Miscellaneous Articles

The formal opening of the majestic, the latest picture house in the district situated in Campbell Place Stoke was held before a large invited guest list.in . The building is architecturally admirable, ihaving  so many advantages over other buildings used for the same purpose that it is certain to become extremely popular place of resort.

A gallery, holding around two hundred, is so well pitched that every seat holder can be sure of an uninterrupted view of the screen, and at the same remark applies to the holders of eight hundred seats on the ground floor. The seats themselves are exceedingly comfortable, and there is a roominess about the place which will be generally appreciated. In another respect the architect Mr R T Longsden of Stoke and Burslem is to be congratulated. The building is splendidly ventilated. Notwithstanding the crowded state of the hall the atmosphere on Saturday afternoon remained practically the same throughout the 2 ½ hours that the entertainment lasted. Early in the proceedings a message was thrown on to the screen from the Mayor and Mayoress, (Alderman Philip Elliott and Mrs Elliott), were spending a short and well-earned holiday in Harrogate, expressing regret of being unable to attend, and successful future. One feature which is to distinguish the house of entertainment will meet with public recognition. The management has engaged a small band consisting of a piano, a violinist, a cello player, a clarinettist, and a double bass player. The men are very capable players and have good instruments. On this occasion, they provide music which synchronised with the picture subjects. Thus, during the exhibition of the principal film, a four-part historic picture ‘Napoleon,’ the band played the Marsellaise and snatches of the famous 1812 of Tchaikovsky.  The pictures also included the Kentish industries, Tiny Tim, the Letter Writer – a drama, With Eyes, so Blue and Tender, Troubles of a flirt, That Suit So blue, General Bunco’s victory and the Pathe Gazette. Tonight, will be given exclusively a sporting drama, in the hands of London crooks. One additional feature of the new cinema that it had tip-up seats. A nice piece of Social History at 1000 words in two pages with photographs.

For those coming up the hill to Penkhull from Stoke, the question was where did Stoke end and Honeywall start?  In fact, the name of Honeywall, a rather strange name, did not start from the bottom as it does today. That area was originally called Castle Cliff- changed to Cliff Bank. The next higher section was called Upper Cliff Bank followed by Princess Street before being known the whole length by the name of Honeywall. The name of Castle Cliff is really important and yet there is no evidence to support this name of a castle at the top of the hill. Perhaps this explains why parts of what Honeywall is now went by the name of Castle Cliff. Food for thought! The area known as Honeywall commences from just about where the Beehive now stands to its junction with Penkhull Terrace and in fact refers to the hamlet of Honeywall and not the road name.

To add even further to the mystery in 1870, whilst digging near to the White Lion an ancient boulder pathway was found.  Could this have any connection with some form of early settlement? 

Rev.Aston, in his little book of 1942 suggests without any evidence to support his claim that it could mean Hole in the Wall, pointing to a possible wall around the ancient royal forest where a hole in the wall was used for game hunters!  But in saying this there is an argument presented to that part of Honeywall being the boundary of the once Iron Age Fort that capped the hill of Penkhull. Why? We have the name of Castle Cliff, and we have the evidence of a boulder pathway being uncovered outside the White Lion.  Also, the name of Honeywall could derive from the old English – ‘hill fortress’ and lastly, it’s the name given to a small hamlet not a road.  People would be known by the place where they lived (not a street name, but a district) and the name Hole in the Wall, the entrance area of the hill fort, could be just that place where a group of small traders resided. Lastly, it was recorded in the 19th century that beekeepers were resident in the area, so could the name originated from there? The Bee Hive Inn could be named following the known occupation of Bee Keepers in the area. A further conundrum. Two pages and photographs.

High pollution caused early deaths in the Potteries.

The killer-smog of the potteries – average of death for men c1900                     aged thirty-four.

At one time every breath taken in the smoke polluted atmosphere of Stoke-on-Trent could bring you closer to death. Richard Ault looked at what it was like to live among the smoke and smog of the potteries at 150 years ago.

Generations of potteries grew up constantly surrounded by the thick, flowing smoke and smog which was as much part of the skyline as the bottle ovens. But the acrid, choking smoke that was pumped out into the atmosphere from the factories was more than just an inconvenience to housewives hanging out their washing. In fact, this killer cloud was so striking that even Karl Marx referred to the appalling chest diseases while visiting the area in the 1860s.

In 1891 an incredible 40% of all deaths caused by respiratory diseases. On average, men would die a month after retiring at 44, although women could expect a wheeze on to reach the ripe old age of 48. The London journalist and author James Greenwood was astounded by the grimly atmosphere when he visited the potteries around 1875.

A great piece of research to show how severe life was in the Potteries. Good article for students of health, living conditions and humanities. two pages.

Over the last fifty years I have acquired and transcribed what has become the only and largest collection in the world of the Manor Court Rolls of Manor of Newcastle-under-Lyme which included what is two thirds of Stoke-on-Trent from 1347 – 1927. It is from this extensive archive that an account appears of King Charles II visit to Penkhull.

Following the demise at the castle at Newcastle all manorial courts were held once every three weeks from c1530 in a large farmhouse in Penkhull and what is now known as the Greyhound Inn. No doubt many readers will know that Major General Thomas Harrison, the second in command under Oliver Cromwell was the son of a butcher and born in High Street Newcastle, the site of which is now occupied by the HSBC Bank. There is a brass plaque on the wall to this fact. It was Harrison with others who also signed the death warrant of Charles I.

During the Commonwealth period 1649-1660 Cromwell was designated the Lord Protector and appointed Harrison as the head of the former Royal Manor thereby receiving all rents and court dues. He is frequently mentioned as attending as head of the manor in the court rolls.
After the Restitution of Charles II, Thomas Harrison was executed on Saturday 13 October, 1660. Then Charles ll stayed at the Greyhound Inn whiles intending to do retribution against the family of Harrison – compelling story. two pages

Quite by chance I came across an article dated 26^th December 1846 which pre-dates the official published date of 1847. In the article recorded in the Potteries Mercury it first acknowledged the work of Prof Simpson, who had demonstrated chloroform for its anaesthetic properties on humans but in fact had applied numerous experiments on himself and others first which gave rise to its rapid increase by the of the medical profession in favour to that of ether. The interesting fact remains is that surgeons at Etruria had performed operations with the use of chloroform several months prior to the work of Simpson being published, such was their skill of administering the drug resulting in a number of successful operations. Two pages

In an old cottage found in Canada Cottage, Queens Road, Penkhull Stoke-on-Trent dates from 1814 during renovation of the kitchen, unearthed as a large deep well with water running through the bottom.

The well is 9m deep and is brick-lined in a manner that I’ve seen in other examples of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Stylistically, the bricks appear to be no earlier than the late 18^th century, but, equally, could be early 19^th century in date. The owners pointed out a small number of pottery sherds that had apparently been found above the sandstone slab used to cap the well – most of these pieces were early-mid 19^th-century in date but offer somewhat iffy dating evidence as they’re essentially unstratified finds. Since the find the current owners have made this into a feature of the house, Not only is it now flood-lit it has a plate glass top cut to size making a feature many others residents in the area would like Certainly worth a read.

Two pages with a number of photographs.