"STOKE-ON-TRENT", as its name implies, is pleasantly
situated upon that river, in an extensive and populous parish,
to which it gives name, about one mile and a half east of Newcastle,
upon the sides of the Grand Trunk canal. The town contains many
handsome houses, wharfs, warehouses and earthenware manufactories,
and is deemed the parish town of the potteries.
The whole parish of Stoke, by the returns for 1821, contained
29,223 inhabitants; and the parish, exclusive of its several
extensive dependencies, 3,969 of that number."
Stoke is known for the development of the famous Potteries loop
line, the railway system which once linked the six towns with
outlying communities, Stoke City Football Club and famous pottery
manufacturer, Spode which has stood in the centre of the town
since 1770.
The town is now the administrative centre of the city of
Stoke-On-Trent
Most of the original buildings are still used for a thriving
business industry.
Charles Dickens once described Stoke as "a picturesque
heap of houses, kilns, smoke, wharfs, canals and river lying
as was most appropriate, in a basin."
The town of Stoke has the full name of 'Stoke-upon-Trent'
as against the name of the City (comprising the Six Towns)
which is 'Stoke-on-Trent'. This leads to much confusion for
visitors who sometimes think that the extent of the City is
the small town of Stoke.
Because of the coal and ironstone mining of the North Staffordshire
deposits which lie under Stoke-on-Trent there have been incidents
of buildings sinking many feet and also holes opening up in
the fields and roads.
Not only this but the whole city is sinking..... by using
satellite imaging it was showed that over a 2½ year
period between 1993 and 1995 a large portion of Stoke-on-Trent
sank by up to 80mm - this is the equivalent of the effect
of a major earthquake.
Stoke-On-Trent is serviced by Arriva, a company proud of its
clean & comfortable buses. Unfortunately, a map of their
bus network is not available as a pdf file. However, you can
visit the following link for a complete listing of their service.
