Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)

- Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)

- - Stoke-on-Trent (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/stoke-on-trent-54740/)

I'm going to London for a week and would like to take a day trip to Stoke-on-Trent and visit some of the potteries. I have read there is a shuttle bus that will take me to various potteries and shops. Do the shuttles run frequently and are things fairly close together? I'm wondering if it is feasible to try this in one day.

I could not believe this heading when I saw it! However, I await with bated breath the definitive answer and will call tomorrow the only (other) person I know who thinks Stoke is a tourist destination for more info.... He, incidentally, is an embarrasment inhotels and restaurants for his habit of picking up the crockery to check the maker's mark on the bottom, in case his "Auntie Elsie could have made that"

Ok- here's what my friend Neil sent. There are a number of operators which include Stoke-on-Trent in their programmes. Those listed below are particularly familiar with The Potteries and what it has to offer groups. Also try the local evening paper's website, which has a host of info:- www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk Bowens Travel 101 Coterills Lane, Alum Rock, Birmingham, B8 3SA. Tel: (0121) 327 5921 Fax: (0121) 328 1314 Programme planning for groups, UK based and incoming. Weekend / short breaks. British Heritage Tours Richmond Place, 125 Boughton, Chester CH3 5BJ. Tel: (01244) 342222 Incoming tour operators and tourism marketing specialists. City Cruiser Media & Group Promotions Contact: Bob Cole Lingley House, Commissioners Rd, Strood, Rochester, Kent, ME2 4EE. Tel: (01634) 291101 Fax: (01634) 291108 Groups and Promotions Division of Harry Shaw Travel. Programme planning for social / group organisers - weekend / short breaks. Norman Allen Group Travel Contact: Chris Kingsley 13 Commercial Street, Hereford, HR1 2DB. Tel: (01432) 277666 Fax: (01432) 352041 Programme planning for coach / tour operators and group organisers. Weekends / short breaks. Flights Ltd. Contact: Lou Johnson Beacon House, Long Acre, Birmingham, B7 5JJ. Tel: (0121) 322 2720 Fax: (0121) 322 2240 e-mail: [email protected] Group tours division of Flights Coach Travel Ltd. Programme planning for groups, UK based and incoming. Weekend / short breaks. he was very rude to me for poo-pooing the tourism potential of this area which is apparently rich in "Industrial heritage". He particularly recommends the Gladstone Pottery Museum and a visitor centre he can't remember the name of in Hanley. If you want e-mail me and I'll pass you on to him direct.

I don't know why people have a such a downer on our industrial landscapes. Over time I've noticed several postings advising folk to avoid these areas. Areas like the Black Country around Ironbridge and the Potteries have a kind of stark beauty all their own and are rich in museums focussing on the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment which went hand in hand. Oddly people find the canals pretty and marvel at the viaducts but the industrial areas they served, without which there was no need for canals, are considered an eyesore. I say if you want to experience England and its heritage 'in the round' then spend some quality time in the Industrial Revolution areas of the Midlands, 'The North' and Tyneside, particularly the living museums like The Black Country Museum and Beamish. You may have a surprisingly enjoyable time.

I agree with the last poster. There is a lot of history on your doorstep wherever you live in the U K, and discerning travellers will appreciate that tourism involves a lot more than ticking places off a pre-set list and doing what the majority of others do. If you are going to go to Stoke on the train, look up www.virgin.com or www.thetrainline.co.uk to look at timetables and to book a ticket. A day return, Apex style, should be less than £25 if you book ahead. Go early and come back late, and you should get a good 8 hours there. Virgin Trains run that route, and the journey should be about 1 50 mins or so from London Euston. And once again, good for you that you should be doing something that little bit different.

See http://www.touristnetuk.com/WM/INFOP...o-t/Index.html for schedules and other information. And what's wrong with wanting to visit Stoke-on-Trent? I've probably been there 4 or 5 times.

OK, on the assumption that you ARE being serious and not having us on... I've lived in Stoke for about 4 years now and I'm embarrassed that you want to come here (it's a dump!), but I appreciate that it does have a lot of history when it comes to industry. I don't know about a shuttle bus. There could well be one, but if you have no luck on that score the local bus company goes pretty much everywhere around Stoke. you can get one-day unlimited travel tickets ("Buzzabout" tickets) for about 5 pounds/$8. They are usually quite frequent but I would try a shuttle bus 1st of all because sometimes you wouldn't want to sit next to the kind of people who use the local buses (like me!). By the way, if you've ever wondered what a medium-sized industrial East European city looks like you're coming to the right place...

to the top for Steve

Don't forget to tell 'em about the Sagger Maker's Bottom Knocker.

Christie, Good on you ! I'm NOT from Stoke, so I'm not biased. SO here goes... Stoke-O-T is a perfectly good place to go. It's not pretty, it's just a nice, ordinary, English town. But it's definitely NOT ugly, and you'll have a great time finding your way around and meeting lots of ordinary (and not-so-ordinary) English people (from LOTS of ethnic origins, not just grey-pink ones like me). You'll find people very willing to help you (even more than in the South, where they get a bit fed up of tourists after a long hot summer, and where they are all stuck-up Southern gits - only joking, I mean cheerful cockney sparrows, of course). Of course, they're not as interesting or as nice as people from Yorkshire, and you'll take a day or two to work out what they're saying .... By the way - Stoke On Trent is a bit hard to pin down, as it consists of at least five towns (Isn't there one that Arnold Bennet forgot to mention). Confusingly, one of them is called Stoke on Trent. Am I right in thinking that the proper name for the whole lot is Stoke UPON Trent ? I THINK that Hanley counts as the main centre (please keep flames friendly, dear readers, if I'm wrong, and you are from one of the other bits). The pottery stuff is very interesting indeed (and it's not just 'heritage', they still make the stuff). Try to have a ride on a canal boat (even hire one for half a day ?). There are one or two working factory steam engines in the area, too, I believe. If you want some greenery, and some hills, have a half-day trip to the Peak District (you should have no trouble finding a bus to Bakewell, or Ashbourne, and back.) Plenty of the Peak district is in Staffordshire (not just Derbyshire, Southerners please note). I'm not very well up on local delicacies - except for the delicious Oatcakes, and the very good Indian restaurants. Do try some English 'Real Ale' (it gets better as you drink more, strangely.....). Congratulations on getting away from the Yank Crocodiles ;-) Email me to let me know of any special interests you have, and I'll see if I've got any good websites in my favourites list. Enjoy. Chris

The address for Norman Allen Group Travel Ltd posted by Sheila on 10/12/99 is out of date. Correction:

Norman Allen Group Travel Ltd
Portfield House
Daws Road
Hereford
HR1 2JJ

Contact for UK tours: Bronwyn Neal

Hello there. I am a college student at The Ohio State University, and I will be studying abroad in London during the fall. I am very interested in going to Stoke-on-Trent, mainly because it is my hometown's sister city. Most of the first settlers in our town were from Stoke, and some of my ancestors on my mother's side are from Hanley. If someone could let me know the best/cheapest way for me to get there, I would appreciate it very much!

check train fares at: www.nationalrail.co.uk and schedules as well

bus may be cheaper but longer and not as comfy: www.nationalexpress.com (or maybe .co.uk

Stoke is one of the grittiest towns in the U.K. - depressing city center but i'd take in the Wedgwood tours a few miles north of the town center, in an even grittier part of town. Enjoy! Go Blue!

We went out from London a few years back. I think our Cheap Day Return was £15.

Wedgwood has a shop where you can make your own piece or decorate one they already made, and the Spode Visitor Centre has a very detailed demonstration of how their product is manufactured that's just fascinating.

I got my cat a bowl at the Spode "seconds" shop. He never complained. We had a great time.