Take a weekly walk with Fred Hughes and
Steve Birks in search of some of the old pubs of
Stoke-on-Trent.
“Pubs were our first community centres after church and chapel. They
were built to serve their neighbourhood, which is why we call them
‘locals’....
It’s quite impressive how many buildings there are that were once
public houses.”
Next: the Angel,
Hanley
The Angel, Hanley
The Angel was a big posh establishment that wouldn’t have looked out
of place in London or Manchester. Next door stood a much smaller
Bass pub named the Grapes or commonly known as Wilders
The American, Cobridge
Alcohol is strictly banned in the American, - even though the name
harks back to its previous pub life, its function comes from the
temperate New York Clubhouse.
The Royal Oak, Penkhull
The only clue is the plaque on the wall and a memorial in St
Thomas’s churchyard across the road dedicated to a previous licensee
Mary Ann Shenton who died in 1884, otherwise you’d never guess it
had been a pub.
The Queen's Head, Tunstall
The Queens Head was a modern pub built in 1960 when the area was
cleared for the new Scotia Road.
The absolute centre of the Beer-muder Triangle was the George and Dragon pub
popularly known as ‘th Owd ‘Ut’. Why? I’ll leave it to others to tell
you why.”
Longton’s most prominent public house is the Crown Hotel.
“It was described in trade directories as a favourite rendezvous of
commercial gentlemen and Americans and feted as popular with families.
Originally named the Crown and Anchor it was built in 1887 on the site of
another long forgotten pub, the White Horse.”
Look around Newcastle and you get the feeling of strong tradition
particularly in the pubs that stand among ubiquitous Georgian
architecture. But it is the closed pubs in other uses that show the
true heritage of Newcastle. Take for instance the Golden Ball in Bridge Street.
