Thread: Spitfire mural, Longton

In the Bennett Precinct, Longton (thats part of Stoke-on-Trent for those who are confused about the Potteries ) there is this wonderful tiled mural dedicated to the Spitfire & its creator R J Mitchell (he lived & went to school nearby)

Surprisingly its not been vandalised

D'you know, I've never seen that although I knew it was somewhere in the precinct.

Stoke-on-Trent is really badly off for murals; it would be nice to see some more. How about murals about the local mining and pottery industries?

Originally Posted by BereniceUK

D'you know, I've never seen that although I knew it was somewhere in the precinct.

Stoke-on-Trent is really badly off for murals; it would be nice to see some more. How about murals about the local mining and pottery industries?

Definitely a good idea.
Trouble is (well from my experience) Stoke on Trent is keen to promote the pottery industry & heritage, but is reluctant to do the same for the mining industry Specially as without the continuing supply of good quality coal the pottery industry would have long gone once the clay reserves were exhausted, economics would have determined that it wasn't worth transporting clay from South East England plus fuel from elsewhere.

But its not only this area that has a "strange" view on its mining heritage. Had a visit to Woodhorn in Northumberland, last week to have look around & meet with staff. The site was originally Woodhorn Colliery & became Woodhorn Colliery Museum. Its now been rebranded to Woodhorn Museum & Northumberland Archives, no mention of the pit which is a bit strange as apart from the new archive building the rest of the site is an old colliery Apparently they only wish to promote castles, beaches & countryside

Reading up on Derby after I went there yesterday and it seems that the city council has been renovating its old terraced houses to make them more attractive for young people and those less well off. What a difference to Stoke-on-Trent city council's attitude! 'Knock 'em all down'

The trouble with Stoke-on-Trent's rulers is that they seem to want to get rid of much of the past but they don't appear to have a clear vision of what sort of future they want the city to have

Originally Posted by BereniceUK

The trouble with Stoke-on-Trent's rulers is that they seem to want to get rid of much of the past but they don't appear to have a clear vision of what sort of future they want the city to have

Tell me about it, at a recent meeting with the "powers that be" was told that Chatterley Whitfield was seen as a "liability" & looking to move it on to private developers/ investors now I'm no expert but don't really think its the time for some-one to invest in a Scheduled Ancient Monument, with plenty of problems due to neglect over the last 17 years. Thats unless there are plans afoot to "reduce the risks"