Stoke

[Macca]

Some great pictures here, taken on a day when the weather was decent (not taken by me though). All these locations are within a couple of hundred yards of my place:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/futurilla/albums/72157624864396050/page1

[Pigmy Pony]

Some great pictures here, taken on a day when the weather was decent (not taken by me though). All these locations are within a couple of hundred yards of my place:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/futurilla/albums/72157624864396050/page1

Some very interesting architecture there, Martin - Stoke looks pretty nice to me, much better than you would have us believe - I'd had the impression it looked like the opening credits for Coronation street, in the days when it was black & white :)

Do you go in that Old Swan Inn when you're feeling homesick for Liverpool?

[Wakefield Turntables]

Remember doing my MSc at Staffs Uni and getting pissed a lot at either Manley or Newcastle under Lyme. Happy days....:cool:

[Macca]

Do you go in that Old Swan Inn when you're feeling homesick for Liverpool?

lol. It's not a pub anymore. When it was they had a round pool table. Anytime you went in it would be the same three old geezers who would cadge drinks off you so we used to avoid it mostly.

The pics are a bit out of date in places. The tailor, sweet shop and cobblers have all since closed and the record shop moved up to Hanley. The cobblers is a trendy gin bar now. All the banks are gone too except LLoyds.

All the old buildings are listed thankfully, or the idiots on the council would have knocked them all down by now. Even then it doesn't always stop them.

[Pigmy Pony]

Remember doing my MSc at Staffs Uni and getting pissed a lot at either Manley or Newcastle under Lyme. Happy days....:cool:

I think you might mean Hanley, unless you're talking about some "Gentlemen's" club catering for specific tastes :eyebrows: I've had a couple of nights out in Hanley, sleeping over in some student digs. But both times it was dark when we got there, and we were too hung over next day to appreciate the ambience.

[Mikeandvan]

Some of those look seriously pre 1980s, I take it you get your clothes tailored at S.Velentis?

[Macca]

Some of those look seriously pre 1980s, I take it you get your clothes tailored at S.Velentis?

He did a couple of suits for me but he died a couple of years back. A real character., Sicilian and about five foot one. Looked a lot like Joe Pesci.

The shop had not been touched inside since it was built. He always have Italian TV on in the back via satellite. And he chain smoked cigars so your new suit would smell of cigar smoke.

[Mikeandvan]

He did a couple of suits for me but he died a couple of years back. A real character., Sicilian and about five foot one. Looked a lot like Joe Pesci.

The shop had not been touched inside since it was built. He always have Italian TV on in the back via satellite. And he chain smoked cigars so your new suit would smell of cigar smoke.

You have suits made? Who has suits made these days!

[Macca]

You have suits made? Who has suits made these days!

That was twenty years ago.

But if you want a suit that really fits properly it's the only way to go.

[Filterlab]

You have suits made? Who has suits made these days!

Someone with more money than I. However I'm happy wearing old, shit clothes as it gives me value for money and more to spend on Hi-Fi. :lol:

[Lawrence001]

That was twenty years ago.

But if you want a suit that really fits properly it's the only way to go.I was always lucky in my younger days that I was an exact 40/34 fit so didn't need to worry too much. The only thing missing was that bespoke tucked in look around the waist on the jacket following the curve of the body.

I've seen a few people with badly made tailored suits where the material did not sit flat. I wouldn't have accepted that off the tailor but I guess some people have no idea what a nice suit should look like.

Sent from my HRY-LX1 using Tapatalk

[Mikeandvan]

I used to get clothes made back in the late 80s, tailor was Italian too. I should get some made now, cos I waste alot of money buying off the peg only to discard it months later. I'm 6ft2 but only 75 kilo, with medium/wide shoulders, but obviously not a lot of muscle, in other words, flat. It sucks buying clothes!

[Daisy]

Hi Martin
Fantastic pictures, for my sins have worked at the Council for years and years so know it all well.
Cheers
Simon

[Macca]

went for a walk down the river path, took a snapshot on the way. Came out quite well. Hard to believe this is only a few hundred yards from my house:

https://i.ibb.co/YNTh2g9/20210509-133336.jpg (https://ibb.co/8m49Mk3)

[Barry]

You need to cut your grass Martin. :D

[CageyH]

I was always lucky in my younger days that I was an exact 40/34 fit so didn't need to worry too much. The only thing missing was that bespoke tucked in look around the waist on the jacket following the curve of the body.

I've seen a few people with badly made tailored suits where the material did not sit flat. I wouldn't have accepted that off the tailor but I guess some people have no idea what a nice suit should look like.

Sent from my HRY-LX1 using Tapatalk

I have trouble getting an off the peg suit as I am 44/34 with slightly shorter than normal legs.
It is a blinking nightmare.

[Pigmy Pony]

went for a walk down the river path, took a snapshot on the way. Came out quite well. Hard to believe this is only a few hundred yards from my house:

https://i.ibb.co/YNTh2g9/20210509-133336.jpg (https://ibb.co/8m49Mk3)

Is that the River Trent? I thought it would be bigger, even Marco would feel safe paddling in that :)

[struth]

I have trouble getting an off the peg suit as I am 44/34 with slightly shorter than normal legs.
It is a blinking nightmare.

you should try being me mate :ner:

try premierman and jacamo, if you have a uk /channel isles address they could deliver to.. they cater for all sizes really. stuff isnt too bad either.

or you can get one made by hockerty or itailor.... ive used them and they are quite good too

[CageyH]

Is that the River Trent? I thought it would be bigger, even Marco would feel safe paddling in that :)

It is probably Cockster Brook.

[CageyH]

you should try being me mate :ner:

try premierman and jacamo, if you have a uk /channel isles address they could deliver to.. they cater for all sizes really. stuff isnt too bad either.

or you can get one made by hockerty or itailor.... ive used them and they are quite good too

Thanks, but I have found a reasonably priced tailor in Toulouse. I get the suit with the jacket that fits, and they take the trousers in. Not sure how much longer I will need that service though... :eek:

[Macca]

Is that the River Trent? I thought it would be bigger, even Marco would feel safe paddling in that :)

Yes that's the Trent. It's not that far from where it rises, maybe 10 miles.

That's at full flood after all the rain, the other week when I was down there I could have walked across it without getting my ankles wet.

[walpurgis]

I have trouble getting an off the peg suit as I am 44/34 with slightly shorter than normal legs.
It is a blinking nightmare.

Ha Ha. Same size as me, I know how you feel. :)

(good job I don't wear suits)

[CageyH]

Ha Ha. Same size as me, I know how you feel. :)

(good job I don't wear suits)

It used to be 44/32, but middle age happened....

[struth]

ha, i'm 52 (a cup), 44, 28.:D.. legs get shorter every year, waist expands and the chest? well we all like tits:ner: but i was always big built

[Pigmy Pony]

Yes that's the Trent. It's not that far from where it rises, maybe 10 miles.

That's at full flood after all the rain, the other week when I was down there I could have walked across it without getting my ankles wet.

Because most of it is at the bottom of your street.

[Pigmy Pony]

ha, i'm 52 (a cup), 44, 28.:D.. legs get shorter every year, waist expands and the chest? well we all like tits:ner: but i was always big built

I've sort of fallen out with mine in recent years - time was I could make 'em dance, these days I can't lie on my back without them going under my armpits :(

[Marco]

It is probably Cockster Brook.

I resemble that remark:D

Marco.

[Marco]

Nothing remotely resembling floods here... Piggurs' panties would be damper. The recent rain wasn't heavy enough, or rather sustained heavy for long enough. Bright sunshine here now in Wrexham. Just about to pop a lovely piece of 28-day aged ribeye on the BBQ!:cool:

Marco.

[Macca]

went down the river again, the hawthorn is in full bloom:

https://i.ibb.co/cJyd3BC/trent.jpg (https://ibb.co/6Yy5wM1)

[Macca]

My neighbourhood in 1933. All the chimneys and bottle ovens you can see (except for two) are now gone, as are almost all the factory buildings.

My street is the row facing the camera, extreme bottom left. Although my actual house is off to the left just outside the shot. Apart from parked cars the street has not changed at all.

https://i.ibb.co/dWPyst7/stoke-33.png (https://ibb.co/Tv45D1r)

[Pigmy Pony]

My neighbourhood in 1933. All the chimneys and bottle ovens you can see (except for two) are now gone, as are almost all the factory buildings.

My street is the row facing the camera, extreme bottom left. Although my actual house is off to the left just outside the shot. Apart from parked cars the street has not changed at all.

https://i.ibb.co/dWPyst7/stoke-33.png (https://ibb.co/Tv45D1r)

And the tarmac, don't forget the tarmac. I expect that like in Preston, Stoke council will have just tarmacced straight onto the cobbles, not knowing that one day they will have real value.

[Macca]

Do you think the streets are still cobbled in that photo? I've wondered that myself but the resolution isn't high enough to zoom in that far. Motor vehicles were pretty common by 1933 so they might have re-surfaced them by that time. Or most of them anyway.

I've checked when they have dug up the road and it does seem they did remove the cobbles before putting down the new surface except for a couple of lines of them next to the gutters which are still on view.

[struth]

doesnt look cobbled. it actually looks quite recently done.

[Pigmy Pony]

I do remember streets in Preston town centre being cobbled back on the sixties, and I'm guessing that's about when the tarmaccing started. I don't know for sure that all the cobbles are still under there, but I have on occasion seen, where the tarmac has broken up badly (as in pot holes) cobbles visible underneath.

I'm not even sure cobbles is the right name for them, maybe granite 'sets' is the correct term. There are a few streets in Preston that still have them. Much more hardwearing than tarmac, but death-on-a-stick for motorbikes in winter.

[Macca]

I remember that there were still some cobbled streets in Liverpool back in the 1970s, but not many.

Most of the alleys here still have the original cobbles and manhole covers, the covers are quite elaborate.

[Pigmy Pony]

https://i2-prod.lancs.live/incoming/article19857400.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_cobbled2jfif.jpg

Wellington Street in Preston. Residents are kicking off about the tarmac repairs, but I think they look spiffing, and I'll be saying so next month when I'm there fitting a new door for someone.

[Macca]

If they're anything like the tarmac repairs here they'll have disintegrated in 6 months so the residents have got nothing to worry about.

Why can't they just stick in some new cobbles anyway? It's just some stones. You can pick stone up practically anywhere, and I could lay those patches on my own in a couple of hours.

And then it's done for the next fifty years or so.

[Pigmy Pony]

Cobbles are still readily available but at massively inflated prices, due to high demand in Alderley Edge, where footballers like to have them surrounding their genuine Victorian gas streetlamps converted to run on solar.

[walpurgis]

Cobbles are

Called 'setts' in the trade. I've laid and re-laid more than my share in the past. They would generally only be used new these days for aesthetic reasons. They are very durable though.

[Pigmy Pony]

Called 'setts' in the trade. I've laid and re-laid more than my share in the past. They would generally only be used new these days for aesthetic reasons. They are very durable though.

I bet that was tough work for your back and knees. Yes I thought the word might have been setts, though I had miss-spelled it (one 't'). Are they always granite (which is what they look like)?

[struth]

a lot of edinburgh streets especially the areas off main drag down towards new town were all cobbles. slippy in wet etc. im betting they will still be there

[walpurgis]

I bet that was tough work for your back and knees. Yes I thought the word might have been setts, though I had miss-spelled it (one 't'). Are they always granite (which is what they look like)?

Not as tough as working with granite kerb, which weighs around one hundredweight a foot and comes in up to eight feet lengths. :eek:

I used to lay the buggers on my own now and then, the guvnor was a bit mean with labourers.

I only ever saw granite setts, but In guess any stone could be used. Sedimentary rock would wear faster though and limestone would be dodgy for roads as it burnishes and becomes slippery when wet. We had issues with a sneaky contractor who surface dressed a road with coated limestone chippings instead of the specified granite. I found him out by washing a sample in turps and pouring vinegar over it, when it fizzed he was knackered!! :D

[Pigmy Pony]

https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article25222965.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_ComelyBank.png

A street in Edinburgh, where residents are moaning about the cobbles being too noisy, and want tarmac. :rolleyes:

[struth]

yeah, learmouth terrace.. they are noisy no doubt. up by comley bank etc

[walpurgis]

A street in Edinburgh, where residents are moaning about the cobbles being too noisy, and want tarmac. :rolleyes:

There are still a few roads like that around Ealing. I think they are within conservation areas.

[Macca]

Had a walk up the canal to Fezzy Park to buy some new trainers.

This time of year it's like walking through an 18th century landscape painting. Took this photo:

https://i.ibb.co/v4KLr83/boat.jpg (https://ibb.co/F4j8ft5)

Then went into Maccie D's for Big Mac meal. A burger is the cornerstone of any nutritional second breakfast.

No pics of that, you all know what it looks like.

[Pigmy Pony]

Had a walk up the canal to Fezzy Park to buy some new trainers.

This time of year it's like walking through an 18th century landscape painting. Took this photo:

https://i.ibb.co/v4KLr83/boat.jpg (https://ibb.co/F4j8ft5)

Then went into Maccie D's for Big Mac meal. A burger is the cornerstone of any nutritional second breakfast.

No pics of that, you all know what it looks like.

But we don't know what your new trainers look like.

[Barry]

Maybe that's what Martin ate for his second breakfast.

[Macca]

But we don't know what your new trainers look like.

https://www.jdsports.co.uk/product/grey-adidas-originals-jeans/19627254/?

[Alex_UK]

Nice, I always have a pair of Adidas on the go, and they have to be vintage style like those (Hamburg) currently.

[Macca]

Nice, I always have a pair of Adidas on the go, and they have to be vintage style like those (Hamburg) currently.

prefer the vintage myself but I do so much walking I need something a bit more suitable for distances.

These replace Dragons which I prefer the look of but they don't stand up to heavy wear. Got less than a year out of them.

[Barry]

I do not possess a pair of trainers. Haven't done for the last 12 years or so.

[Macca]

I do not possess a pair of trainers. Haven't done for the last 12 years or so.

Compulsory at my school so they didn't damage the parquet floors. Worn them ever since.

I keep a pair of shoes at work and change into them when I get there.

[Barry]

Compulsory at my school so they didn't damage the parquet floors. Worn them ever since.

I keep a pair of shoes at work and change into them when I get there.

I think you would have to wear spiked running shoes to do any damage to a parquet floor. Or perhaps an ancient pair of football boots with nailed-on studs.

My school also had parquet flooring, but you would have been sent home if you turned up wearing anything than regulation black lace-up leather shoes.

[Pigmy Pony]

My hob nail boots weren't allowed. And yet somehow my mate got away with it, and he'd painted the steel toe caps red.

[Macca]

I think you would have to wear spiked running shoes to do any damage to a parquet floor. Or perhaps an ancient pair of football boots with nailed-on studs.

My school also had parquet flooring, but you would have been sent home if you turned up wearing anything than regulation black lace-up leather shoes.

Stilettos damage it. Ordinary shoes - I wouldn't have thought so either - but that was the reason they gave.

I think you could wear shoes as long as they were soft-soles. Seem to recall some of the kids wearing 'Kickers' - which was the fashion at the time.

[Barry]

We weren't allowed to wear stilettos, unless worn with stockings having a perfectly straight seam running up the back! ;)

My school was so strict we would be punished if we were seen out of school in school uniform, but not wearing the school cap.

[CageyH]

I am getting through more pairs of trainers than I care to think about ever since I started running between 3 to 5 km a day. Decent ones are not cheap either.

[Macca]

We weren't allowed to wear stilettos, unless worn with stockings having a perfectly straight seam running up the back! ;)

My school was so strict we would be punished if we were seen out of school in school uniform, but not wearing the school cap.

I think my primary school was stricter. Three of us were caned for running on the way back from church and another youth got caned for 'Not having your tie done up properly.'

Persistently bad handwriting was also punished with the cane. Girls and boys, although girls only got it on the hand, we had it on the backs of our legs.

Nowadays they'd do prison time for that stuff, with glass in their food. But back then we just took it for granted.

[Barry]

LoL, we did handwriting for homework, had elecution lessons, and were taught Latin and Greek.

Looking back, it's hard to believe how 'old fashioned' it was; but my parents were happy to pay the fees, and it didn’t do me any harm.

[Sherwood]

Elecution? A branch of physics perhaps?

[Barry]

Oops! Poor spelling there, I did of course mean "elocution". :doh:

[Macca]

Looking back, it's hard to believe how 'old fashioned' it was; but my parents were happy to pay the fees, and it didn’t do me any harm.

No it didn't do any harm, quite the opposite. Being trained to be indifferent to suffering wasn't pleasant at the time but it's been a positive boon in later life. :D

The Jesuits knew exactly what they were doing. It's why Himmler used the order as the template for the Waffen SS.

[Jimbo]

Do you recognise any of this Martin?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002130m

[Macca]

Do you recognise any of this Martin?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002130m

Yes he's talking about a street I used to work on. There is a huge, very posh looking Mercedes showroom that's surrounded by acres of post industrial dereliction. Looks like it landed from Mars.

[Lawrence001]

I heard that on the radio the other day he seems quite good at turning up at a town and making the locals laugh at themselves.

[Barry]

I heard that on the radio the other day he seems quite good at turning up at a town and making the locals laugh at themselves.

He didn't get many laughs when he visited a place in North Wales and made fun of the Welsh language.

Otherwise his monologues are quite amusing, and he obviously does a fair amount of research for each show.

[Macca]

View from the top of the hill taken during my morning perambulation:

https://i.ibb.co/s9zSx7Rt/20250226-101832.jpg (https://ibb.co/xqdv9ZL3)

The village at the top is Penkhull, it's in the Domesday book. Prior to that, Bronze age hill fort. Land drops away steeply on three sides, ideal defensive position.

In the 1880s it became the Stoke equivalent of Beverly Hills as you're up high, out of all the pollution. Some very expensive houses.

[Macca]

Today's view from top of hill. Different route this time

https://i.ibb.co/PshXLWRd/20250228-111018.jpg (https://ibb.co/20tV9MwT)

[Barry]

The weather looks a lot better! :)

[Macca]

'Pigeonland Stoke'

Don't know what the attraction is about this particular bit of ground but there's always loads of pigeons knocking about here:

https://i.ibb.co/FbJDw4yj/20250301-121704.jpg (https://ibb.co/XZpCsxKv)

[Lawrence001]

'Pigeonland Stoke'

Don't know what the attraction is about this particular bit of ground but there's always loads of pigeons knocking about here:

https://i.ibb.co/FbJDw4yj/20250301-121704.jpg (https://ibb.co/XZpCsxKv)Hopefully that's not where they found a body, just heard it on the radio.

[Macca]

Hopefully that's not where they found a body, just heard it on the radio.

No that was miles away. Good job too, we can't have Pigeonland being closed down so close to the start of the tourist season.

[Pigmy Pony]

'Pigeonland Stoke'

Don't know what the attraction is about this particular bit of ground but there's always loads of pigeons knocking about here:

https://i.ibb.co/FbJDw4yj/20250301-121704.jpg (https://ibb.co/XZpCsxKv)

They probably wonder the same about us and pub gardens whenever the sun comes out.

[Macca]

Seen on my walk today - Lemmy scarecrow:

https://i.imgur.com/7psJksW.jpeg

[Pigmy Pony]

I had to check they hadn't nicked it from the town centre, but no it's still there :)

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/976/cpsprodpb/af89/live/f8d215a0-2cf6-11f0-8693-23f31ee08547.jpg.webp

[Macca]

I had to check they hadn't nicked it from the town centre, but no it's still there :)

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/976/cpsprodpb/af89/live/f8d215a0-2cf6-11f0-8693-23f31ee08547.jpg.webp

That's in Burslem (pronounced locally as 'Boz-lum'). The land that time forgot. I used to work there years ago but not had cause to go there for a long time.

[Pigmy Pony]

That's in Burslem (pronounced locally as 'Boz-lum'). The land that time forgot. I used to work there years ago but not had cause to go there for a long time.

Maybe it's time you did. I bet you could get a good deal on City Breaks there, though I'd expect a hotel balcony with a view of the statue to cost a fair bit more.

[Macca]

I don't think there is a hotel there let alone one with balconies.

Imagine the 1950s but more run down than that.