Wednesday 29 February 2012

Longton

Longton is located in the south of Stoke.

The name Longton comes from the Chinese 'long tun', meaning arse slap.

Longton was one of the original "seven towns" that joined together to form Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 (along with Burslem, Fegg Hayes, Fenton, Hanley, Stoke-upon-Trent and Tunstall).

Longton is affectionately referred to as the "arse end of Stoke".

Longton is home to a wide range of shops such as Tesco Extra, Sainsbury’s and Lidl.

Portugal is Longton's oldest ally. The Longton-Portugal Treaty signed in 1373 is still in force.

Vicious gang warfare between gangs from south Longton (southside) and north (westside) have raged on the mean streets of Longton for years.

Pop star Robbie Williams grew up in the area.

For more on Longton, click here:

Monday 27 February 2012

Tunstall

Tunstall is located in Stoke's north-west, above Burslem.

Tunstall comes from the Chinese 'tun sall', meaning 'slap my thigh'.

Tunstall was one of the original "seven towns" that joined together to form Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 (along with Burslem, Fegg Hayes, Fenton, Hanley, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent).

Tunstall is home to Stoke's Chinatown area. The first Chinese settlers arrived here in 1065.

A typical Chinese man

Historians have discovered that locals were using iron ore found in the area to manufacture weapons from as early as the 13th century.

Britain's first holiday camp was Tunstall's fascist Family Camp which opened in 1905. Alcohol was strictly banned (though opiates were allowed) and any holiday maker caught talking after 10pm was spanked.

Pop star Robbie Williams grew up in the area.

For more on Tunstall, click here:

Sunday 26 February 2012

Cynicism Over Tax Rises

Are we all paying more council tax in Stoke-on-Trent just to employ even more outside supernatural consultants? That's the suspicion of Stokies after next year's budget was agreed on Thursday.

There were heated protests in the chamber, but the main decisions had already been taken. There will be £24 million in cuts, including in children's and adult services, museums and care homes – and higher council taxes for all.

£3 million in capital funding will be used to 'redesign services' to help 'improve bigfoot attainment'. When asked recently whether this was to pay outside consultants, Conservative councillor Barry Telefunk responded: "There are things that the independent sector can do much more efficiently than the public sector can."


The council then announced a couple of late U-turns to their original budget proposals. With the threat of strike action by workers at Central Forest Park, home of bigfoot, the council decided against imposing wage cuts.

Councillor Telefunk has argued that: "Our aim has always been, and continues to be, to protect the most vulnerable!" – a claim prompting hollow laughter among those fighting the Conservative party's plans to re-legalise [bigfoot] hunting in the near future.

"We have the best paranormal investigators in England, and by default, the world," said local expert Paul Brown, Executive Receptionist at the Paul Brown Paranormal Centre. "For the council to piss away so much money on outside experts is a big load of hairy tits."

Saturday 25 February 2012

Stoke-upon-Trent

Stoke-upon-Trent is located in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent! Confused? You will be!

Stoke derives from the Latin word 'stoc', meaning 'barn fight'.

Stoke-upon-Trent was one of the original "seven towns" that joined together to form Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 (along with Burslem, Fegg Hayes, Fenton, Hanley, Longton and Tunstall).

Many locals want the town renamed to avoid confusion between Stoke-upon-Trent and Stoke-on-Trent. "Old Stoke", "Ye Olde Stoc" and "Barn Fight-upon-Trent" are popular choices for new names amongst residents.

Stoke-upon-Trent is home to the Council of Elders, Stoke City Council and Staffordshire University.

Stoke-upon-Trent was officially at war with Russia for 110 years. At the outbreak of the Crimean War, Britain declared war on Russia in the name of Britain, Ireland, Stoke-upon-Trent and all British Dominions. But when the war ended in 1856, the Paris Peace Treaty omitted Stoke. So Stoke was technically at war with Russia until 1966 when a Soviet official, made aware of the situation, visited the town to declare peace!

Pop star Robbie Williams grew up in the area.

For more on Stoke-upon-Trent, click here:

Thursday 23 February 2012

Crystal O'Future: The Whitney Interview

Crystal O'Future recently held a televised séance for Sky1, during which she contacted the very dead pop legend Whitney Houston. I spoke to her about the show.

Crystal O'Future:
"I'm getting the word... 'crack'."

Attempting to contact Whitney Houston was a big task. What made you want to do it?
Basically, at the end of the day, this is what I do. And from a medium standpoint, it would be a privilege if we could achieve a connection with this recently deceased popbitch. It could help the fans as well. Hopefully she showed them she's happy and not in hell.

Whitney didn't do many interviews when she was alive - what made you think she'd talk to you now?
We couldn't command that Whitney's spirit step forward, as much as I would have liked to have that power over the dead. I'd love to control her ghost any way I want, use it to take care of my enemies and critics; that would be great. However, that ain't gonna happen. But, I just got that spiritual inclination that maybe she would like to do this.


Have you spoken to any of Whitney's family about doing this?
No, I haven't, so I don't know their stance. But I'm 110% sure they would approve. Whitney told me so herself.

Have you tried anything like this before - contacting a dead celebrity?
On a couple of occasions, yes. The first one being in 1998 in Tunstall at a theatre where John Lennon, Donny Osmond and Andy Gibb, the other brother to the Bee Gees, the one no-one mentions anymore, made an entrance, which quite literally shook me out of my skin. Mainly because Donny Osmond isn't even dead yet and his spirit had appeared.

What do you say to Whitney fans who don't like what you've done?
I would say, get over it, bitches, it's already been done. If that doesn't help, then I'd just ignore them.

Someone that's criticised you quite publicly for this is Derren Brown. What do you make of his comments?
That bald bastard is just looking for publicity! He always does it, every time, the fucker. I don't know what his problem is. We are worlds apart - Derren Brown is a tricks-and-japes man. What he does is little more than cheeky tom-foolery. He can't do what I do and I wouldn’t want to do what he does. He's riding the publicity off my back.

Did you prepare yourself for the possibility of being possessed by Whitney's spirit? Could that happen?
If Whitney was capable and she tried to take over my body, I'm not going to object to it. If anything, it would give it more credence that Whitney was there. Just as long as she didn't use my body to smoke off a load of crack.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Whitney Houston's Ghost: "Crack Is Wack"

In a move certain to delight fans everywhere, Sky1 screened a show last night featuring local medium Crystal O'Future contacting the recently departed (i.e. dead) singer Whitney Houston during a live séance.

Producers rounded up a group of Whitney fans, including two lookalikes and one on the brink of emotional meltdown, throughout the séance, and took them to a hotel room in London that Houston had stayed in a few years ago.

The first thing Whitney's spirit did was to give a shout out to "your man Clive Davis". Then she muttered something about her dislike of journalists followed by ranting that "crack is wack" over and over again.



Crystal sat at a table with four fans during the séance and did her best to goad them all into crying on live television.

Speaking at the aftershow party at Stringfellow's, O'Future said Houston was annoyed she had not been buried alongside the late (i.e. also dead) Michael Jackson. Speaking as Whitney, Crystal said: "I wished to lie alongside MJ. I don’t care if he fiddled with some kids, that was ages ago, I wanna be next to my boy. I love MJ and I wanna be with him."

Whitney's spirit also said: "I'm only now starting to adjust to my spiritual life. I'd like to thank Sky1 and Crystal O'Future for this opportunity to speak to my fans one last time."

One fan who saw the Sky1 show said: "I looked into Crystal's eyes and I could feel Whitney's presence. This show was the real deal and I hope the show wins awards. Especially an RTS [Royal Television Society] award for Innovation, an award I feel this show strongly deserves to win."

Monday 20 February 2012

You Can't Handle The Truth!

Reader Scott Baker, from an undisclosed location in Stoke, has sent in the following picture taken yesterday at The Abbey Hulton Hotel. In Abbey Hulton.

Scott Baker's ghost

The first, and perhaps most important, thing to do with a new ghost is to come up with a name for it. We can worry about hunting/destroying the ghost at a later date. The ghost is to be provisionally entitled 'Scott Baker's Unknown Ghost', but I asked around Deschanel Towers earlier and got the following suggestions:

Stan Stairlift
Whitney Ghoston
Dame Helen Ghost

If you wish to name the ghost, or have any further information on it, leave a comment, or e-mail via my profile page!

Sunday 19 February 2012

Fegg Hayes

Fegg Hayes is located in the north of Stoke, next to the Knypersley mountain range.

The name Fegg Hayes comes from the greek 'Fides Hades', meaning 'Faith in Hades'. Hades is the Greek god of the underworld.

Fegg Hayes was one of the original "seven towns" that joined together to form Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 (along with Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke-upon-Trent and Tunstall).

Fegg Hayes is the home of the world famous Fegg Hayes Yeti.

Fegg Hayes looks different from much of Stoke because of its unique history. From 1386 to 1797, Fegg Hayes was ruled by Viennese nobility. As such, much of Fegg Hayes reflects the era when it was part of the Republic of Vienna, its streets full of romanesque and baroque architecture.

Fegg Hayes High Street

Pop star Robbie Williams grew up in the area.

For more on Fegg Hayes, click here:

Saturday 18 February 2012

The Franciscans

Pete Clark was playing frolf [frisbee golf] in the Barlaston Desert in 1968 when he claimed to have made contact with a UFO. He says that he was lining up a tricky shot around a cactus when he started receiving telepathic messages of advice form a nearby UFO, which also happened to be invisible to all human eyes except his own.

Returning home to Boothen, Clark changed his name to Janey Lee Franciscus, in honour of the name of the alien with whom he had been in contact. In 1969, the newly renamed Janey Lee moved to the northern edge of the Barlaston Desert and opened a diner. He lived on a commune in Meir Heath, working as a sex observer when not at the diner.

In 1972, he opened a vegetarian restaurant at the entrance to the commune. His increasing influence at the commune was completed when he was elected leader of the group. He moved the compound to Barlaston and renamed the group The Franciscans. He then wrote a combined gospel and cook book: 'How To Get To Heaven: Religiously and Foodly'.

Franciscus ran for Mayor of Stoke in 2002, challenging favourite Mike Wolfe for the title! Franciscus's first pledge was that, during his first term in office, he would spend the city's entire transport budget to make Stoke a major player in the space race. The public vote for Mayor was close, but Wolfe won by 7 votes to 6.

Paris Hilton meets some of her fans

Increasingly disillusioned with life in Stoke, Franciscus moved the world headquarters of the church to California in 2004, where he enjoyed a brief relationship with heiress Paris Hilton.

Thursday 16 February 2012

@MontyDeschanel

If you need to get more Monty Deschanel in your life, you can now get me on Twitter!

You can get me @MontyDeschanel or click the link below:


Follow me now!

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day in 2009, Fenton lothario Kevin Bond, 19, decided to treat his girlfriend, and mother to one of his four children, to a romantic meal at McDonald's.

McDonald's in Fenton

"I treated her to a Big Mac Meal," explained Kevin. "Cus I'm like that, yer know? Hoes before bros, I say, especially when there's fanny to be had. Anyway, we went round the alley at the back afterwards so I could give it a good 'Bonding', as I call it. I was doin' it to 'er real good when this voice says 'You've got a small knob'. I'm like, 'What the fuck?' Anyway, I don't see no-one so I get right back in there, guts deep, yer know, then the voice pipes up again wiv 'You shag like a paedo'. I'm goin' fuckin' mental. Then I hear, 'She's a right slag', and I look up on the roof and see this ghost floating there laughing his tits off. So we fucked off to me mate Dave's flat and watched a Danny Dyer film."

Sunday 12 February 2012

Burslem (aka: Boslem)

Burslem is located in the north west of the city.

The name comes from the German verb 'boslen', which means 'to sweat'.

Burslem was one of the original "seven towns" that joined together to form Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 (along with Fegg Hayes, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke-upon-Trent and Tunstall).

Burslem was originally called Boslem, and still is by some locals.

Burslem is the largest town in Stoke, but not the best.

Burslem is the home town of 15 time darts world champion "Fingers" Phil Taylor.


Burslem is a paragon of multiculturalism, with a considerable Asian population living side-by-side with BNP supporters.

Burslem's School of Art is renowned throughout Britain.

Vauxhall Conference association football team Port Vale are based in Burslem. Founded in 1876 as "Boslem Scamps FC", the team changed its name in 1974 during Stoke's bid for independence from the UK. They are still nicknamed "The Scamps" to this day.

Burslem is home to Lake Burslem, world famous for its resident monster called "Bursie".


Pop star Robbie Williams grew up in the area.

For more on Burslem, click here:

Friday 10 February 2012

Hanley

Hanley is located bang in the middle of Stoke and is perhaps better known as Stoke's city centre.

Hanley comes from the latin 'han lay', which means 'hen party'.

Hanley was one of the original "seven towns" that joined together to form Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 (along with Burslem, Fegg Hayes, Fenton, Longton, Stoke-upon-Trent and Tunstall).

Coal mining was important in Hanley until Margaret Thatcher closed down all the mines in the 1980s, calling them an "eyesore" on the beautiful Stoke landscape.

Hanley is home to Stoke's biggest building, the Potteries Shopping Centre. It contains many of this Britain's biggest high street names including Sock Shop and Tie Rack!

Hanley is also home to one of Stoke's biggest cathedrals, Hanley Cathedral, which is built on the site of an ancient stargate. It is currently being refurbished after being partly destroyed by a fire caused by a faulty lava lamp.


Hanley has different districts, known as quarters. There is the commercial quarter, the cultural quarter, the French quarter, the red light quarter and the thieves' quarter.

Central Forest Park (aka: Needle Park) is located in Hanley. That's where you're most likely to find Bigfoot in Stoke! Or a drug dealer.


Pop star Robbie Williams grew up in the area.

For more on Hanley, click here:

Thursday 9 February 2012

Hello World

The readership of the blog has recently expanded to include people in Ukraine, India, Australia and Bulgaria! Welcome to Stoke!

Please visit the "Stoke-on-Trent" page (linked in the banner at the top) for an introduction to one of England's most important cities! (Or click the link below.)


For further reading, I'll also be giving you a history of some of Stoke's most important towns over the next few weeks, starting with Hanley, better known as Stoke's city centre...

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Hanley An Easy Target For Evil Spirits Suggests Report

It has been reported that a quarter of shops in Hanley (Stoke's commercial centre for those of you who don't know!) are now lying empty.


This makes Hanley one of the highest ranked towns or cities in the country in the category.

Hanley, yesterday

One of the more worrying things about this story is that evil spirits and free-roaming ghosts will more often than not choose to inhabit empty properties. So while rents may be lower due to the economic meltdown, people should make sure any properties they lease aren't haunted!

Monday 6 February 2012

Bigfoot To Start "Popping Wheelies"?

It has been revealed that Stoke City Council is in talks about building a BMX track in Central Forest Park.


A group known as 'Friends of Central Forest Park' are behind the move, designed to bring more visitors to the area. It is unknown how much the project will cost, but is unlikely to be less then the £421,000 recently spent on the nearby skateboard plaza. Apropos of nothing, Stoke has one of the highest rates of unemployment of any town or city in England.

What Bigfoot on a BMX might look like

Not everyone is happy with the plan. "They might be Friends of Central Forest Park," said Bigfoot expert, and CEO of the Paul Brown Save Bigfoot Campaign, Paul Brown. "But they are no friends of mine. This can only harm the Bigfoot community living in the park, having to deal with bunches of stoned teenage BMXers every day. And it will do nothing for the smell of the area as well."

Local drug dealer Ken Confessor supports the BMX idea. "It'll bring much needed youngsters into the park. And if those local youngsters could actually afford to buy or own a bike, building this would have been an even better idea."

Hanley youngster Chubb Yale also favours the building of the track. "It's gonna be bangin', yeah," he said. "It'll be all cool an' shit, innit. Me, personally, I prefer the croquet, yeah, but there's not enough shit for da yoof to do around here, so I welcomes it, big time. Now what's a BMX?"

Friday 3 February 2012

Bigfoot vs Bill Walley

In 1932, Blurton grandfather Bill Walley, aged 29, and some of his friends were on a hunting trip in the wilds of Central Forest Park. The hunting party was hoping to shoot some deer or buffalo, but disappointingly had to settle for wolves and badgers.

A badger

One night, after reaching Cobridge Creek and settling in their tent for a group masturbation session, the men were disturbed by loud sounds from outside. They went out to find two Bigfoot fighting one another! The men gathered around, chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as one would normally do in such a situation, but this seemed to confuse the Bigfoot. They then picked up some rabbits, threw them at the men, then ran off into the woods. Walley took some casts of the footprints, which he then sold on street corners in Blurton and Hollybush.

A typical Bigfoot footprint
 
Following Bill Walley’s story, and the excitement over his casts of Bigfoot footprints at Cobridge Creek, the Stoke City Council finally relented and allowed roads to built in and out of the city allowing "outsiders" to freely visit Stoke, and Stokies to leave. As such, the year 1932 was a watershed for the Bigfoot myth. Within that year, the first groups of Bigfoot hunters, tourists and enthusiasts arrived from all over the North Midlands hoping to kill a Bigfoot, or at least wound one.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Central Forest Park Bigfoot

The Bigfoot is a large, non-human primate that is distributed over the Stoke region to varying degrees of concentration, but reported mainly in Central Forest Park in Hanley.

The average height for the Bigfoot is about 8 foot tall. Babies shortly after birth are small (and ugly!) by human standards, but grow rapidly and evidently walk at an early age. Aside from infants being carried, small walking adult Bigfoot, 3-4 foot tall, have been seen. These are thought to be the Bigfoot equivalent of midgets or dwarves. The animals reach maturity at a height of 6-7 foot and the largest are thought to exceed 10 foot in height.
 
The average Bigfoot can be estimated to weigh 650 lbs (about the same weight as the boy band Bad Boys Inc), and the maximum probably to exceed 1,000 lbs (Blazin' Squad).

Famous Bigfoot picture

The head, though much bigger to that of man, is relatively small for an animal of that size, indicative of a rather small brain, probably similar to a gorilla or a human retard. Some people have even compared Bigfoot’s head-to-body ratio as being similar to the Goombas from the film Super Mario Bros. On the head itself, there is a conspicuous brow ridge with a receding forehead, giving the eyes a deep-set look. A look which many people would describe as "shifty".

The shoulders are proportionately wider than those of modern man, more similar to a fat woman from the 1980s with extra large shoulder pads in her dress. Large Bigfoot have been described as having four to five foot wide shoulders. They are also barrel-chested; the circumference would be about 65 inches for the average-sized animal and well above 75 inches for the largest individuals that have been seen. That’s about the same circumference as a side window on a 1976 Vauxhall Viva.

The Bigfoot is covered with hair, with the colour of the hair ranging from black or dark brown through various shades of reddish-brown (i.e. ginger). A few albino Bigfoot have been seen, whose hair was white and skin was pink. Hair has been variously described as clean and shiny, fluffy, dirty, matted and even sometimes looking like ginger dreadlocks. Hairstyles similar to the human "mullet" is common; very short hair on the face; long hair across the top of the shoulders (once described as "like a small hairy cape"); long hair on the forearms; and long hair on the calves (like bellbottom trousers).


The Bigfoot generally carries itself at a forward angle of about 15 degrees. This means that the species has not achieved a full upright stance like humans, although at times the animals do stand up straight. They are reported to walk in the style of a "badass pimp".

Bigfoot stories were commonplace for the indigenous people of Stoke. The legends existed before a name had even been given to the creature. Different parts of Stoke had their own Bigfoot myths and legends. Similar stories of Bigfoot are found in all parts of Britain, except Wales. Bigfoot expert Paul Brown, captain of the Paul Brown Bigfoot Council, argues that most cultures have human-like giants in their folk history: "We have this need for some larger-than-life creature. Most countries have a Bigfoot myth. The Welsh have a Mechagodzilla myth. But don’t ask me why."
 
The local legends were combined together by journalist Dave Crunk in a series of articles for The Daily Oatcake newspaper in the 1890s. Each Stoke town had its own stories and names for its local Bigfoot myth. Many of the names meant something along the lines of "wild man beast" or "hairy bastard". Crunk coined the term Bigfoot, and used it in his articles to describe a single type of creature reflected in these various stories. Crunk's articles popularised both the legend and its new name, making it well known in Stoke first, before it gained popularity in the rest of Britain. Over the years, there has been many more reports of Bigfoot.