The Stoke-On-Trent Thread

[stoke1863]

gaaaaah ive been told this a fair few times, but i just think of Stoke centre as stoke on trent centre. Sorry .

Hanley is a good place though compared to the rest of it. Still a lot of dodgy people there! especially on nights out.

Fact is its all a bit but jesus stoke down is the worst of the bunch

 

[russ9898]

thanks for the welcome i too still work in stoke
urgh... id hate to go in some of the estate houses i cant imagine what you have to put up with

the A34 is a bit of a bore in the mornings
although it is nice coming home on the A520

Lol You know i take the same route to and from work. The A34 is terrible heading Stoke to Stone...There's about 7 speed cameras compared to 2 heading from Stone to Stoke....odd.

Not sure how you drive but watch your speed on the a520 as ive seen the camera van on the long straight a couple of times recently which is upsetting as that's the one place that's safe to overtake although sometimes requires a bit of speed to do so.

*Luckily* most of the time at work im working in the town halls etc although this past few weeks ive been dragged back onto housing although fortunately they're all empty. lol

 

[Jongo]

How long have you studied at Keele? I left last year, there were such few OcUKers at Keele

Im currently in my second year. Ive seen one guy on here who went to Keele think he finished now he had a photoshop thread up on here and i recognised the SU + him .

Apart from that though dont know many OCUKers at Keele.

 

[Jongo]

keele sounds alright, thinking about going there.
hearing a lot of good things about it lately

Keele is ace go there! Cant beat having a BBQ at Keele hall in the summer!

 

[steinooo]

Hanley plans have been shelved due to lack of investment I believe (shame as I loath 'the potteries' sad excuse as a shopping venue) as for Stoke regeneration that is at the mercy of St Modwen and they have moth balled everything until the economy picks up (they have been lobbying the council to grant them an extension to all the planning permission and threatening to pull out completely if they don't)

Stoke is not a nice place to live, but everyone knows they have to take a bite out of the same **** sandwich everyday and at times can genuinely surprise even me with random acts of kindness.

And another thing, the whole meeting women situation here is ridiculous, why is it they all want some horrible watery muscled roid monster with that horrible wetted down clippered hair who is a lying, cheating, violent partner, is it purely so they have something to complain about with their girlfriends? This really perplexes me (I travel to Bristol a lot to go out and you don't see this phenomenon there) Ties in with the lack of ambition maybe.

Right, I didn't know that about the entire Hanley plans. If that's true looks like we're in even a worse place than we were to start with then seeing as Tesco has bought half the City Centre and demolished it to build their expansion, and no business will follow...... hmm may have to ask the council what's going on.

I heard once that Stoke on Trent people were "officially" measured to be the most friendly people in the country.

I met my fiancee in Stoke, and i'm not a muscular person with wetted down hair However I know what you mean about the lack of ambition. Our residents are so down trodden I went to a Rhod Gilbert gig at the Victoria Hall last week, and he started the gig by making a joke about Stoke being a dump, and people CLAPPED that said it all to me about our residents attitudes it'll take a lot to change those.

 

[stoke1863]

The people here generally have no ambition becuase they have been trodden on for 20 years of labour councils and the down turn of the pottery industry. Seriously NOTHING has progressed here apart from some rubbish supermarkets. At least with Stoke now being in the premiership maybe some money will follow for the city.

I feel however there is a newer breed of 20 somethings that are going to pull this place back. I know plenty people who came to study at staffs uni and have now decided to stay and live in stoke. Can only be good for us to get more graduates to stay.

Probably too little too late

 

[Jongo]

Keele is great. I will admit, the night life isn't what it used to be. Back in 2003+ era, every Monday night (Manics) would be rammed with great atmosphere. Wesnesday nights would be rammed too with all the sports/society crowds and Friday too as it was the weekend. These days, people come out very late or not at all. There is something for everyone though. Highly recommend the Pig n Rat campus bar, they usually put some superb events on (especially Pig Fest).

In my first year so 2008 it was very much like this.
It was normally rammed on Mondays for manics and hugely overcrowded for massive Mondays at the end of each month.

Wednesdays would have a fancy dress night on with all the sports socials going on as well.

Then Friday would be a big night as well.

Now however it seems only Wednesdays when its a flirt night and some Fridays its good.

Pig and Rat is a great place to go when an event is on, although the bar does get really cramped.

Templars can throw a good party as well since theres a lot more space to be had compared to the Pig. The templars summer party was amazing last year.

This year we tend to go out to Newcastle underlyme mid week, cant beat stumbling back with a subway at the end of the night.

 

[jahujames]

Stoke on Trent, right hurr! Living in the beautiful centre of car crime which is Birches Head

 

[D1ngd0ng]

I feel however there is a newer breed of 20 somethings that are going to pull this place back. I know plenty people who came to study at staffs uni and have now decided to stay and live in stoke. Can only be good for us to get more graduates to stay.

More random thoughts...

Agree that it can only be good that grads are staying but it is something that needs to be addressed at a local level or else the place will continue to go backwards. There is a mindset of never seen my parents work, cant be bothered to work, will teach my kids not to bother to work that is ever continuing. Without getting into a Thatcher is to blame argument, there are people here whose sole ambition in life is to leave school with zero qualifications, get pregnant (or get a girl pregnant) get a council house and live off the state for the remainder of their sad little lives (and this was in 1998 when I left school and has continued merrily away) surely they can think or something more to do with life. It is so frustrating to see this.

There has never been money in this place and probably never will be real sustained investment but nothing compensated for the loss of manufacturing which (being an outsider looking in) was the end of a way of life (potters holiday when the city would near enough switch off for 2 weeks being an example) the city and the people have lost that potteries identity, it is just another urban slum town like many other places in the UK. The only replacement for manufacturing here (and it has taken a hell of a long time) are call centres and warehouses due to proximity of M6.

 

[ianh]

There is a mindset of never seen my parents work, cant be bothered to work, will teach my kids not to bother to work that is ever continuing. Without getting into a Thatcher is to blame argument, there are people here whose sole ambition in life is to leave school with zero qualifications, get pregnant (or get a girl pregnant) get a council house and live off the state for the remainder of their sad little lives (and this was in 1998 when I left school and has continued merrily away) surely they can think or something more to do with life. It is so frustrating to see this.

Quoted for the sad truth

I left school in '92 and nothing has changed since for most people that left school with me, very sad.

 

[Doohickey]

Stoke the town is a pure dump... I dont know anyone who wants to shop in stoke town

There is nowhere to shop in actual Stoke lol. Shops closing down one by one, all that will be left soon is the Sainsburys. It really is a hole.

I can vouch for this, I'm from Stoke, live just down the road from the Victoria Ground.

 

[Scania]

As somebody who travels all over the UK I can confidently say that Stoke is no worse than many many other areas, in fact, its often a lot better.

That said, this video says a lot.....

 

[Riiya]

Bucknall here

 

[Riiya]

Haha go to hanley every day

 

[D1ngd0ng]

Doohickey - I expect you live about 2 minutes away from me then as I live very close to the Vic too.

 

[doodah]

In my first year so 2008 it was very much like this.
It was normally rammed on Mondays for manics and hugely overcrowded for massive Mondays at the end of each month.

Wednesdays would have a fancy dress night on with all the sports socials going on as well.

Then Friday would be a big night as well.

Now however it seems only Wednesdays when its a flirt night and some Fridays its good.

Pig and Rat is a great place to go when an event is on, although the bar does get really cramped.

Templars can throw a good party as well since theres a lot more space to be had compared to the Pig. The templars summer party was amazing last year.

This year we tend to go out to Newcastle underlyme mid week, cant beat stumbling back with a subway at the end of the night.

I suppose you are off campus this year? Yeah Templar can have some good nights, especially 'drink the bar dry'. You are also right about the Pig, a victim of its own success so can get really cramped on busy nights. Horwood, although rather small, has its own charm - and it is the cheapest bar on campus for Desperados (plus others) . I miss Keele so much! Will be visiting around summer party/Pig Fest time though

 

[mame]

Bucknall here

I met this girl once years ago up 'anley duck who said she was from bucknall. I was to go and pick her up one night and she was texting me directions to her house from the Longton direction (I lived in Trentham at the time). I kept losing where she was describing in the directions. She was saying along Dividy from then there is a mini roundabout and to turn right and then right again. I was picturing this as right at the end of Dividy Road, getting towards the Esso garage. It turns out she means the roundabout by the waggon and horses and right into Beverly Drive then right into Dawlish Drive.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Sorry to break up the Stoke party.. but is anyone on OcUK from Stafford?

 

[r3loaded]

I'm pretty sure Stoke isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I for one would certainly rather live there than Bradford or Burnley.

That said, my only interactions with the town are the following:
1) Parents want to go to the pottery outlet stores.
2) Manchester-London train stops at the station.
3) Collect stuff from OcUK's store (this was back when they were still in Fenton).

 

[Jongo]

I suppose you are off campus this year? Yeah Templar can have some good nights, especially 'drink the bar dry'. You are also right about the Pig, a victim of its own success so can get really cramped on busy nights. Horwood, although rather small, has its own charm - and it is the cheapest bar on campus for Desperados (plus others) . I miss Keele so much! Will be visiting around summer party/Pig Fest time though

yeah off campus living around 20 minute walk away form Newcastle under lyme and about 35 ish from Keele.

Drink the bar dry was rather epic last year with some drinks being 10p a pint although it was coor's light which tastes nasty, but for 10p you cant complain .

Cant wait for the summer parties this year. Might try attend Pig Fest, wouldve gone last year but it was a good few weeks after all the other parties last year and i couldnt be bothered hanging around for it. Might see you there!