Located in the centre of England, between Birmingham and Manchester, Stoke shines brightly as a beacon to all around it. Today, it is known and respected worldwide and regarded as one of the most important cities in the county of Staffordshire. But did you know that Stoke was only created as a town in 1910?
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| Stoke's location in England |
The area we now know as Stoke-on-Trent used to be a collection of warring villages and towns, of which Burslem (originally called Boslem) was the largest and roughest.
Calls for them to be amalgamated into one conurbation began as early as 1817 when local warlords heard rumours of invasion by people from local county rivals Derbyshire.
Administrative rationalisation didn’t begin though until 1857 when Hanley council won Shelton in a cards game; Shelton was merged into the borough of Hanley. In 1865 Longton conquered Long End to form an expanded borough of Longton. In 1874 the towns of Stoke, Penkhull and Boothen formed an alliance fearing an attack from Hanley or Longton and came together as the borough of Stoke-upon-Trent. Two other towns, Fenton and Tunstall, gained urban district status in the 1890s purely to spite each other. Fegg Hayes declared itself an independent republic in 1899.
In 1910 the rationalisation process was completed when the "seven towns" of Burslem, Hanley, Longton, Stoke, Fenton, Tunstall and Fegg Hayes were brought together to form the federated town of Stoke-on-Trent, the largest such amalgamation ever to occur in North Staffordshire.
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| King George V, multiple winner of 'beard of the year' |
City status was granted in 1925 by King George V, known affectionately as "the boring king". Stoke’s application was originally refused by the Home Office, who believed the application to be a joke. King George found the application while looking in a bin for some stamps. He was so impressed with the stamps on Stoke’s application that he immediately granted it city status.
Stoke has expanded greatly over the years since the original seven towns joined together, and now has over 30 constituent parts, although no-one’s sure exactly how many as the City Council elders won’t tell anyone.
Stoke tried to declare itself independent from the UK in 1974 as a micronation, its citizens loyal to City Council elders rather than parliament or the Queen. Currency and stamps for the Republic of Stoke-on-Trent were issued briefly to locals before Stoke was invaded by the Royal Navy and its assets seized by the Inland Revenue. Council elders were publicly made to swear allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II and not themselves, and Stoke once again became a part of England and the UK.
Stoke has tried to expand in recent decades by trying to annexe neighbouring Newcastle-under-Lyme to the west, so far without success. Stoke and Newcastle have fought over other local areas over the years, particularly the key commuter town Kidsgrove and the gargoyle-filled town of Wolstanton, fights Newcastle have won. But as people in Stoke like to say: "Newcastle may have won those battles, but the war goes on!"
Stoke Facts
Stoke Facts
Stoke's official motto is "agricola est in atrium", meaning "the farmer is in the hall".
Stoke is governed by a Council of Elders, consisting of an elder from each of the "seven towns".
The official religion of Stoke is Rasta.
Stoke has its own legal system, though it's rarely used nowadays. Juries can return a verdict of guilty, very guilty and probably guilty.
Stoke's official flower is the Urtica dioica, better known as the stinging nettle.
People from Stoke are called "Stokies" or "Pot Herbs".
The Bank of Stoke, founded in 1694, is the oldest surviving bank in the UK. It prints bank notes featuring Stokies instead of the Queen, but they can only be spent in Stoke.
Stoke's official food is the hamburger.
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| "Welcome to Stoke!" |
Stoke's official mascot is Hamburglar.
There are three languages recognised by Stoke City Council: English, Chinese and Wappo.
The official animal of Stoke is the British Bulldog, which Stoke City Council describe as "more patriotic than the Staffordshire Bull Terrier".
Famous literary authors from Stoke include Anthea Turner and Robbie Williams.
Notable inventions by Stokies include the knuckle duster, the push dagger and the snooker-ball-in-a-sock.
Famous Stokies
Reginald Mitchell
Designer of the Spitfire plane, helping to win WW2 for the good guys. As such, is responsible for the deaths of lots of bad Johnny Foreigners!
Robbie Williams
Famous Stokies
Anthea Turner
TV presenter. Once voted 15th worst Briton by Channel 4.
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| Anthea Turner, yesterday |
Bruno Brookes
Radio DJ. Real name: Trevor. Did Anthea Turner for a while in the 80s.
Frank Bough
Retired TV presenter, best known for having cocaine-fuelled romps with S&M prostitutes.
Harold Shipman
Serial killer, responsible for at least 218 deaths. Without doubt, he is Britain's greatest ever serial killer.
Hugh Dancy
Actor, appeared in 'Black Hawk Down' and 'Basic Instinct 2'. More impressively, he is married to Claire Danes! Yes, really!
Jonathan Wilkes
TV presenter. Actor. Musician. Entertainer. Star of musical theatre. Perhaps the most talented man in Stoke. Has had a top 24 hit in the British pop charts.
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| Wilkes with Robbie Williams |
Kendo Nagasaki
Famous British wrestler. Real name: Peter Thornley.
Lemmy
Motorhead front man with a love for Nazi memorabilia. Has moles on his face. Was kicked out of Hawkwind after being arrested for drug possession.
Neil Morrissey
Actor, but best known for having an affair with Amanda Holden while she was married to Les Dennis! More amazingly, he also went out with Rachel Weisz!!!!!
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| He went out with Rachel Weisz??? |
Nick Hancock
TV presenter. Also appeared in two episodes of 'Mr Bean'. Is married to a foreigner.
Reginald Mitchell
Designer of the Spitfire plane, helping to win WW2 for the good guys. As such, is responsible for the deaths of lots of bad Johnny Foreigners!
Robbie Williams
Singer famed for hits like 'Rudebox', 'Morning Sun' and 'South of the Border'. Actor Max Beesley once described him by saying: "I've never met anybody less gay in my life."
Stanley Matthews
Legendary footballer, won the FA Cup while playing for Blackpool.
The darts players
Phil Taylor, 15 time world champion. Ted Hankey, 2 time world champion. Adrian Lewis, 2 time world champion. Need I say more?
