Culture and arts Stoke-on-Trent

1 culture , arts

1.1 science
1.2 visual art
1.3 public art
1.4 theatre
1.5 cinema
1.6 literature
1.7 young poet laureate
1.8 media
1.9 famous entertainers
1.10 music
1.11 food
1.12 stoke pride

culture , arts

burslem school of art


science

oliver lodge (1851 – 1940) british physicist , writer involved in development of, , holder of key patents for, radio. born in penkhull. william astbury (1898 - 1962) english physicist , molecular biologist made pioneering x-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules. born in longton.

visual art

the major art gallery potteries museum & art gallery, located in hanley. contains collection of fine ceramics, rotating programme of exhibitions , permanent collection. in 2010, became 1 of permanent homes of staffordshire hoard, important collection of anglo-saxon gold yet found.

the city s cultural quarter in hanley contains potteries museum & art gallery, regent theatre , victoria hall. there smaller elements, including independent dazed gallery , airspace, city s contemporary art gallery, artist-led , artist run. artbay gallery in fenton has contemporary range of original works limited editions. home of many of north staffordshire s renowned painters, including potteries lowry aka sid kirkham, vicky mount, dale bowen, kelvin evans , harry davies.

edwardian school of art in burslem has been refurbished £1.2 million, , run without public subsidy. hothouse centre ceramic design, , roslyn works complex of craft studios operate in longton. based in burslem barewall gallery, has large collection of work local artists including original art arthur berry (the lowry of potteries), jack simcock, , new emerging potteries artists.

stoke-on-trent birthplace of several artists including arthur berry (also novelist, playwright & poet), glenys barton (sculptor), arnold machin (sculptor, coin & stamp designer) , sidney tushingham, a.r.e.

public art

the golden sculpture in march 2017.

the outskirts of tunstall became home new public art statue called golden in 2015. 69 ft (21m) steel work of art wolfgang buttress privately funded £180,000 section 106 monies , made cor-ten steel, same material angel of north. tapered lozenge design features powerful led lights illuminate 1,500 glass prisms containing written wishes or memories of local residents. each prism suspended main body of sculpture short arm, giving artwork bristly appearance. located on current site of potteries pyramid, moved nearby roundabout.

in october 2013 sculpture commemorating efforts of miners rebuild czech village of lidice devastated during second world war unveiled. 6.8 metres (22 ft) high steel sculpture cost £100,000 build , features 3,000 tags bearing initials of people promise share story of 1942 lidice shall live movement. north staffordshire-based dashyline commissioned stoke-on-trent city council create artwork, has been installed near hanley bus station.

theatre

the city s main theatre 1,603-person capacity regent theatre, in hanley. nearby main concert hall, victoria hall. purpose-built theatre in round new vic theatre outside city s boundary in newcastle-under-lyme. victorian kings hall in stoke town hall used smaller events. in burslem, queens theatre has been refurbished , restored @ private expense. stoke-on-trent repertory theatre based in stoke , puts on amateur productions. city council-run mitchell arts centre, based in hanley, completed £4.3m refurbishment in 2011 , known mitchell arts centre. named in honour of 1 of city s famous sons, reginald mitchell, designer of legendary world war ii fighter plane, spitfire.

cinema

on 17 december 2015 new 9 screen cineworld cinema opened in hanley. situated @ hive extension intu potteries shopping centre. there odeon multiplex cinema on festival park. independent volunteer-run art-house cinema, stoke-on-trent film theatre, located near railway station, , shows art-house , subtitled films, films have finished run in larger cinemas.

literature

arnold bennett, raised in hanley.

through works of arnold bennett, described greatest realist writer of 20th century, 6 towns known 5 towns . in novels, bennett wrote local events in 19th century , consistently changed proper names , associations, hanley became hanbridge , burslem became bursley. thought bennett chose write 5 towns, rather six, because refused acknowledge fenton proper town. 6 towns not federated until 1910 when fenton still relatively new; smallest in terms of population , area. bennett changed name of local newspaper sentinel signal, identity subsequently adopted city s commercial radio station.

other notable contributors literature include elijah fenton (poet), peter whelan (playwright), john wain (poet, critic , scholar), pauline stainer (poet) , charles tomlinson (poet, graphic artist, translator, editor , critic).

in jorge luis borges novel garden of forking paths , dr. yu tsun goes suburb of fenton meet stephen albert.

young poet laureate

since 2010, council s library service has run competition appoint young poet laureate city. competition local poets aged between 11 , 19. first winner daniel tatton, , succeeded in 2011 bethanie hardie.

media

the city s main daily newspaper sentinel, based in hanley. bbc radio stoke launched in 1968, third bbc local radio station begin broadcasting. local commercial radio stations include signal 1 , signal 2 along christian community radio station called cross rhythms city radio. max fm broadcast nationally stoke-on-trent. community radio station 6 towns radio based in burslem, having been formed in 2010. united christian broadcasters uk headquarters , broadcasting centre national tv , radio programming based in stoke-on-trent, sites in hanchurch , hanley.

television news covered birmingham-based bbc midlands today, , itv central , in parts of city manchester-based bbc north west tonight , itv s granada. stoke-on-trent part in second wave of uk cities after 2012 own local tv station. startup costs shared bbc station expected pay own way advertising.

the city enjoys considerable on-line presence. pits n pots website launched in october 2008 site discuss local news. tunstall , burslem served mytunstall website. wider potteries area served potteries website, includes number of articles , historical materials. these sites in addition council, tourism board, local museum websites , dedicated different communities across city.

famous entertainers

stoke has been birthplace of many actors, including hugh dancy has been in black hawk down, freddie jones, alan lake (widower of diana dors), adrian rawlins, hanley stafford (american radio actor, born alfred john austin in hanley), jonathan wilkes , neil morrissey, star of men behaving badly. hollyoaks actress rachel shenton area. paul bown comedy actor born in fenton.

several nationally recognised tv presenters have been born in area including frank bough, presented nationwide , breakfast time; anthea turner blue peter; , nick hancock, chaired comedy quiz show think s on , host on room 101. bruno brookes, former bbc radio 1 disc jockey, hosted station s breakfast show , presented top of pops. master illusionist andrew van buren born in area , still based there, although more found performing out of country. vocalist carl de marco born in area, , studied @ stoke-on-trent city performing arts college burslem.

music

stoke has vibrant music scene. golden torch, local nightclub, became centre of northern soul scene in 1970s. shelley s laserdome nightclub in longton played pivotal role in house , rave scene of late 1980s , 1990s, helping launch career of sasha , featuring regular appearances carl cox, until shut down staffordshire police. void, hanley nightclub, developed sister relationship sankey s soap in manchester, helping latter revive fortunes during late 1990s via promotion of club night called golden.

there 3 venues in city host regular touring bands: victoria hall, sugarmill , underground.

lemmy, born in burslem

robbie williams famous pop star hail city. many of songs refer stoke-on-trent, either directly or indirectly. these include s , burslem normals , 80 s , spoken introduction duet jonathan wilkes of song me , shadow . song angels partly inspired golden angel @ burslem town hall. in 2015, 3 streets in new housing estate in middleport named after williams hit songs: supreme street, candy lane , angels way.

slash, lead guitarist guns n roses , velvet revolver born in hampstead, father potteries, , spent few of childhood years in stoke before moving los angeles. did not meet british side of family until 1992 when guns n roses played wembley stadium. slash has recalled in interviews , autobiography stoke relatives drank of band s considerable rider: witnessed 1 of uncles, cousin, , grandfather, on first trip london stoke, down every drop of liquor in our dressing room. consumed in full, our booze rider in days have killed us.

lonnie cook rock n roll guitarist , local celebrity played screaming lord sutch in 1970s. remembered in area radio stoke show sunday best, , standing monster raving loony party candidate. in 2010 started getting airplay on new york radio station 1994 song knock me down, pick me . led song being released mp3 download in usa , uk.

other notable individuals , groups area include andy moor dj , producer, gertie gitana (music hall star , singer), lemmy, founder of rock band motörhead, patricia leonard (singer/contralto), jem finer (banjoist, pogues), broken bones , discharge (punk band). post-hardcore band spy versus spy came stoke-on-trent. experimental musician phil todd, best known ashtray navigations project, grew in madeley. other bands hail city include: seb clarke (soul-punk), agent blue (alternative rock), epilogue (prog rock), young, title (indie) , indie-soul band tommy turbo & turbervilles.

in october 2007, stoke-on-trent city council introduced new theme tune – moving forwards . described council part of our drive move city forward , create better stoke-on-trent people live, learn, work , enjoy .

murdoc niccals, fictional member of group gorillaz role of bass guitarist (in constructed biography) said have been born in stoke-on-trent. indie rocker stephen malkmus mentions stoke-on-trent in pink india , released on self-titled solo album, singing song s protagonist, mortimer, rook in great game, came stoke-on-trent. billy bragg mentions stoke-on-trent 1 of places character in song rotting on remand sent to.

peter wyngarde, title character of jason king, makes quip knicker salesman stoke-on-trent in episode flamingos fly on tuesdays . cat in dick , dom in da bungalow once sang song stoke-on-trent. albert steptoe, father in steptoe , son referred relatives stoke-on-trent .

havergal brian (1876 - 1972), classical composer , music writer, composed 32 symphonies , 5 operas, born in stoke (in dresden). large scale , unfashionable style of compositions led them being neglected of lifetime , not note of music commercially issued on record during lifetime. died without having heard many of finest works.

food

potteries oatcake.

staffordshire oatcakes (very different scottish version , traditionally made in corner-shop style oatcake bakeries) much-loved local culinary speciality. remain popular although no longer cheap alternative bread. oatcakes can eaten cold or hot sweet or savoury fillings. lobby, stew not unlike lancashire hotpot, still made local people.

stoke pride

stoke pride city s annual pride march has been running since 2005, although not officially called stoke pride until 2008. celebration of city s lgbt community , attracts visitors many different areas across country , globe. there talks such event in 2003, idea faced opposition local bnp councillors , supporters. held in hanley, event held @ northwood park until 2016 , has since moved hanley park in 2017 attracting on 7000 attendants, 6 times amount of previous year. events official website stokeontrentpride.org.uk