Why?
Believe it or, not, Burslem has a Victorian park designed by Thomas Hayton Mawson, and a large amount of reclaimed green space, such as the Westport Lakes and the later legacy of the 1986 National Garden Festival, which imaginatively reclaimed part of the Shelton Bar steelworks site.
The photograph on the left does not show that. Instead it shows what is most visible in Burslem to anyone driving through the town. Wasteland, derelict, disused, decaying buildings. Where the past has been obliterated, ruthlessly, all that remains is nothing, crap or, half-assed, abandoned schemes to provide regeneration which either ran out of funds or, the council lost interest in once the backhanders had been well and truly trousered.
The local council for Stoke-on-Trent is truly incredible. I thought Congleton had been a terrible council in the past but, if awards were given out for rank stupidity, greed, and incompetence, although it would be a hard fought battle, Stoke would, eventually, be given the Turd of Office. If this wasn't England, there would have been riots, public lynchings of council officials and mass demonstrations in the Six Towns. However, the incompetence of the council is only outweighed by the apathy of the local residents who, it would seem, do not care that their town looks like crap or, just can't be arsed to do anything about it.
The Peak District National Park begins just ten miles north-east of Burslem.
Industrial scale pottery production has drastically declined since the 1970s; but specialist makers (Steelite) and smaller producers of high-value ceramics (Burleigh, Wade, Moorcroft) are thriving. Burslem is emerging as a centre for small, freelance creative businesses working in sectors such as fine art, animation, and crafts, as well as pottery.
The photograph on the left does not show that. Instead it shows what is most visible in Burslem to anyone driving through the town. Wasteland, derelict, disused, decaying buildings. Where the past has been obliterated, ruthlessly, all that remains is nothing, crap or, half-assed, abandoned schemes to provide regeneration which either ran out of funds or, the council lost interest in once the backhanders had been well and truly trousered.
The local council for Stoke-on-Trent is truly incredible. I thought Congleton had been a terrible council in the past but, if awards were given out for rank stupidity, greed, and incompetence, although it would be a hard fought battle, Stoke would, eventually, be given the Turd of Office. If this wasn't England, there would have been riots, public lynchings of council officials and mass demonstrations in the Six Towns. However, the incompetence of the council is only outweighed by the apathy of the local residents who, it would seem, do not care that their town looks like crap or, just can't be arsed to do anything about it.
The Peak District National Park begins just ten miles north-east of Burslem.
Industrial scale pottery production has drastically declined since the 1970s; but specialist makers (Steelite) and smaller producers of high-value ceramics (Burleigh, Wade, Moorcroft) are thriving. Burslem is emerging as a centre for small, freelance creative businesses working in sectors such as fine art, animation, and crafts, as well as pottery.
Desolation Boulevard
What a waste...
I think what really shocked and annoyed me the most about my Bursley Walkabout was the potential of this area and the shameful way that that potential has been, ignored, squandered or, shamefully, allowed to dribble into the Trent and Mersey canal with little or no attempt to prevent it. The photographs above are a prime example of this.
The square thing in the middle of the photograph on the left is one of the few-remaining, square calcining kilns left, anywhere. This area, alongside the canal could have been (and still could be) made a tourist attraction, so rich is it in history, and so essential was this stretch of canal to the Industrial Revolution but, today it is derelict, dilapidated, desolate. It can't be knocked down because of it's historical significance so, it is being permitted to rot. Draw your own conclusions.
The square thing in the middle of the photograph on the left is one of the few-remaining, square calcining kilns left, anywhere. This area, alongside the canal could have been (and still could be) made a tourist attraction, so rich is it in history, and so essential was this stretch of canal to the Industrial Revolution but, today it is derelict, dilapidated, desolate. It can't be knocked down because of it's historical significance so, it is being permitted to rot. Draw your own conclusions.
Nosferatu...
You are probably wondering what the hell I mean by 'Nosferatu'.
Back in 1921, in Germany, FW Murnau made a film with that name. It was, in fact, an illegal version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. As he hadn't secured rights to the story from Stoker's widow, Florence, all prints were ordered to be destroyed. Thankfully, copies survived in Yugoslavian cellars and Rochdale attics and, today, Nosferatu is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential films ever made.
Part of the genius of the film is in the exhaustively scouted and painstakingly selected locations. The building above, reminds me of one of the locations, the vampire's lair, in Bremen (which actually still exists in that town). If you were looking to make a scary horror movie, this place would be ideal.
Back in 1921, in Germany, FW Murnau made a film with that name. It was, in fact, an illegal version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. As he hadn't secured rights to the story from Stoker's widow, Florence, all prints were ordered to be destroyed. Thankfully, copies survived in Yugoslavian cellars and Rochdale attics and, today, Nosferatu is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential films ever made.
Part of the genius of the film is in the exhaustively scouted and painstakingly selected locations. The building above, reminds me of one of the locations, the vampire's lair, in Bremen (which actually still exists in that town). If you were looking to make a scary horror movie, this place would be ideal.
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