's best known attractions and is wrongly commonly associated with Stoke-on-Trent.^[specify]

[edit] Sport

Stoke-on-Trent is home to two Football League teams, Stoke City F.C. (the Potters), whose ground is the Britannia Stadium after a move from The Victoria Ground in 1997, and Port Vale F.C. (the Valiants) who play at Vale Park. There is a statue of Sir Stanley Matthews in Hanley town centre Stoke-upon-Trent churchyard. In motorcycle speedway, the Stoke Potters race in the Premier League whilst the Stoke Spitfires race in the BSPA Conference League. Speedway was staged at the greyhound stadium in Sun Street in Hanley intermitently between 1929 and 1939. In 1947 the Potters took part in the post war boom rising from Division Three of the National League to Division Two before closing in the slump of the early 1950s. The Potters were revived in 1960 and they raced in the Provincial League until the end of 1963 when the stadium was closed and the site re-developed. Speedway was revived at Loomer Road in Newcastle Under Lime, initially as Cheserton, before it reverted to the Stoke name. Details of the Potters meetings 1947 - 1950 can be viewed on www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk and other seasons will be added in due course.

The ski race team based at the artificial ski slope in Festival Park compete in national Snowsport England and international FIS events.

The city has a number of amateur sports clubs, including rugby union and cricket, the later competing in the North Staffs and South Cheshire Cricket League. There is also the Parogon Water Polo Team which is widely regarded as being one of the top teams in the country.^{[citation needed]}

Stoke Spitfires was also the name of the city's American Football team in 1986. The team eventually folded in 1992 after a record of 35-34-1. In 1994 the Staffordshire Surge was formed and played their matches in and around Stoke-On-Trent. Currently the team play at Stoke Rugby Club in Division 1 North of BAFL.

Sir Stanley Matthews is perhaps the best known sports person from the city, who played for Stoke City and Blackpool F.C., where he played in what became known as the Matthews Final and managed Port Vale. He also represented England National Football Team. Phil Taylor has been one of the most successful darts players in the early 21st century and is a former PDC and BDO world champion. Other notable sports people from the area include Mark Bright, a former FA Premier League footballer, Garth Crooks another top-flight footballer, both of whom now have media careers with the BBC. Ross Pointon (UFC Fighter), Andrew Foster (tennis), Adrian Lewis, Ted Hankey both darts players, the later a world champion, Dave Harold, Jamie Cope (both snooker) and Imran Sherwani (field hockey). Wicketkeeper Bob Taylor, who played for Derbyshire and England was born and still lives in the area. He represented England 58 times and still holds the world record for the most number of dismissals in the first class game (1649)

In golf, Trenthams' David Lynn (born 1973) is the KLM Open Champion 2004. David has been a member of European Tour since 1996 and he has been in Top 30 of European Tour Order of Merit two times in last three seasons.

Stoke on Trent is also home to Unreal Airsoft. Unreal Airsoft is comprised of multiple courses where players of the extreme sport compete.

[edit] Twin town

• Erlangen, Germany.^[72]
• Limoges, France.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Category:People from Stoke-on-Trent for other people who were born or had a significant contribution to Stoke-on-Trent.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stoke-on-Trent City Council
• BBC Stoke website
• The Potteries
• Local Information from The Sentinel newspaper
• Local Information from Local Edition newspaper
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service
• Exploring the Potteries

v • d • e Ceremonial county of Staffordshire
Unitary authorities	Stoke-on-Trent
Boroughs or districts	Cannock Chase • East Staffordshire • Lichfield • Newcastle-under-Lyme • South Staffordshire • Stafford • Staffordshire Moorlands • Tamworth
Cities and towns	Biddulph • Burntwood • Burton upon Trent • Cannock • Cheadle • Eccleshall • Hednesford • Kidsgrove • Leek • Lichfield • Newcastle-under-Lyme • Penkridge • Rugeley • Stafford • Stoke-on-Trent (Burslem • Fenton • Hanley • Longton • Stoke • Tunstall) • Stone • Tamworth • Uttoxeter See also: List of civil parishes in Staffordshire

v • d • e Districts of the West Midlands Region
Birmingham • Bridgnorth • Bromsgrove • Cannock Chase • Coventry • Dudley • East Staffordshire • Herefordshire • Lichfield • Malvern Hills • Newcastle-under-Lyme • North Shropshire • North Warwickshire • Nuneaton and Bedworth • Oswestry • Redditch • Rugby • Sandwell • Shrewsbury and Atcham • Solihull • South Shropshire • South Staffordshire • Stafford • Staffordshire Moorlands • Stoke-on-Trent • Stratford-on-Avon • Tamworth • Telford and Wrekin • Walsall • Warwick • Wolverhampton • Worcester • Wychavon • Wyre Forest
Counties with multiple districts: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire

v • d • e Places with city status in the United Kingdom
England	Bath · Birmingham · Bradford · Brighton & Hove · Bristol · Cambridge · Canterbury · Carlisle · Chester · Chichester · Coventry · Derby · Durham · Ely · Exeter · Gloucester · Hereford · Kingston upon Hull · Lancaster · Leeds · Leicester · Lichfield · Lincoln · Liverpool · London (City of London and Westminster) · Manchester · Newcastle upon Tyne · Norwich · Nottingham · Oxford · Peterborough · Plymouth · Portsmouth · Preston · Ripon · St Albans · Salford · Salisbury · Sheffield · Southampton · Stoke-on-Trent · Sunderland · Truro · Wakefield · Wells · Winchester · Wolverhampton · Worcester · York
Scotland	Aberdeen · Dundee · Edinburgh · Glasgow · Inverness · Stirling
Wales	Bangor · Cardiff · Newport · St David's · Swansea
Northern Ireland	Belfast · Derry · Armagh · Newry · Lisburn

v • d • e 25 largest settlements in the UK by urban core population
London · Birmingham · Glasgow · Liverpool · Leeds · Sheffield · Edinburgh · Bristol · Manchester · Leicester · Coventry · Kingston upon Hull · Bradford · Cardiff · Belfast · Stoke-on-Trent · Wolverhampton · Nottingham · Plymouth · Southampton · Reading · Derby · Dudley · Newcastle upon Tyne · Northampton

Coordinates: 53°00′N, 2°11′W