Historic Burslem
Burslem in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire is a very ancient town. Many buildings in and around the town centre dating from the 18th and early part of the 19th century are still in use today.
Mother town of the Potteries
When the Trent and Mersey Canal came into use around 1760-80 and with improvements to roads the pottery industry boomed. Using local clays to make pottery and locally mined coal for firing the bottle-kilns the town gained a fine reputation for producing quality pottery economically.
Burslem was the first of the local towns to develop industrially becoming one of the most productive and largest manufacturing towns in the area. For this reason it is often called the ‘Mother Town of the Potteries’ and along with Hanley, Stoke, Longton, Fenton and Tunstall make up the modern city of Stoke-on-Trent today and also known collectively as 'the Potteries.'
Josiah Wedgwood
With Burslem being at the forefront of the pottery industry some of the biggest and most famous names in ceramics have produced fine pottery and tableware in the town. Josiah Wedgwood, one of the great innovators of the pottery industry was born in Burslem in 1730 and many other famous producers of ceramics such as Moorcroft, Royal Doulton, Burleigh, Price and Kensington, Royal Stafford, Steelite and Dudson had there homes there.
Pubs
Dating from Elizabethan times the George Hotel is well known through out the region and makes a good choice for staying in the Potteries.
The Leopard in Burslem is one of Stoke-on-Trent’s most historic pubs and dates back to the 18th century. It was in this pub that Josiah Wedgwood met with James Brindley, Erasmus Darwin and Thomas Bently resulting in the building of the Trent and Mersy Canal, a project that helped spark the pottery boom of the era and lay the foundation for later success.
Robbie Williams – a Port Vale Fan
Today probably the most famous person from Burslem is singer Robbie Williams whose family home was once the Red Lion on Moorland Road. He still has strong associations with the area and is a great fan of Port Vale Football Club who play in the Coca Cola Football League Two at Vale Park.
Eating Out
Burslem has a variety of restaurants and cafes and many pubs also serve food and there are also Indian and other ethnic takeaways and fast food outlets to suit all pockets and tastes. Historic Denry’s in St John’s Square is mentioned in many of Arnold Bennett’s novels and is celebrated for the quality of its food.
Bennett’s novels such as ‘Anna of Five Towns’ and the ‘Clayhanger’ trilogy are set locally and many of the place names he uses are still recognisable today. His novels evoke the atmosphere of Victorian industrial society in England and often refer to Stoke-on-Trent as ‘the five towns’ omitting Fenton as he thought it had a more agreeable ring to it than ‘six towns.’
Clarice Cliff
In Queen Street the Burslem School of Art was where famous ceramic artists Clarice Cliff and Susie Cooper received training as well as Sculptor, Arnold Machin and writer and artist Arthur Berry.
Shopping
The main shopping is in Hanley or Festival Park though Burslem does have a range of shops selling collectables and craft items in the town centre. There is also a market on Fridays.
Accommodation and Hotels
As well as the George Hotel there are many other hotels, bed and breakfast and guest houses to suit all pockets and tastes locally. There are also cottages and farmhouses to rent in the countryside nearby as well as camping and caravan sites.
There are good bus services to local areas and nearby towns and most run through Burslem centre to Hanley and the other local towns.
The Future
After a long period of neglect Burslem is steadily being regenerated with new shopping and living areas. New industries are being encouraged and introduced to the town and the tourist industry is being developed and there is much to see and do in the area.
Although the recent past has been depressing and uncertain the future now looks much brighter with a new found vibrancy that resonates through out the town giving all the indications of a successful future.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burslem
http://www.thepotteries.org/six_towns/burslem.htm
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/burslemnews/tow nprofile.html