# What to do in Stoke on Trent?



## moomoo (Aug 31, 2006)

We are coming up to Stoke in September for a week or so and will need something to do during the day.

Is there anything to do there?  

Must be wheelchair friendly and the nearer the hospital the better - once I've got a space in the hospital car park I don't want to have to move the car if possible  

I've heard of Trentham Gardens but don't know what it is.

Any suggestions?


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## chio (Aug 31, 2006)

It's a bit difficult to suggest things as the hospital is spread out over a few sites, none of which are near the city centre (or anything else, for that matter). You might have to bite the bullet and move your car to do anything here! 

Trentham is a very pretty Italian style garden with lakeside walks as well as a fairly extensive touristy shopping village - you know the sort, the shops all sell trinkets, cards, posh food and stuff. There's a bus to it, I don't know the details of it, but I think it's fairly regular. It's a couple of miles south of the city on the A34. 

The city centre (which is called Hanley not Stoke!) isn't really anything to write home about - a big shopping complex called the Potteries with the usual chains and a few streets of smaller shops and a major theatre called the Regent. If you do move your car there, parking is easy - there seem to be more car parks than anything else in Hanley - but quite pricey. There are a few attractions at the Festival Park retail park just outside Hanley - an Odeon cinema, a dry ski slope and Water World swimming place, but the latter two aren't really appropriate!

In the evenings, a bit of a hidden gem is the Stoke Film Theatre at Staffordshire Uni - they show the films you don't tend to get at the Odeon. It's reasonably cheap as well - about £3 for a ticket. The New Vic Theatre is also well worth a look if you're into that sort of thing. 

Aside from that, it's a bit of a blank - if anything else springs to mind, I'll post again!

c


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## chio (Sep 1, 2006)

You know how when you're from somewhere, you forget what there is on your own doorstep? 

Well, you could do worse than to have a look round some of the Potteries', erm, potteries. I know the Gladstone has a museum type setup with various hands-on workshops and Spode does tours, although they're a bit irregular. There's a museum and gallery (not just pottery, they have all sorts of random stuff for some reason) in Hanley and the much-vaunted but ultimately a bit rubbish "Ceramica" centre in Burslem, a couple of miles out of Hanley. 

Have a look here: http://www.visitstoke.co.uk/attractions.htm

Sorry


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## moomoo (Sep 1, 2006)

Thanks for that.  I feel better about going now I know there will be something to do


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## Donna Ferentes (Sep 1, 2006)




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## moomoo (Sep 1, 2006)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

>




What is that?


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## Donna Ferentes (Sep 1, 2006)

Stoke-on-Trent railway station.


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## snadge (Sep 1, 2006)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> Stoke-on-Trent railway station.



Is it of architectural interest cos' it just looks like a shite railway station to me?


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## chio (Sep 1, 2006)

snadge said:
			
		

> Is it of architectural interest cos' it just looks like a shite railway station to me?


I think it is - all the surrounding buildings including the hotel and part of the university are done in the same style, although I'm no expert.


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## Donna Ferentes (Sep 1, 2006)

I was rather unoriginally suggesting it might offer you a way out.


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## snadge (Sep 1, 2006)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> I was rather unoriginally suggesting it might offer you a way out.



When the vehicle they came in, is parked in the hospital car park?


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## chio (Sep 1, 2006)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> I was rather unoriginally suggesting it might offer you a way out.



*yawn*

When you've been here long enough you've heard it all before


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## moomoo (Sep 1, 2006)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

> I was rather unoriginally suggesting it might offer you a way out.




Why would I want to leave?  Seems like there is loads for us to do


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## chio (Sep 1, 2006)

Pop over for a cup of tea if you like


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## moomoo (Sep 1, 2006)

chio said:
			
		

> Pop over for a cup of tea if you like




Aw, that's kind but unless you have a suitable disabled accessible house it would't be possible!


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## chio (Sep 1, 2006)

From whence are you driving? If you're coming from the south, leave some extra time for your journey as the A500 at Stoke Road / City Road has been undergoing something approaching open-heart surgery for two years and it's a permanent traffic jam.


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## Error Gorilla (Sep 8, 2006)

Donna Ferentes said:
			
		

>



Yes, that's how I escaped.


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## chio (Sep 8, 2006)

Error Gorilla said:
			
		

> Yes, that's how I escaped.



But you're in _Hull_! 

(If your location thing's right. I'm not really in Flash. Thank goodness.)


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## Tom A (Sep 8, 2006)

chio said:
			
		

> Trentham is a very pretty Italian style garden with lakeside walks as well as a fairly extensive touristy shopping village - you know the sort, the shops all sell trinkets, cards, posh food and stuff. There's a bus to it, I don't know the details of it, but I think it's fairly regular. It's a couple of miles south of the city on the A34.


Depends where you mean by Hopsital, I assume that you mean either the North Staffs Royal Infirmary in Hartshill or the City General Hospital. The No. 83 bus goes to Trentham from near the City General Hospital (however AFAIK they rarely put "easy access" buses on that route), if you are at the Royal Infirmary end you have to walk down to Stoke (10 mins away) and get a 21/21A (which is "easy access"), however the A34 is fairly near both sites so it should only be a few minutes by car. Also if you do need to use buses, check FirstGroup's website beforehand as First are just about to mess around with the routes and timetables, so my info may be out of date when you come up here. Stoke town has the Spode pottery works which may have a visitor's centre, Gladstone pottery museum is in Longton, which is a fair mission unless you have a car, particulary if you need to consider wheelchairs, I don't know if the site itself is wheelchair friendly. I'd wish I could recommend you something to do in Newcastle-under-Lyme (which is nearer to the hospital than Hanley is), but the truth is there is nothing really there apart from shops and pubs, although it has a large market, and there is a museum and art gallery at the Brampton, just on the outskirts of the town centre.


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## futha (Sep 8, 2006)

stoke is pretty awful but its alot better than fucking crewe. at least stoke has hanley near it and some half decent shops and a few clubs.
crewe has............nothing.
awful dead grey town


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## Tom A (Sep 8, 2006)

futha said:
			
		

> stoke is pretty awful but its alot better than fucking crewe. at least stoke has hanley near it and some half decent shops and a few clubs.
> crewe has............nothing.
> awful dead grey town


But apparently Crewe has the lowest crime rate in the whole of Cheshire (apparantly), and it's getting a rock night, so I heard, but the only thing I have seen of Crewe is the raliway station.


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## futha (Sep 8, 2006)

past 11 crewe turns into a ghost town. thats interesting about the low crime rate, probably because as i said after the pubs chuck out the whole town centre is desserted.


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## Tom A (Sep 8, 2006)

Meanwhile all my Stokie friends tell me Newcastle is more violent than Hanley, although I have always found the former less initmidating that the latter, although that is probably cause I am more familar with Castle as an alumnus of Keele Univeristy.


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## futha (Sep 8, 2006)

are you on about geordie newcastle or the other one? i pressume the other one as its closer. is it newcastle-under-lyme or something?


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## Tom A (Sep 8, 2006)

Newcastle-under-Lyme. I thought in the context of this discussion about the Potteries I was able to dispense with the "-under-Lyme".


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## chio (Sep 8, 2006)

Tom A said:
			
		

> But apparently Crewe has the lowest crime rate in the whole of Cheshire (apparantly), and it's getting a rock night, so I heard, but the only thing I have seen of Crewe is the raliway station.



Crewe's had rock nights for years at various dodgy little places - plus it's got the legendary Limelight  although a lot of the Crewe bands do spread their wings and end up at the Talbot in Stoke after a while. The town is pretty rubbish, it's such a contrast from the rest of this bit of Cheshire which is rather nice thank-you-very-much  the town centre's deserted all day as well, save the odd scally or nutter. Last time I was over there, some bloke was walking up Edleston Road whistling the same tone again and again like a demented bleep machine...


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## futha (Sep 8, 2006)

yeah sorry i thought you meant under-lyme but thought i would check. im a bit bit slow on the uptake today!
cant remember the last time i was in crewe. i used to play at the limelight but although that is the best place in crewe even that got horrendous depressing after a while. same people. same bands. same nights.
thank fuck i got out (even though im from nantwich not crewe)


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## Tom A (Sep 8, 2006)

chio said:
			
		

> Crewe's had rock nights for years at various dodgy little places - plus it's got the legendary Limelight  although a lot of the Crewe bands do spread their wings and *end up at the Talbot in Stoke after a while*.


Not anymore they don't, it shut just over a year ago.


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## Pogo Mushroom (Sep 8, 2006)

About the only decent place to go out in Stoke is Harrys Bar in Stoke centre, maybe the Sugarmill in Hanley if there's a good band playing. Sugarmill seems mostly full of kids though.


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## chio (Sep 8, 2006)

Tom A said:
			
		

> Not anymore they don't, it shut just over a year ago.



Never was my sort of place 

and i have to admit, i do what i need to in stoke and scarper back up the A500 as quick as possible these days


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## Tom A (Sep 8, 2006)

Harry's Bar is farily good, been to the Stage Door a lot recently and quite liked there, although it's no match for the ever-"soon to reopen" Rigger.
Newcastle*-under-Lyme* has the Old Brown Jug, which is good for jazz and is a fairly cool place although it can get awfully crowded, also the Full Moon is a pretty decent place too. Made several ventures to those two since Keele has broken up for the summer.


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