Potteries Museum, Bethesda Street, Stoke-on-Trent - 01782 236 000 stoke.tic@stoke.gov.uk

Stoke-on-Trent - 'Stoke-on-Trent' (and stock, stowe) derives from the Old English stoc, a word that at first meant little more than a 'place', but which subsequently gained more specific – but divergent – connotations. These variant meanings included 'meeting place'.

Stoke-on-Trent-on-Trent is situated approximately half-way between Manchester and Birmingham and the city adjoins the town and borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is administered separately and situated to the west. To the east is the Peak District, which includes part of the Staffordshire Moorlands District, as well as parts of Derbyshire, Greater Manchester and West and South Yorkshire.

Stoke-on-Trent-on-Trent is often known as "the city of five towns", because of the name given to it by local novelist Arnold Bennett. In his novels, Bennett used mostly recognisable aliases for five of the six towns (although he called Stoke-on-Trent "Knype"). However, Bennett said that he believed "Five Towns" was more euphonious than "Six Towns", so he omitted Fenton (now sometimes referred to as "the forgotten town").

A city like Stoke-on-Trent made up of multiple towns is known as a conurbation (although in this case the conurbation is bigger than Stoke-on-Trent itself, because the urban area of Stoke-on-Trent is now continuous with that of administratively-separate Newcastle).

The six towns run in a rough line from north to south along the A50 road - Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Fenton and Longton. Although the city is named after the original town of Stoke-on-Trent, and the City Council offices are located there, the city centre is usually regarded as being in Hanley, which had earlier developed into a major commercial centre.

Since the 17th century the area has been almost exclusively known for its industrial-scale pottery manufacturing, with such world renowned names as Royal Doulton, Dudson Ltd, Spode (founded by Josiah Spode), Wedgwood (founded by Josiah Wedgwood) and Minton (founded by Thomas Minton) being born and based there. The presence locally of abundant supplies of coal and of suitable clay for earthenware production led to the early but at first limited development of the local pottery industry. The construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal enabled the import of china clay from Cornwall together with other materials and facilitated the production of creamware and bone china.

Colorado Boullions Regina and teapots, vitrified tableware by Dudson Brothers Ltd., as exhibited by artists in London's Pimlico Road, 2003.However, many other production centres elsewhere in Britain, Europe and worldwide had a considerable lead in the production of high quality wares. It was largely the methodical and highly detailed research and a willingness to experiment carried out over many years, initially by one man, Josiah Wedgwood, and later by other local potters (such as Thomas Whieldon), along with scientists and engineers, that nurtured the development of artistic talent throughout the local community and raised the profile of Staffordshire Potteries. With the industry also came a large number of notable ceramic artists including Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper, Charlotte Rhead, Frederick Hurten Rhead and Jabez Vodrey.

North Staffordshire was a centre for coal mining. The first reports of coal mining in the area come from the 13th century. Part of the North Staffordshire Coalfield, the Potteries Coalfield covers 100 square miles (300 km2).

On nationalisation of the industry in 1947, around 20,000 men worked in the industry in Stoke-on-Trent on Trent. Notable Collieries included Hanley Deep Pit, Trentham Superpit (formerly Hem Heath and Florence Collieries), Fenton Glebe, Silverdale, Chatterley Whitfield and Wolstanton. The industry developed greatly and even new investments in mining projects were planned within the City boundaries as recently as the 1990s. However, 1994 saw the last pit to close as the Trentham Superpit was shut.

The Stoke-on-Trent mining industry set several national and international records. Wolstanton Colliery, when modernised had the deepest mining shafts in Europe. In 1933, Chatterley Whitfield Colliery became the first Colliery in the country to mine 1 million tons of coal. In the 1980s Florence Colliery in Longton repeatedly set regional and national production records and in 1992 the combined Trentham Superpit (Hem Heath and Florence) was the first Mine in Europe to produce 2.5 million saleable tonnes of coal.

Today the mines are all closed, though the scars of mining still remain on the landscape. Slag heaps are still visible on the skyline, now covered with flora and fauna. The abandoned mines underground are inaccessible, though still add complications to many building projects and occasionally cause minor tremors, detectable only by specialized equipment.

Other industries have also occupied important roles in the development of the city both before and after federation. Notably the iron and steel making industry located in the valley at Goldendale and Shelton below the hill towns of Tunstall, Burslem and Hanley. Shelton Steelworks production of steel ended in 1978 and instead of producing crude Steel concentrated on rolling Steel Billet train loaded in from Scunthorpe. The Rolling Plant finally closed in 2002. From 1864 to 1927 Stoke-on-Trent housed the repair shops of the North Staffordshire Railway and was also the home from 1881 to 1930 of independent railway locomotive manufacturers Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd.

Shelton Steel Works as well as the mining operations were heavily involved in the World War II industrial effort. Central to the RAF's success was the Supermarine Spitfire designed by Reginald Mitchell who, whilst born at 115 Congleton Road in the nearby village of Butt Lane, Kidsgrove had his apprenticeship at Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd's railway works.

The Michelin tyre company also has a presence in Stoke-on-Trent-on-Trent and in the 1920s built their first UK plant in the city. As recently as the 1980s nearly 9,000 workers were employed at the plant. Nowadays around 1,200 are employed at the site.