mis 29 Strange case shows perils of Blasphemy.

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.

Although this article is a history of the Newcastle Canal its origins stem from the opening of the Trent and Mersey canal in 1766. It’s from this time that the industrial revolution in the six towns took off as this new mode of transport from roads to canals.
It enabled raw manufacturing materials and coal delivered almost to the door at a smaller cost, quicker with less damage to good than previously. This advantageous mode of transport gave an urgency to extend its waterways for others to take advantage of increased sales at lower costs. One such emphasis was to create a branch from the Trent and Mersey at Stoke through to the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme to bring coal from the mining village of Silverdale to markets both in the Potteries and further afield. And in addition to bring much needed materials to the manufacturing town of Newcastle under Lyme. In 1795, the year of Wedgwood’s death, this new canal was cut from Stoke to Newcastle but because of the hills of Penkhull and Hartshill it was necessary to take a route the long way around on level ground of four miles. Its purpose, according to the preamble of the Act, was to provide for Newcastle and the establishments and manufactories near to it with a link to the main canal at Stoke and thereby the whole of the midlands and the Liverpool docks and to assist the agriculture of the neighbourhood of the canal by a supply of materials. A four x A4 pages long and nearly 2000 words long it follows the growth and the decline of the canal.
It also covers events that occurred because it was a canal and the drowning of a Bus Conductor whilst saving the life of a little girl. Other drownings are also listed as well as the Spittles Workhouse and Newcastle dumping raw sewage and with-it major health issues. A further good article for the study of social history as well as humanities.

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.