Is there Any Hope for this Once Great City?

/ wanderingturnip
www.buymeacoff...
The Third Episode of the Death of the High Street!
I went to Stoke-on-Trent today, a city which I knew very little about before hand. It sits in the midlands, above Birmingham, and I was really keen to get down there and see the state of the high street.
It is made up of 6 towns, which joined together to make the city Stoke-on-Trent. This fact alone can show why it is hard to get tourists to explore all of these places each needs its own pulling factor.
I started out in Hanley and it was clear that the high street there is suffering a lot. A huge amount of empty and boarded up shops were clear to see. I did come across new shops opening up which was great to see.
You have all the usual suspects leaving this place such as Marks and Spencers and British Home Store.
I also wanted to follow the levelling up trail here as Stoke received the largest amount of funding, a huge 56 million in 2021. I was really looking forward to seeing where this was being spent.
This video also turned into an exploration into the pottery history of Stoke. I had no prior knowledge aside from knowing what the old chimneys looked like, so I was hoping the city would lead me in the right direction as the visit stoke website said it would. I ended up stumbling across some amazing things and so found my trip to be a balance between both good and bad.
I met some great people, and I will put below the two businesses I came across who I chatted to and gave me great insight into the real Stoke-on-Trent.
The Canadian Pine Company and Drop City Books
If you know the town, do let me know your thoughts Also, please hit me up with other places that you think I should visit.
If you enjoy my content, and feel it brings you worthy entertainment or distraction, you can support me via Patreon, the link is above. Only support if you are in a position where you can. Your support from watching is massively appreciated.
#abandoned #empty #derelict #town #explore #england #beach #property #buildings #invest #levellingup #towns #money #history

[@rowanberryglass]

Hello, local here! Thanks for the really sympathetic video to the area. Firstly Etruscan is pronounced Ee-trusk-en 😀. I try to avoid Hanley for reasons obvious, but Piccadilly is usually far more lively on other days with interesting small owned businesses open. The run down factory/bottle kiln by the canal in Longport was the Price and Kensington Tea Pot factory - which unfortunately was left to ruin by previous owners. That bit used to have fly tipping on it but has been cleaned up. The building by where you stood filming that wasn't abandoned though, people use it from what I've heard, including a potter. Just a short walk down the canal would have taken you to a beautiful park with 2 lakes. As for the bottle kiln you went in - it was used as a filming location for Peaky blinders, as was the rest of Middleport pottery. Middleport/Longport suffered a lot due to the pulled "Pathfinder" regeneration project, originally started by Blair's government, but suddenly pulled when Cameron got in - mid project! There is a great community spirit in the area though, locals really trying hard to make things better. Again thank you for the well made video that showed a lot of respect.

[@sdrawkcabUK]

History nerd: the Etruscans were a people of central Italy who created a mini state before the Romans took them over. Not quite sure what they have to do with Stoke but hey ho.

[@iamjoestafford]

I am also a local - I live just across the Longport A500 roundabout in Porthill, and my partner took a course at Middleport so he knows Paul the woodworker. I was hoping he would make it to Westport Lake - I feel really lucky to have it almost on my doorstep.

[@louistracy6964]

@@sdrawkcabUK Etruscan pottery. early classical, highly in vogue

[@rowanberryglass]

@@iamjoestafford also in Porthill. Hello neighbour 😂. Westport Lake is SO beautiful isn't it? A little oasis.

[@rowanberryglass]

@@sdrawkcabUK ask Josiah Wedgwood, it's all to do with him. There's an area called Etruria (just by Hanley) which was built up around Wedgwood, and he also developed Etruscan ware, in a classical style. Hence the link within the city.

[@WarmasAsunnedcat]

Nice to see a young lad interested in his past and culture. Enjoyed it very much and subscribed.

[@wanderingturnip]

Appreciate that thanks 👍👍

[@wattbenj]

Most of Britain is a dump these days. The decline is heartbreaking.

[@georgeton4991]

Aye its a P1ss pit m8.

[@jasonwhite7677]

All done deliberately.

[@paulhargreaves1497]

@@jasonwhite7677 Conspiracy theory alert.............

[@jasonwhite7677]

@@paulhargreaves1497 it’s not a conspiracy when your own eyes can see the truth. Why could they build beautiful things in the past but not today?

[@ot7302]

Following in America's footsteps as usual

[@xavieromeagher3320]

I'm a 19 year-old New Zealander who is a massive Stoke City fan. Earlier this year I travelled to Stoke-on-Trent to watch two home games (Hull, Huddersfield). Was only in the city for the matchdays (I stayed in Manny), but it was so sad to see the city of which the football team I love. All the Stokies were so welcoming - although couldn't believe there was a Kiwi who had actually heard of Stoke/had the desire to actually go up there. Felt at home, loved the place even with it's flaws. I'll be back one day - hopefully to a more revitalised place. City and the people need it. COME ON YOU POTTERS

[@westies5350]

what a gem you are mate im nearly 61 and a potter cant believe you you folow stoke the city has been in decline for years just hope it get better gud on yay kiwi

[@robertwalker6023]

❤fix bayonets

[@paulparker8298]

I’m a kiwi and love football, but you could’ve picked a better team and not those bums stoke

[@MrGuy999guy]

Interested where in NZ you live? Thanks Guy

[@CHRIS-jd7ix]

Absolute trier. A lot of hope 4 us. The best place Iz B-arts

[@kurtcouture]

Your video brought me to tears 😢 I'm a Stokie born and bred but ive lived in Paris for 5 years. Even in in that short time the city centre has gone really downhill. Its my friend who owns the new book shop and I'm happy to say it's open now and looking beautiful. I'm on the train now to London and then Paris but Stoke will always have a huge place in my heart

[@albbarnett8525]

I was a delivery driver late 60s Hanley being my main delivery . Fresh salmon and venison to Lewis’s, full load of clothes to C&A and shop deliveries to Hanley town centre . I’m sitting here in tears seeing on film what I now see in real life . High cost of rates for shops and markets , high car parking no wander Retail Parks are booming . R.I.P potteries you were great once

[@themacraecase4323]

Excellent channel. What Stoke needs is what so many other towns/cities need - a huge drop in business rents and rates, plus a new way of looking to get local people to set up and run businesses from the town. Indoor arenas etc aren't going to get the high st revived.

[@norman7527]

It's done by design to make the rich even richer, not to even mention the corruption

[@misscoutts6193]

What's the point if people are not shopping any more the second lockdown finished it off and many people never went back to their old habits. All planned.

[@bretton_woods]

The problem with rents and business rates is they would rather have empty buildings with no tenants than getting less money from a business operating there. They should let people have it cheap because making some money is better than nothing. More open businesses means more footfall for OTHER businesses as well! And less crime, less people hanging out in abandoned shop doorways.

[@jontalbot1]

Rents reflect market conditions so they drop anyway and rates are an important source of income for the council. And there is no point either dropping if there is no effective demand because incomes are low.

[@louistracy6964]

@@britishstatistics The post wasn't about big business, was it

[@mogx2586]

Just found this channel today. You are so respectful of ppl living there and the history. I think other channels are just a piss take. You are creating historical docs here love. Thank you.

[@wanderingturnip]

I appreciate the nice comment thank you 😀

[@judithafholland]

Fantastic video, but it shocks me to the core. I grew up in rural Staffs from early 50's to late 60's, so my memory is of the height of the pottery industry (surprised that the clean air act was as early as 1957). It was where Mum bought eg wool or fabric to make some of our clothes, & ready made undies & dad's clothes etc. 1st reaction "Where are the people & bustling pavements?" "Where is the traffic on once busy roads?" No such thing as shop closures then. I remember walking from Hanley to Longton. Rows of brick terraced houses & in the morning the house wives, scarf over head, cleaning the front door step of smuts (soot from the bottle kilns) then polishing them with a red wax. There were large groups of bottle kilns, fired by coal, billowing smoke everywhere, & as it grew dark in the winter evening, a veritable firework show of sparks from the top of the kilns. There were also many coal mines nearby (cheap fuel also used domestically) There were many different pottery manufacturers. Wedgewood was world famous, & made highly expensive articles which decorated palaces. A special clay, Kaolin, was needed to make porcelain. It is only found in the UK in St Austel Cornwall. Some of the work force travelled 20 miles from the countryside, many women. Our neighbour Mrs. Adams hand painted the designs of pottery ornaments in glaze. It was a labour intensive industry. In those days mugs were rarely used, except some tankards for beer, everyone drank from cups & saucers. The canals were also bustling - bringing in Kaolin, & distributing finished products. I have heard that the gas/ electric kilns were too small to fire the necessary number of products to be viable for mass production, but some survived. The humanitarian disaster from mass unemployment when the only major industry in the area collapsed without any replacement employment, must have been deeply distressing. In those days much of the housing was owned by the employer & rented to employees (tied housing). There was a lot of housing owned by the town council & rented to low income people. Imagine not only losing your job but losing your home at the same time. Yes I can understand the graffiti against capitalism. A very large urban area needed government intervention to encourage investment in providing new employment back in 1957. Instead those who could, moved to other areas of the country for work, breaking up previously close knit communities, only to face complete deindustrialisation within the next 20 years when the coal mines closed. I've lived through the deindustrialisation of the UK & privatisation of our major amenities. I also lived through the tail end of the government measures to restart the economy after WW2. Until I found this site I had no idea of the extent of our ghost cities, caused by deindustrialisation. I hope my few memories help to fill in some gaps for you wandering turnip. I've lived through times you couldn't imagine - some good - some bad, & needed changing.

[@jeannemillsom9300]

I can remember as a child going to Stoke and Hanley with my parents, the building were black with soot, and I can remember the bottle kilns, this would be the late 50s, but there was a high end shop in Hanley that sold lovely dinner services and vases, my parents used to shop there.

[@ShadowCastPro]

What an interesting comment, thanks for the insight into times long gone.

[@patrickwalker-nolan7617]

Brilliant recollections in your piece Judith, thanks. 😁😁😁

[@neiltweddle8869]

I think you're cataloguing not only the decline of Stoke, but the high street overall. People have more reason to stay in than go out. We can buy everything online, don't need to interact in real life and it's a crying shame that we are sleepwalking into this awful way of living 😢

[@riceyo62]

Should have been a graffiti protest about socialism.. thats where the evil lies.

[@TheCardiffgirl]

I,ve been away from the UK for donkeys years now and ten minutes into this video I started to cry. Thank you for your enthusiastic effort here, Im so glad that there are young people who see the beauty of places behind the ugliness. Well done.

[@sasquatch2732]

I honestly believe than the decline in our once great towns and cities can be reversed simply by applying free parking! None of this park for two hours and no return for four hours shit, how does that give you time to shop/ eat/ go to the cinema have a meal etc. money grabbing councils rinsing motorists are to blame for a lot of the decline in shoppers.

[@tarquinfintim5910]

​@@sasquatch2732 I agree it would help, but I remember a time when if you went up Hanley to do some shopping, you went on the bus, far simpler. Public transport, i.e. a light railway like Sheffield metro would be fantastic. But would the city centre support that ... difficult to see.

[@PurityVendetta]

​@@sasquatch2732I think you're seeing the problems in a rather simplistic way. Things have gone far too far now. The tory attempt to turn the uk into a tax haven off the Northern shore of Europe has backfired big time. They are leaving yhe sinking ship. Free parking won't fix the systemic economic issues now.

[@angusmeigh5141]

A few town centres are still thriving though. Like Kingston upon Thames where I sometimes go to. But like other town centres today there are a lot of homeless people there in doorways. But the shops are still busy.

[@johnrobertson8263]

@@sasquatch2732 only one part of it

[@benwood234]

I was born and raised in stoke, i'm 46 now and lived here all my life, generations of my family worked at the Spode pottery in the heart of Stoke on Trent. I went to Boothen primary (now demolished) and Trent Valley High, i've walked every square inch of it over the course of my life. I've always been super proud of our potting history, and the characterful Stokie's who's skilled hands made tableware for kings. The beginning of the end was when they transferred production to Asia due to cost, online shopping and an utterly shit council destroyed the rest. The last thing to go is hope, but as you now see from the rise of homeless, drug dependant souls shuffling through our town centres, that too is wearing thin.

[@Nina77586]

Well said

[@jessewrites17792]

Hanley Town Hall. I honestly feel we are in recession when it comes to architecture. They used to build such lovely buildings that lift your spirit. Now we build brutalism. I would love to go back 100 years.

[@15kilkenny]

Thats communism for you

[@jasonwhite7677]

I just left a comment that says much the same thing. I would go further and say brutalist architecture is designed to lower people’s spirits and destroy communities. All deliberately done.

[@curtismaize]

No brutalism is a completely different style of architecture and isn't really used these days either. I was popular from 1950's-1970's. Some examples of brutalist architecture are the barbican estate, Brunswick centre and Alexandra road estate in London.

[@gomperhooblet]

As bad as this is you would not want to go back to 1923 and live through the next 20 years

[@jasonwhite7677]

@@gomperhooblet it would be a paradise compared to today.

[@njpringle]

56 million is ridiculously low to 'level up' a place. To put it in context, in the last 12 months, it was reported today, that the govt has spent 3.97 BILLION £s on the asylum system, paying hotel bills etc. Also, 56 million is equivalent to just 112 London apartments. 56 million to improve a British city.🙄

[@lose8447]

Completely avoidable situation if it were not for those Eton clowns forcing us out of the EU

[@njpringle]

@@lose8447 UK was a net contributor to the EU ie. we gave more £ than we got back in 'funding'. Amazing how many people fell for that con trick. Would you like to give me £100 and I will give you £80 back and brag to everyone that I have just given you a grant? More like the Eton clowns have chosen not to spend hundreds of millions on towns like Stoke, instead they have decided to spend it on 3 and 4 star hotels for tens of thousands of foreign men, and other things like the PPE enrichment scandal.

[@primafacie6442]

@@lose8447sorry but quite incorrect, your backing the wrong horse there. It’s clearly the globalist benefiting multinational corporates (e.g. IKEA, Tesco, Walmart, etc) that have led to the decline of local and national business enterprises. The bloated bureaucracy of the EU never encouraged the latter, only ever protecting the interest of the multinational corporates, driving up ever more unnecessary regulation to squeeze the small industries into submission.

[@kevinweston486]

​​@@lose8447The EU is a globalist entity. Globalism has ruined this country, along with most of the rest of the Western world, including the countries within the EU. Besides, we haven't really left; our globalist politicians won't allow it.

[@Guttlegob]

​@@lose8447Stoke grew from pottery, steel and coal-mining industry. Since Thatcher decided to de-industrialize Britain, Stoke has been in constant decline. They voted leave more than ANY city in Britain. Covid and Online shopping helped kill the high street, but it was already in decline. To blame it on Brexit is ridiculous

[@Ukipmiddleleft]

We are thrd world citizens nowadays in our own country we truly are screwed

[@skylined5534]

I think that's a bit of an exaggeration.

[@dallysinghson5569]

Look at his name and the undertones of his comment XD

[@MattGamesYT]

I wouldn't normally share this but seeing as we're based in stoke and you took such an interest in the city - we've looked at taking on high street units in Hanley many times to open a new shop or two there, the issue is rents in the area - the vast majority of that closed stuff in the city centre is owned by 2 or 3 large multinational companies rather than the council, so they set the rents, and anything left empty is a big old tax write off. Some of those smaller high street units are up for let £3k-5k per month with HUGE rateably values attached, so the owners have no incentive at all to let them out for a reasonable price, the council has no interest in buying them to let them out for reasonable money and no small business in their right mind will take one on for that kinda money in the 12th most deprived area of the uk.

[@rickydaley3347]

It's a shame! It's not just Stoke it's happening all over UK, this government have broken the people, our community's, culture's, ways, families & values.

[@hmq9052]

Adapt or die

[@sammccormick9109]

This has been happening for decades in the case of Stoke. Blaming this Governeng is a cop out. Labour were no use as well.

[@JoolsUK]

Its about looking at the people with money and the movement of the people with money.

[@KironVB]

If you take away London, the average Brit has about the same wealth as someone from Alabama or Tennessee. UK desperate needs regional state governments, the UK is just too centralised on London, and too much is dumped on Councils.

[@rickydaley3347]

@@sammccormick9109 I'm not on about any particular party! I'm on about mps/Lords & powers that be 98‰of them!!! Or is your party the best by far. Lol, They've down trodden our people for centuries!

[@MsTupperwarequeen]

I lived in Stoke in the early 90s, the place was already sliding into decline with the loss of collieries, steelworks and potteries. So sad.

[@florence2095]

Where did you move to❓

[@jjwright8041]

The potteries were so good all gone

[@photoman3579]

Collieries, Steel works and potteries that made no profit at all research why !

[@GTMarmot]

I went to university near there in the late 90s, and visited Stoke on weekends. There was an active high street and a central open market. But it was pretty grim, I thought. Compared with today, it was probably better.

[@RW-nr6bh]

​@@photoman3579 The Steelworks was very profitable, it just was too small for British Steel's plans to concentrate production on to large sites.

[@ChristheXelent]

Stoke was also home to Kerr Stuart & Co, who manufactured railway locomotives from 1888 to 1930. Their exports reached many parts of the UK and overseas. Amazing to think this town used to supply machines around the globe.

[@flight101]

I like reading things like that.. must make the older generation very sad. Im not young but theres so much I don’t know

[@Paul-67]

Thank you for making such a interesting video about Stoke. A good place to visit when in the potteries is the Gladstone pottery museum in Longton.

[@hmq9052]

Adapt or die

[@CaldonianDude]

Sadly all too common across the UK. I remember the big Petters in Staines that used to design, manufacture, and export diesel engines all over the world. Gone, and replaced by a Sainsbury. Skilled and semi-skilled work replaced by minimum wage (if you're lucky). Of course, it didn't have to be that way, globalization was a conscious decision, the Faustian bargain of neoliberalism gave up British manufacturing and industry in exchange for cheap shit from China. We got the worst of the deal IMHO. Once great British marques are now foreign owned - ARM holdings, DeepMind Technologies, Jaguar, Land Rover, British Steel, British Airways, British Airports Authority, and even the building HMRC operates out of - all foreign owned, just for a taster. There's not a lot left, even hope has now gone...

[@dermotmcglinchey282]

That’s what Tories do , they don’t give a flying fcuk about the likes of people in Stoke, look what Johnson did with Brexshit,the guys a fcuking idiot yet he convinced a lot of low information people to vote for them and then shafted them, nothing new there…

[@inthedollshousepod2024]

What a thoughtful and respectful video of the city my family have called home for generations. Such a shame to see its continued demise.

[@engineer17151]

When I was a young man some thirty years ago the entire area, all the towns making up Stoke thrived ... it was the place to go to shop, good clubs, good pubs and good people. As you say pottery was at the heart of it all. There were numerous famous pottery companies scattered around Stoke in the five towns ... and here's the clue to finding them. Seeing as the clay was mostly brought in via barge, follow the canal(s). Nearly everybody worked in the pottery industry or in the shops and hotel trades. The big deal nowadays is that politically speaking Stoke-on-Trent is run by 44 council members in various districts, both Labour and Conservative mainly .... and I'm guessing the "Levelling Up" project will drag its feet because of beurocracy and indecision, and yes ... falling out and disagreement over funding allocation no doubt. There was never a drugs problem in those days, merely a few drunken brawls after Stoke lost a football match, and crime was no different than anywhere else in UK. I have to admit your well made video shocked me a little seeing it, as now I live in East of England and have not been over to Staffs. for quite a few years. But pottery used to be exported all over the world in those days, and clearly that trend has died now apart from the odd small concern. I have actually walked round inside the Wedgewood factory in its prime and seen the artists painting fine China by hand, and they were individually renowned world-wide for their talents. Such a shame it's all gone. Great but sad video ... well done.

[@BillPotts-i7r]

"There were numerous famous pottery companies scattered around Stoke in the five towns ..." One small point, there are six towns, as the OP says in the video. Arnold Bennet fictionalised the Potteries in his novels, e.g. "Anna of the Five Towns", omitting Fenton. He gave them slightly different, mostly, names. Don't worry too much, it's a common mistake.

[@tomleader7054]

Pronounced Eh-trus-can. A civilization based on mainland Italy. 900BC to 27BC. It lasted longer than it looks like Stoke will. This film makes me very depressed for the country and all of us trying to live in it.

[@c6fifty7]

As a southerner I lived near and worked with a lot of Stokies, I was surprised how run down some parts were but I have to say Stoke has some of the warmest and funniest people in England. I hope things get better for them.

[@yellow1one]

I visited Soke 24 years ago to install some IT equipment at one of their bus depots. I was surprised at how run down it was back then. As a Londoner, I too was surprised by how friendly the locals were. I asked one local for directions to the bus depot (this was pre-sat nav and smartphones times), and he was so helpful, he opened my car door, jumped in, and proceeded to give me live directions as we drove towards the depot! It also happened to be on the way to his house, which probably had something to do with it. LoL!

[@nicolasimcox1748]

Thankyou ❤

[@yellow1one]

@ganjadan7600 - LoL! You clearly visited the wrong part of London!

[@yellow1one]

@ganjadan7600 - LoL! I know both locations well. Basically, your trip is the equivalent of claiming to be a fully qualified electrician because you wired a plug once!

[@yellow1one]

@ganjadan7600 - "I said the north". Your Grammar is indicative of your confused state of mind! My previous comment drew an analogy with your ludicrous statement about London, based upon a trip to Euston and Wembley! Nothing to do with the North. Anyway good luck with the treatment. I wish you a speedy recovery! LoL!

[@InspiringInquiries]

I was born in Stoke and grew up in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. In the 1990s as a teenager Hanley was the place to go for shopping and it also had some decent clubs. It's so sad to see what it's like now (I have lived abroad for 20+ years). The decay is devastating. Thank you for making this video and shining a light on the destruction and abandonment that Stoke has suffered. Up the Mighty Potters!

[@ramananthraman5821]

UK is done and over. With majority population intellectually, numerically bankrupt.. this guy keeps talking about 20 million given ....for what?? Building more when all existing buildings are in ruins..bankrupt guys..got to start from the foundation, from cradle.. work guys, no bucks for benefits,free lunch,hand outs..everybody talks about funding for anything without ever understanding that the coffer is empty

[@Tismeabbie]

I know I don’t go Hanley at all. Total dump

[@christrickett3291]

I am from Stoke and I grew up in Castle too, and I have lived abroad for over 20 years too but I seriously don't remember Stoke ever being up to much sorry, even 30 years ago it was a dive.

[@skylined5534]

​​​@mimo.1467 As someone who's lived here since birth you must be kidding. Hanley in particular is an absolute state now, Tunstall and Burslem even more so. Oddly elitist comment there, too regarding working class people. EVERY place has working class people, if you didn't have the working classes you'd be stuffed. Tunstall looks more battered than it ev er did, same for anywhere here.

[@skylined5534]

​@@christrickett3291 You genuinely didn't live here if you think that.

[@EddieSkelson]

This is a terrific video, thanks for doing it. Stoke is genuinely packed with amazing people who have only been able to look on as the city underwent an unmanaged decline. There are however little pockets of beauty, heritage and of course we are the gateway to amazing countryside. It's appreciated that you highlighted (and enjoyed) a few of those wonderful quirks and excellent bits of the place that we still have. Well done fella.

[@Sue-rb2lo]

Your posts should be immediate knowledge to all politicians. Thank you x

[@jeffbradbury6576]

Hi great video. Not only has Stoke lost most of its pottery industry, it was also a!big coal mining area with many mines, we had a steel works long gone, Michelin factory employing 10,000 at its peak. stoke had a tram system and also its own railway system, both long gone.

[@Urban-Spaceman]

I was sent by my company, about 20 yrs ago, to pick up a ton of plates, cups, bowls etc from a pottery that was closing down. It was quite depressing really. There were other companies there doing the same as me. We looked like vultures picking at the carcass of a dead wildebeest. ☹️

[@tennysonfordblackbird2087]

Bet the councillors are still doing well😂🎉

[@green4661]

100 years of Labour, of course they are.

[@selinawilson7221]

Thank you for being so sympathetic towards the city. The drug problem here is horrendous and I am surprised you weren’t photo bombed to be fair. I have been here 14 years and have seen it decline rapidly. I doubt Etruscan Square will ever get finished as the city council are on the verge of bankruptcy. There is however, some amazingly beautiful architecture, a lot of it left to decay, but some truly is phenomenal. There are definitely better places to live, but, there are by far worse places!

[@madma11]

how do you spend £53million quid? Honestly... leftist councils need to be gone. They're an infestation. Same happened in Birmingham.

[@GranCanariaUncovered]

He was filming using a Pocket 2 I think, spotted it in a window reflection. We have one, can record 4K/60 but it's very small, three axis gimbal stabilisation and very very discrete 🤫

[@billpugh58]

No work, no hope, no future. In come the drugs and it’s the end.

[@vivmatz1189]

My hometown ❤ born and bred a clay head and so proud i hate it when people call it a shit hole . It only became so through shite goverment and rubbish councils who couldnt run a bath. Bygone years it was very productive pottery, mines steel works buzzing retail and the best discos. Ive travelled somewhat i can say if you meet a true stokie youve met a true friend they are the salt of the earth, warm compassionate give you their last always a welcome. Im nearly 70 and still miss it, to my fellow stokies your the best love you all❤i think now what could we do to bring the sunshine warmth to stoke i wish some billionare could see its potential. There ought to be a site to name shame these councils and governments between them theyve totally and utterly destroyed our city every should refuse to pay their council tax i mean everyone!!!!! Cant put you all in jail. I also heard that stoke shitty council took a over spill from manchester homeless and druggies and homed them in our city for a princely sum. Well says it all. I love my city and all my fellow stokies. I send each and every stokie loads of ❤ love and hope and prey for some solution . Breaks my heart.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Nina77586]

Well said

[@heiltd1286]

I had a night out in Stoke On Trent on 27-8-23. I went to The Sugar Mill and it was a great event. Stoke has a couple of good clubs and some pubs serving proper English beer. I found people here very friendly and pretty damned cool to be honest. I know this city has more than its fair share of problems, but I like this place a lot and the people I met here were great.

[@Timetravellingdoll]

I was living in Stoke from 1984 to 87 as a student at North Staffs Poly. It was a great place. The Art Museum is one of the best. There were nightclubs a plenty, including " The Place" famous for its Northern Soul. Its very sad to see it like this. The people were wonderful, funny and warm, it bustled with life. I see some of the names like Spode are back, after realising that people dont want fine English china made in sodding china! There is so much history, Mitchell and the Spitfire to name one. Unfortunately during my time old two Jags started the process of Urban renewal, compulsory purchases of row upon row of old terraces, which to this day are still standing empty. These were humble but pristine houses inhabited by old dears who scrubbed their doorsteps and sold their unwanted items to a rag and bone man. They basically ripped the heart out of the place. The generation that made it a great place have gone, but its encouraging that there are budding, and successful businesses springing up.

[@daveuk1324]

Hi there I was in Stoke same time as you with lots of mates at the excellent NSP. I was an apprentice at Michelin living at the YMCA in Hanley. Remember "the Place" with great affection! Good times. Sad what's happened isn't it?

[@dallassukerkin6878]

:grins: I was the shift before you - '81 to '84 :) Back when the Leek Road campus was still nearly new and the courses were amongst the best in the country. The town back then was a bit run down in certain areas but, as you say, the people were great and it was perfectly safe to walk about at any time of the day or night.

[@caoakley2157]

The Place was the first ever club I went to - happy memories of wandering up and down its staircases and in and out of various club rooms! At Cauldon 79-80 doing A levels...

[@Floortile]

It may be a tad ‘middle class’ but the Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke is well worth a visit. Just outside the city, is the Wedgwood factory with the fantastic museum (now an outpost of London’s V&A Museum).

[@Simonet1309]

Don’t apologise for being ‘middle class’. Be glad to be.

[@OakleyANDSittingBull]

Be glad about classism. . .

[@emilytellwright3460]

You start the video at what was our local Sainsbury’s for many years. It survived the opening of the giant Tesco next door. It had a nice cafe and a great community feel with staff who’d been there for up to 25 years. It was particularly popular with elderly and disabled people as both the car park and store were easy to get round. It suddenly closed I heard, not because it was doing badly, but because Sainsbury’s actually owned rather than leased the site and could make a quick buck after a bad year by flogging it. We still miss it 😢

[@TeresaEAnn]

I love the UK 🇬🇧 even though I don’t live there. I’m from the USA 🇺🇸 and, we definitely have this happening in so many areas of my country. I don’t know 🤷🏼‍♀️ the complete answer to the problem but, seeing this especially in my favorite country-England - makes me so sad 😢

[@To.Si.Ma.]

I m from Germany and we had such problems during the 90s. After the reunification the formerly eastern parts had unemployment rates of 20-30%. - At the same time in the Rhein Ruhr area every day an old traditional company closed. Steal and coal industry was shot down. At the same time production moved to China. It took some 20 years to overcome the process of industrial change. Nowadays much is better. New companies and tecnologies are there. I saw some videos about Appalachia and the Rust Belt in the US. Reminds me of England and 90s or early 2000s Germany. I think Germany had to do political and economic reforms earlier due to reunification. Those cuts in social welfare and the introduction of debt limit for the households were and are hard but beneficial in the long run. Guess France will see that too in the future. For the US and UK I was interested in the issue of redistribution of money from public households oder states to regions that are suffering. In Germany there is the Länderfinanzausgleich, that means the strongest regions have to donate money to the poorer parts since it is in the constitution that the state has to guarantee equal minimumstandards in the whole country. How is that in UK? For the U.S. I estimate there is no such fond.

[@dallysinghson5569]

So you're against benefits offered to poor. Then the next few sentences you flip it to positive when bailing out poor areas...

[@Angelalivingaquietlife]

Got to love Paul! They need to capitalise on Stoke’s assets ie its people, like Paul, its history, and the artisan and innovative small businesses. Not build yet another stadium and hotel which will stand empty for most of the time. I’m shocked they’re planning to build more commercial units, there’s hundreds stood empty already??? Madness. Absolutely brilliant video!

[@wanderingturnip]

I know it’s bonkers isn’t it. I was really glad to bump into Paul as it added a nice balance to my trip there

[@rugbyf0rlife]

It's what happens when you have beureucrats running councils who have never worked a proper job or seen how a business works in their lives. The city needs employment, which means business. To attract that business, you need incentives, like business grants, apprenticeships, scholarships and local industry investment. You are totally right. That centre theyre building is destined to be empty (if it ever gets finished).

[@harryclarke4210]

I've got a lot of respect for the way you film. Not too long ago some cheap hack (who I won't link) filmed a video round stoke and only sought to focus on the negative, he had a complete disregard for the history and people of the town. Also refusing to stop filming when asked. You my friend have shown the reality of stoke, exactly as it is. It's a town in need of help and community spirit, and more people like yourself! Your interest and willing to talk and learn about the town show that things can get better. Keep up the good work :)

[@MrTerryb1956]

Paul is one of the nicest blokes you could ever wish to meet , when we were kids we grew up in the same street . great to see a true craftsman in his workshop

[@MattyMoores]

Hanley used to be a place I was genuinely excited to visit as both a kid and young adult. It had good shops, cinema, bars and nightclubs. Now, it is somewhere to avoid which is a real shame. The sad part is that I am not that old, I am 39. The rise of internet shopping really crippled this town as a place to visit. I hear before my time the nightlife in particular was even better

[@Jake_5693]

The multiple out of town retail parks across the city finished off Hanley more than online shopping.

[@Jez.Von.Franco]

Same here mate .

[@bganonimouse2754]

I spent three of the best years of my life in Stoke as a student. I'm only sorry I didn't appreciate the town(s) as much as I could have. For anybody from Stoke your town has a special place in my heart and I wish all of you the very best! As for you mate, you have completely sold me with this video. You've really got your priorities and interests in the right place and you do a great job presenting this video. Your enthusiasm really rubs off. Keep at it. Please continue to highlight local culture and to promote the people who deserve credit for the worthwhile things they do in life.

[@janeberrisford8555]

Well said !

[@hmq9052]

Imagine how much fun you'd have had at a decent university

[@bganonimouse2754]

@@hmq9052 More nightclubs per head of population than any other town at the time, one of the cheapest student union bar(s) in the country, active student union society. Rent was very decently priced. The social sciences department where I was at was rated 4 out of 5 compared to other universities - based on quality of education, professors etc I couldn't have had more fun if I tried! I feel sorry for people who went to a 'decent' university and couldn't afford fun or spent all their time in their room studying.

[@hmq9052]

@@bganonimouse2754 You don't know you're born

[@Robby334]

All cities have had it in the UK - far too many immigrants flooding in - No respect from youths - Crime at all-time high - Shoplifting - all time high. God help the younger generation

[@philcrowphoto1]

Thanks for including my photography exhibition, FORTYSEVEN: The Last Bottle Ovens & Kilns of The Potteries. Every Stokie whether they still live in The Potteries or not, is proud to be a Stokie. It’s such a shame how run down it’s all become. During the time photographing the bottle ovens i did notice a glimmer of hope in the industry which will bring reform to the towns. No real thanks to any levelling-up schemes or politicians but to the enthusiasm of the people. The heritage certainly needs looking after and local business needs nurturing for the area to survive. Will you revisit and look for the improvements? I know I will. And if you didn’t try any oatcakes,you totally missed out!!

[@wanderingturnip]

Oh no way! So cool that you have ended up watching this I can’t believe it. I loved it in there 👏👏👏

[@pipeninja4741]

I went to Stoke a few years back to pick up the suits for a mates wedding, place is a dump...it's not all "online shopping" that is to blame...some of the areas of Stoke look like they started going to pot long before online shopping, look at the state of some of the buildings, it takes decades for some of that damage to occur. One of the things that struck me about Stoke is just how hard it is to navigate if you're not from the area. It's a complicated town. I ended up having to walk across a large chunk of it to get where I was going as well because at the time, it was insanely hard to park anywhere. What I think, is the beginning of the end for places like Stoke, was the retail chains moving in and pushing the independent businesses out, in the meantime business rates have been pushed up (because the chains can afford to spread the cost)...then online shopping came around and crushed the chains...when the units became available again, the business rates were so high that it made a lot of business basically impossible...add to this the fact that out of town retail parks have popped up everywhere and "progressive" towns aggressively chasing away motorists and you have a recipe for this sort of thing. That Etruscan Square development is an absolute joke...millions of pounds and a couple of years later and there is nothing to show for it. There aren't even planning notices on the fences...so they haven't even entered the planning phase...Stoke got scammed. What they should have done with the millions from the levelling up fund, is freeze business rates for a period of time, subsidise rents and subside the repair of existing buildings...put the money in the hands of the locals, not developers. If it is put in the hands of locals, they will hire other locals to repair things, build things, work in shops etc...all these people have to shop somewhere and spend their money. If the money doesn't reach the local people, it doesn't enter the local economy and therefore cannot make a difference.

[@rebeccamatthews6003]

Excellent informative comment, thank you.

[@allangreenley9901]

Greedy councils and business rates are the death of many high streets.

[@minesadab]

It was never a particularly glamourous city with street after street of cheap terraced housing for the pottery workers, but its decline happened as the pottery industry petered out. With that gone, online shopping was the nail in the coffin.

[@vivmatz1189]

I agree but as you say don't put it in the hands of councils, muppets the lot of them ,wasted millions all councils should be made to answer to where all this money has gone 🤔 Not to be written off and kept quite. Put it in the hands of the people that do care about their birth place and the lovley warm people that dispite what these councils morons have done remain warm friendly caring people love you all my fellow stokies. 😘 Xxxxxxxxxxxx Ppps don't let them destroy you as they have our hometown.

[@RevAntonMittens-vf1cy]

A rather marvelous insight into Stoke-on-Trent now, it has been a city terribly let down. I've always said that it's not easy to find gems like bottle ovens and other hidden historic sites and with a much better signposting and a decent transport system that would be made easier. Levelling up has been a con perpetrated by the Tories, the £56m is shouted by the likes of Gullis et al. and the £30m on transport has vanished into the pockets of who knows who. As you said the money should go to the people you spoke to opening or running local businesses and not purely into the pockets of big developers to level land and build car parks. Stoke deserves better, thank you for visiting.

[@tomferraz7231]

Hey mate, I've been watching your series from Brazil. This makes my blood boil, the govt never cared about the North. I honestly miss the pride we Brits used to have. It just seems like a lot of wasted potential. Also, its nice to see the compassion you have for the addicts, we're in an age where most people thinks it's okay to film the vulnerable for clickbait.

[@bushwhackeddos.2703]

I don’t think they cared about the Cockneys either, they re placed them.

[@Ridantima]

I worked for a British company of Stafford, based at India and have been to that part of country very often.... first time visited Stoke on Trent in 1997...and later many times..I am deeply shocked and pained to see the condition today.....I always carried that beautiful image of beautiful river, orchards and bustling town.... since I have retired I wanted to visit this area shortly. Deeply pained....may happy days return soon 😢

[@TheHandThatBites]

I'm in Australia now and Indian people I meet can't understand when I say we're poor. Obviously we have different levels of deprivation, but some people think we all live in cottages and drink tea with scones lol. Most people couldn't even bake a scone now.

[@DanBray1991]

I went to university in Stoke back in 2012-2015. Even back then it was a run down with plenty of closed shops, but I'm really shocked just how much worse it is now. The main "strip" for a night out used to be down Trinity Street, any while nothing amazing, was quite nice to have a single street to go down as student to visit all the bars and clubs. Looking at it now around 80% of it is now boarded up. I can't help but feel it's economic decline makes it feel almost like a post soviet city in the late 90's.

[@meganmegan6770]

So much respect for you for not filming the people doing drugs. Always makes me feel so uncomfortable when people upload footage of people who are completely out of it and clearly have not consented to being filmed. Fair play to you 👏🏻

[@bobjames6622]

But that is the truth of the matter. So why be afraid to show the truth? The truth is ALWAYS better than an illusion, even if the truth is terrible.

[@pimpozza]

Totally agree with you Megan. Some people film everything with no compassion.. 🤦🏻‍♀️ David shows great respect for people's privacy. He won't even film in flats if there's someone living there.. 👍

[@TayWoode]

However if they were drunk you’d have no problem with them being exposed and not consented to being filmed?

[@TayWoode]

@@bobjames6622so true, some people just like to gloss over everything and would rather believe lies coz it makes them feel better and bad things don’t happen to them

[@pimpozza]

​@@TayWoode Nobody is believing "lies" here.. David described the situation perfectly, without unnecessary filming. There's plenty of vids out there showing the harsh reality of substance abuse if that's what you want to see. This isn't one of those channels.. Respect!

[@andreahighfield7893]

I've lived in Stoke-on-Trent for 20 years and I've only visited Hanley once in 10 years (for jury service which was obligatory) it's a total dump. It doesn't surprise me to see that fenced off area with no activity as the council are notorious for wasting money on pointless crap. Nevertheless I have a decent job and live in a lovely area and have met lots of wonderful people here. Your video shows how a city with such amazing history has declined to the level it has .😊

[@ianhalsall-fox]

It’s so tragic to see the death of the high street and as in Bristol’s case once M&S goes, everything else follows. However the glimmer of hope is that transition to returning to independents, but those big empty department stores will sadly need to make way with perhaps more housing and community hubs. I hope we are transitioning to a bright new future. We have seen deindustrialisation and now it’s “deretailisation”

[@italianstallion9170]

Bristol is bad it's turning into a San Francisco with it's loony lefty labour council letting drugs and crime and vagrancy run wild without punishment.

[@dansmithwave]

I hope someone preserves one of the big department stores as a museum! Will probably be fascinating in 25 years time to wander around staring at the weird way people used to shop for things.

[@rowanberryglass]

M&S didn't leave the area completely, just moved to a MASSIVE store on an out of town shopping state. Hanley was on its way out before they moved, it was dying. But it certainly didn't help.

[@davidstretch5614]

​@@rowanberryglassyes. As far as I know, it's very difficult to get to it unless you drive a car. The local bus service is contracting all the time, and public transport late at night is almost non-existent in places. A regular bus service to these massive out of town shopping centres would help those of us who don't drive to visit such places

[@rickrivethead]

Britains future will "Never" be bright now!, too many turds in the pipe line!

[@stevejennings1809]

Hello, I'm American, I just spent a couple of hours power watching some of your videos, I really enjoyed them and although I'm American I could relate to many of the stories you were on about. My Mum was born in London at the start of WW11, my wife is Scottish and my kids with British passports. When I was living in South Ruislip in the mid 80's we were paying less than a pound a pint at my local, the Black Bull, almost double that in London. I've notice the death of several things you've talked about, the High Street, The Pubs. In my Wife's hometown in Scotland the woolen mill shut down but the town is managing well, a little further North where we have family an American Airforce Base shut down and the jobs on the oil rigs slowed, the High Street is dead and the real estate is suffering.

[@djbobhoskins]

It's not just happening in Britain though, it's happening all over the western world.

[@danielnewton3880]

I’m a local from Longton. Great video, I tend to avoid most of the areas you visited however there are some really nice places close by mainly trentham gardens which underwent a £120 million redevelopment with shops, restaurants, and a garden centre. You’ll also find some really nice houses in the area too. Gladstone pottery museum is a must visit to learn the history of the pottery industry.

[@nykolalee6405]

Found you by accident but I really enjoyed this video. It was very interesting. It's such a shame to see some of the old industrial towns being left to just rot.

[@maxwellross2594]

I did my PhD in Stoke, at Keele uni but mostly among the people of Stoke and the city's museums. The people I met were so warm and hospitable and so ready to talk about their lives and their strange, rare neighbourhood, its left me with a lifelong affection for Stoke and some of my best ever memories

[@CodeCruiser]

I did my masters at staffs as an international student and almost died in a racist attack in Chesterton area (used to work a few hours at THE warehouse)(other international students also got attacked regularly) so there is a mix of people from my perspective.

[@ThomasDoubting5]

Hmm some of them are warm and kind .

[@angusielts7.00]

Very interesting tour of Stoke. The Etruscans were and ancient civilization from Italy with wonderful arts and crafts. If you know the famous Wedgewood pottery (the blue pots with white relief decoration), it copied the Etruscan designs. Stoke City was a founding club of the first football league and is the 2nd oldest club in the world. Sir Stanley Matthews was England's greatest footballer who played for Stoke in the old 1st Division until he was in his 50s.

[@thisisadebrown]

That was interesting thank you

[@Jason-cj3ih]

Good history lesson thank you ..

[@eamonnpotts5063]

Tear filled eyes on reading all of the comments of current residents and ex pats of Stoke on Trent, of which l am now one of since moving from Tunstall to Cheshire in 2010. It will always have a place engraved in my heart but equally saddens me due to all the deprivation that now exists in a once thriving massive city. I entered the ceramic industry on leaving school in 1976 when there were 13 tile manufacturing sites under the name of H&R Johnsons within all the ‘six towns’ Now there is only one that employs around 200 people due to automation, when there used to be thousands of workers. People l know worked in the ceramic industry for 40 plus years. It’s all so very sad. I’ve lost all my immediate family who were born & bred in tunstall except my dear mum who was from Ireland. I’ve also lost my town and City which breaks my heart 💔

[@stephenwong4934]

Britain was a powerhouse for industry. Even after WW2 it was not bad. However, government tax and regulation has decimated industry. If Germany and its engineers can create successful industries, so could Britain. The loss of Rolls Royce was typical, Britain's managements are lazy, and the government would rather spend money on adventures in Ukraine to weaken Russia, rather than trade peacefully with Russia.

[@Morning404]

Lol what has the decline of britian got to do with russia? Lol, stop bringing your unrelated political views into this.

[@Morning404]

The problem is the Tories and their underfunding.

[@ganrimmonim]

I'm from Newcastle-under-Lyme, right next door to Stoke. The area had mines and steel works as well but has been in steady decline my whole life. I'm always a bit taken aback when I visit my old hometown and see more and more stuff boarded up.

[@FTFLCY]

We retired to Bath 18 months ago after 45 years in London. It's hard to believe we're in the same country. I get preachy with Americans, saying we don't do abandonment like they do, but this is terrible. My hometown of Northampton's centre is extremely grim, but not quite as bad as this. We need to either get radical with the many massively degraded town/city centres or watch them decay to Baltimore standards. £20M is a drop in the ocean.

[@simonwright9916]

I’m from Northants originally, too. My hometown, Towcester, is growing too fast for its own good. I also lived in Rushden, the town centre of which has been decimated by The Lakes development. Pretty similar situation in Kettering where my dad’s from. I used to love going to Northampton, but now it’s scruffy and horrible. Don’t even get me started on Weston Favell shopping centre. It’s sad, as town centres are a surprisingly British thing - I have lived in several countries, and few have town centres as we (used to) know them. I now live in New Hampshire USA, and most towns have shopping precincts and plazas - only the tourist or university towns seem to have what I would call a centre.

[@CARLIN4737]

USA is in an even worse state?

[@FannyShmellar]

London and Bath are probably the two most privileged and posh places in Britain. Surely you didn’t think everywhere was like that? You want to get up North to places like Blackburn and Accrington, you’ll have your eyes well and truly opened.

[@user-wm2tw]

You need to watch less television and get out more often 😂😂

[@jonathans183]

@@FannyShmellar not necessary to go that far, Swindon is just down the road

[@EVDaysOut]

One of your best videos. Your enthusiasm for history and your love of chimneys is contagious. We lived in Staffordshire from 2004-2006 and visited Stoke often. It had great shopping then. Sad to see so much boarded up. I was particularly upset seeing Hanley Town Hall for sale. Who is going to buy a big old building there? (You need to go and visit Ironbridge - lots of industrial history in that valley.)

[@wanderingturnip]

Thanks Ali 😀 I’ll add it to my list of stuff to check out 👍

[@Davidh02]

It's so good to see a young person with so much enthusiasm for history. My dad used to be a bargeman taking pottery to places like Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham by Barge for Wedgwood in the 1950's/60's. Keep up the good work. I'm now Subscribed to your channel.

[@TheRenoReviews]

I lived in stoke when I went to uni there in the late 2000s, it was a already falling to bits then, crazy to see how much worse it’s gotten since then. The fact the town hall itself is up for sale is mind boggling, I went to some cool concerts there back in the day. It’s a pretty iconic building.

[@anydroid]

Excellent video; love your enthusiasm and respect for people and places. Obviously (re)development takes time, but I feel pouring money into new flats and unneeded retail space is only going to level up the property developers. Building on the pride and knowledge of people like Paul would have been a surer way to develop an authentic heritage destination that people would visit for its history rather than a generic shopping plaza. All of those brown brick buildings and kilns along the canals are beautiful locations for appropriate development (museums, small shops, cafes, accommodation, narrow boat tours, etc)

[@radiowyn1703]

I think new development is more profitable. So all this levelling up money will end up in the pockets of developers. I don't think there is much interest in what the people of the town really need or preserving the amazing history of the area. They never seem to ask the people what they want.

[@caoakley2157]

Hear hear.

[@danh9905]

I wonder where the "levelling up" budget went? Probably lost through incompetence and/or corruption. It would take a lot more to truly regenerate a city.

[@alex_n8863]

The Tories decided spending money on prison barges is now the people's priority. Tories like Jonathan Gullis, MP for Stoke North

[@EM-wd2vg]

First of all a big thank you to coming to the town where I was born in 1960, it’s really good to see someone so young taking an interest in the lost past. During the early 1970s Hanley was a once a month treat for me and my sisters and it was amazing with so many diverse and individual shops and absolutely packed with shoppers. Unfortunately we’re living in a rapidly changing world and certainly the last few years have played a big part in accelerating that change, I don’t have an answer and don’t think the politicians do either. Would love to know where the levelling up money is being squandered, probably lining pockets. Thanks again for filming this and really enjoyed watching especially listening to the people you met, wonderful.

[@rhonataylor85]

Yes - we hear about funding but decisions about how it’s to be spent often seem misguided and sometimes quite bonkers. Depressing!

[@DarrenMatthews-d9k]

am really getting nostalgic after watching the video. Memories of Stanley's Ice Cream shop in Honeywall, Savoy cinema in Newcastle, the SPACE scheme in August, walking through Harpfields cemetary, avoiding Trent Vale, that weird piece of rock on the small grass verge opposite Vale Street, Orme Park, the dairy with cartons of OJ for 10p which was on Loomer Road as well as the park opposite Romney Avenue in Chesterton (that is going back to the 70's), the old Palace Picture Cinema in Tunstall, 7 videos for 7 nights for £5 from Hanley Blockbusters, going to the record fairs at the YMCA on Harding Road. So many good memories

[@Leningrad_Underground]

Lovely. See his little face light up when He finds a Chimney. Let alone be inside one Extacy Pure Heaven. and "Magic Paul" A follically challenged "Gandalf" Made us all smile too. thanks Turnip

[@AJGeeTV]

Stokie here. Thanks for uploading this video of my hometown that I left in 2001. My family history is in Stoke on Trent and I grew up there going school from the late 1960s and eventually to college. I loved the place and Hanley was a great city. You probably won't believe that people came to Hanley for day trips on coaches from the West Midlands and Manchester area. The nightlife was superb in the 1980s and there were so many venues that famous acts came to. Mum and Dad saw The Beatles play in Hanley back in the day. The decline started late 1990s and has continued ever since. I was qualified enough to plan Local Agenda 21 where the city could get billions from the EU for projects - but the city planners were just not dynamic or interested. Therefore I left and have been living in the EU the last 22 years. I still like to go home and visit relatives, but I never go into town because it really makes me sad to see what has happened to the once vibrant city I grew up in.

[@mick1406]

Found this fascinating. I am a Stokie who hasn't lived there since 1993. Do call over when possible but it's clear that tragically the city centre (Hanley) is dying. Out of town you should check out the 'Festival Park' retail park built on site of National Garden Festival from 1986, formerly Shelton Bar steelworks, back when Stoke had an industry!! Festival Park taking most of the trade now it seems. Also get to Trentham Gardens a few miles out, another big - more artisan - retail site with great history around the Trentham estate. There's also the Gladstone Pottery Museum (where you'll still find the bottle kiln ovens), the Wedgewood Museum in Barlaston (few miles out) and the Hanley (Potteries) Museum with great local history. There is great local history - but it's not in the city centre. Peak District also a short 30 min drive out. Lots more besides. The Council ought to be promoting Stoke's fantastic cultural heritage far more! Anyways thanks for posting. Liked an subbed! P.s. On a separate note - in an 'online' retail world, what you see in Stoke will be replicated everywhere. High street shops simply cannot earn enough to cover the enormous rent/rates/energy bills/insurance etc... To quote the late, great Freddie Mercury: "Is this the world we created?"

[@miguelozorio3658]

I used to work for bet365 some twenty years ago and lived there for ten years. Since the decline of Pottery, as far as I’m aware Stoke-on-Trent has been repositioned as the national contact centres for UK businesses like online gambling and Telecom companies. Another industry is warehouses many online shopping companies which stores goods and products temporarily and then delivers to customers as soon as it is sold!! So that means the City of Stoke-on-Trent like many other UK🇬🇧 cities have shifted from manufacturing to servicing sector these days!!

[@Alexwozere]

Both of my parents were born in Stoke but moved away after both being the first in the family to go to university, moved down to London where I was born. Both sides of my family lived there for generations going back into the 16th century at least. I visited my grandparennts every year in the school holidays. I have such mixed feelings about the place. The best thing my parents did was move away after university but I loved the close knit family atmosphere back then however it isn't a place with much hope anymore. The countryside around it is so beautiful but inner city decay after the decline of the industry there has gutted the towns and the big shopping centres and later online shopping destroyed the city centre shopping. I haven't visited it since the last of my grandparents died but I wish something could be done to bring it back to at least what my parents and grandparents remembered in the 50s to 70s. So sad.

[@Mike-br8zt]

Same - many fond memories of visiting grandparents and the locals knowing who you were and knew your uncles and aunts better than you did.

[@neilbirch8431]

I still live here, the people are wonderful, down to earth generous humans. I have to travel to London once a week with work and I can not wait to pass under the Euston tunnel to get out of the place, give me SOT over London any day of the week. Stoke has been left to rot by successive governments, we never recovered from Thatcher because we weren't given the opportunity to. We are not on our own in this. Vast strides of the country (mostly in the North) are like this, following the closing of Britain's industry. These places just need actual help and a leg up, not just throw away platitudes like "levelling up". But please don't petty us minions still living in the city, there is plenty of life left in us. We are still raising our families, still achieving great things, still enjoying our lives in reasonably priced house. We even manage to live even though we don't have a Waitrose! Up the Potters!

[@Cockneyartist]

And then drug use increases and alcoholism, there's sod all for young people, a death trap town

[@dansharpe2364]

I worked in Crewe teaching at the college for a few years almost 30 years, just up the road from Stoke and it was a dying place even then. Not that Crewe was exactly thriving either. Just found your channel and I am very impressed with your content, presentation and insight. You deserve many more subscribers for work of this quality.

[@BlueDemon77]

I just returned to Stoke after many years away. It's seriously depressing, but it was always a bit of a dump in my opinion. How is Crewe these days? I should take a trip up there and have a look around.

[@dansharpe2364]

@@BlueDemon77 I haven't been back to Crewe for30 years. I know a couple of people there still and they say it's a total dump. Of course Nantwich and the surrounding Cheshire countryside are still beautiful. And wealthy.

[@suzannepattinson1563]

I left Stoke in January 2023 (born ‘up ‘Anley duck’). When people ask me, “what’s Stoke like?” I often reply “it’s a shithole, it’s a place of crumbling infrastructure and fractured dreams.” Thank you for doing this, it took me back to a happy childhood and good times, my Dad playing football for Chatterley Whitfield and Florence Colliery, Mum working for Steelite, English Ironstone and Royal Doulton. Sadly, those industries have gone now, and Stoke on Trent has been left to rot. It never recovered after the demise of the mines and pottery industry. The frustrating thing is, Stoke is smack bang in the middle of the country practically. We should have been an ongoing hive of industry, with great transport links to Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, I could go on, but instead it has the bloody awful A500 and A50 where if you’re lucky, it will only take you an hour to get from one side of the City to the other. I hate what has happened to Stoke and I blame a succession of Governments for ignoring and wilfully forgetting about it. Thank you again for changing my crappy attitude. Yes Stoke is depressing, but the majority of Stokies are lovely. I hope you tried an oatcake by the way, if not, why not? 😊

[@kathleenswift7979]

You missed the Potteries museum and art gallery in Hanley, really good museum, and my dad is on the front of the building😁 enjoyed your video.

[@mikeakachorlton]

You mention the £56million funding from the 'Levelling Up' fund. You might want to know that EU funding for the area was £170million between 2014 and 2020.

[@davidstretch5614]

And yet still they voted to leave! It was a really really foolish decision, fed by lies from people who were either friends of or who were actually offshore tax exiles who didn't want EU regulations to shine a light onto their shenanigans

[@rogerroger5255]

The leveling up money will be wasted on things locals don't need or want. All councils destroy places over time. You can see this with the roads ripping through everything and terrible post war architecture blighting all.

[@audie-cashstack-uk4881]

Because councils are always commies and narcasists

[@peterscotney1]

I lived in Bolton for 20 years and it was bustling!....your video has shocked me at the amount of boarded up shops !...I now live in the bustling Cheshire town of Warrington. Glad I left Bolton when I did !.... there's NOWT left !

[@dingodeano]

Good vid. Honest take on one of our city’s. Good vibe.

[@davidyounger140]

Your content is fantastic and so interesting, even though the subject matter is sad at times. I stay in Perth, Scotland and tbe town centre is also being affected badly. Its okay if you want a mobile phone, your nails done, a haircut or a coffee but thats about it. Perth had a thriving town centre but now so many places boarded up. Everything else had been pushed out to the retail parks on the outskirts of town.

[@alanevans9604]

Broken Britain, more towns and cities will deteriorate like this.

[@grayhalf1854]

Can't believe you went straight past a record shop without even a mention!

[@florence2095]

Me too 😂

[@fix-and-drive-diy-repairs]

I remember back in the days of jumping jacks, liquid, chicago and fluid. Now, boring. Even though I am black African, truth be told, I still think Britain allowed too many foreigners and whites are not having enough kids due to high cost of living and homosexuality. Because of that, some races are increasing too fast and they are bringing their religions, culture and traditions, in other words, they're pushing the stokies out and taking over.

[@brucerfchannel3829]

Loads of good places in Stoke on Trent :)

[@BD90..]

Looks like they took the 20million and legged it

[@wanderingturnip]

Init 😂

[@pimpozza]

My pal tells me Franky's Bar closed about 6 years ago. It was a small place, full of bookshelves and huge pics of Charlie Chaplin on the walls.. a very popular pub at one time apparently.. How times change.. Thanks for another truly fascinating video, David.. 👏👍

[@florence2095]

Thank you 🙏 we people like you, that can give us some history on these old businesses and towns 🐨🐨🦘

[@AM-gy5xg]

What a great episode thanks for doing your channel its interesting to see the death oif the high street. I think in the future with so many remote jobs now people should relocate to cheaper towns to buy housing. It would totally reinvigorate Stoke.

[@TomCushnie]

Have you ever done Sheffield? I live in the city centre and Argos, Wilko, Poundland and coop have gone in the space of 6 months. Council are doing a terrible job of regeneration schemes. Would make a good video

[@dalebelfield1504]

Well done lad excellent video people can't even put litter in bins anymore that makes a massive difference on how a place looks

[@wanderingturnip]

Thank you 😃

[@Martin-88]

Of all the things that area needs an arena isn't one of them. As a lover of post-industrial places which have lost their industry, you should get yourself to Sheffield. The area along the River Don from Kelham Island to Meadowhall would be right up your street.

[@Shredx1]

Why do the British treat being thick as a virtue? Until this ridiculous national idiosyncrasy is addressed we will continue to struggle

[@aceofspades5786]

Rishi Sunak admitted meddling with levelling up metrics, talking from poor areas like Stoke, and giving the money to wealthy tory constituencies like Tunbridge Wells.

[@eadweard.]

Too vague to look up.

[@Simonet1309]

Tunbridge Wells is great!

[@georgiamae8888]

Im from stoke and this is hearthbreaking to see, amazing genuine peolle from here, sad to see the city in ruin

[@Michael-bf1dt]

Hello Georgia how are you. Greetings from Ireland (Dublin) to Stoke, UK. There are derelict areas in lots of cities and most towns. I see it as I drive down the country. I hope things turn around and slowly but surely improve. Stoke has a great history including pottery. I wish you the best of luck and the same for Stoke in the future 👍🙏 Michael

[@danthemaninfierno]

Some of the towns and countryside around Staffordshire are absolutely beautiful.

[@andrewbrass5476]

Thanks for the video. When I was a lad the city was thriving, in a way that's hard to imagine now (I'm 56). We had 5 ish coal mines (Florence, Hem Heath, Chattery Whitfield...), a steel rolling mill (Shelton Bar) and lot of pottery firms. Today: Mines = all closed Shelton Bar = closed (now the festival park) Pottery industry = (Steelite is still doing well, the rest are slowly fading away). You went past Debenhams = now closed. Hanley = foul to say the least. It stinks of urine, there are druggies, drunks and agressive beggars all over the place. The only shoppers are those stuck in their ways and the occasional visitor who didn't do their homework before coming. Nobody else goes anymore because it is a truly unpleasant experience. Hanley actually featured in the French presidential elections as few years ago. As an example of how bad things could be if the French voted for Le Pen and Frexit. The state of Stoke has little to do with Brexit, it was dying a long time before that by the way. The city was built here beacuse there is clay and coal near the surface (good for an earthenware pottery industry) and it is reasonably accessible for transport. Today, if somebody was planning a new pottery industry, there is zero reason to put it here. It would be put in the far east where people work conditions so bad they are not legal in Europe. The sad truth is that the city simply has no reason to exist anymore. Most people have left for better opportunities, like I did. Things will change for a reason, but I can't imagine what that reason will be. Until then it's downhill all the way, and no amount of regeneration money will make any real difference. We have a big new car-park in Hanley, revenue predicted by the council £650K/year. Actual, about £200K/year. Another lunatic waste of money. Honestly, the council should just bulldoze 60% of the city, and restore the place as a big forest or something. The remainder of the shops and people can gather together and that might be a nice place to be. Hope for the city? I very much doubt it. Thanks A.

[@Ashvegasbabyyy]

I moved out of stoke around 6-7 years ago and it's heart breaking what has happened. Amid all the run down shops you will find a lovely new multi-story car park that the council have built costing several millions... and this is at the heart of the problem - an out of touch and mismanaged city council.

[@chaseschneier1076]

Move back.....

[@stevehill4615]

and the massive areas of terraced houses streets that were demolished in the councils drive for gentrification along with the roads they've closed so no one wants to visit the place anymore, and the real funny thing is the locals keep voting for these people, no wonder the rest of the people in Staffordshire refer to Stokies as "clayheads".

[@berealisticdemandthe]

People in Stoke always blame council mismanagement and no doubt there may be some of that but the main problem stems from a lack of funding coming from central government. There are many cities just like Stoke and until they become a priority for government they will continue their slide into deprivation.

[@Ashvegasbabyyy]

I partially agree but I still stand by my comments that Stoke-on-Trent city council could not run a hot bath... their priorities and mismanagement is on the verge of negligence and you would think that they would spend money more wisely and not on ridiculous car parks for people to visit empty shops. @@berealisticdemandthe

[@dallysinghson5569]

What's wrong? We need more parking. Give us free parking and that will solve everything.

[@rocksandstuff99]

Great video and shows the decline of Stoke as a whole. You're right the 6 towns does pull funding in opposite directions. The Middleport museum looks great I'll have to visit. As for the Council promotion its repeated rhetoric us Stokies are used to. Big promises little action apart from car parks for an abandoned town centre.

[@debbiedugay8574]

Howdy! I'm from Texas, USA but living in Hanley, Stoke on Trent with my Stokie hubby. I first moved here in 2016 and it was already neglected and needy but it is so very sadly even worse now. I love Hanley and it breaks my heart to see it'die'. I'm sorry you did not have the time to see the better things Hanley has to offer such as The Potteries Museum with the beautiful Saxon gold hoard on view and the Spitfire that's there (the designer was a Stokie). You could have gone to the Dudson Museum which has a bottle kiln. But PLEASE quit calling them 'chimneys'! They are kilns or ovens but NOT chimneys! They are so much more than just a chimney. My husband's family has a long history of working for the many potteries here and I wish you had time to see the history. Being from Texas, I see the history of this town that people here just take for granted. Ther are buildings, pubs here that were in business when we were still fighting the Comanche's just to build a cabin! I sure hope someday you have time to come back and see what I see.........

[@102531978]

Fantastic video, bittersweet for me as stoke was my childhood home. I left in the late 90s age 19, then at 26 left England for Ireland. I'm totally shocked by the state of Hanley town I remember my school friends dad working in weston signs, now like many other places boarded up. As a child a trip to Hanley would of been a big day out and if I was lucky I would see a bride and groom stepping down the steps at Hanley town hall getting showered in confetti, followed by an afternoon in webberleys book shop, so big you could get lost in it, deciding which artist's paint you were going to buy. The people of stoke are it's biggest asset, so warm, hardworking and always trying to get the community back together. They deserve so much better. 56 million for that joke of a square, where's the money gone!!! Let down again no one in government cares about the people of stoke. A protest at the so called square, building site, is needed, demand to know what the hell is going on, it's tax payers money after all! Stoke on trent has so much potential, but they need help.

[@owdpotter]

I was raised in Stoke on Trent before my folks emigrated to the USA . To find a true history of Stoke On Trent you should have gone to Longton and visited "the Gladstone Pottery Museum " an excellent place to visit !!!

[@samthemadman5000]

Where do you live now?

[@kdp8133]

Our local High St is exactly the same; as they are country wide. It all started in the 80s when the Thatcher government relaxed the laws regarding out of town outlets. Tesco in particular wanted to take the High St down for their benefit - and they did. Bribing councils by paying for roadworks/roundabouts etc to get their way. My High St business was effected by the mid 90s after Tesco arrived. My loyal customers said that despite the fact we offered a superior quality service and excellent customer care, Tesco was cheaper and more convenient.

[@wanderingturnip]

Where is this?

[@kdp8133]

Bangor, North Wales.

[@themoog924]

Very true, we got a Safeway in the late 80s, all downhill from there, all profits syphoned out of the area and into the pockets of the global cabal.

[@florence2095]

Thatcher has a lot to answer for whist she was in power 🤔

[@steve-bk1qd]

planning to build in the UK takes 20 years...I lived in Warsaw in Poland...job is done in five

[@DavidTaylor-ke1ct]

I come from near Longton. Enjoyed tis film. It's sad to see how Stoke has deteriorated but you focused on what is good, thank you. If you visit again go to Longton and the Gladstone pottery museum

[@LauraSnow-in3nx]

I’m an American, but I love Britain. It absolutely breaks my heart to see Britain in the state that it is today. 💔 You are strong though, and you can overcome this like you’ve overcome everything else