EAW008318 ENGLAND (1947). Barker Brothers Ltd Pottery and environs, Longton, 1947

the beginnings of St. Mary's Rd. building.

cinderbonk!

The British oak

British Oak Pub

Now Chelson St Was Bagnall St in 1947

Short Street .

asker (newt) pond.

pock marked landscape, the result of outcropping for coal during the 1926 general strike. occasionaly during the fifties the holes would open up due to the ground settling, as kids we thought this was wonderful

Rosina China Co. Ltd.

As a boy, in the late 1950s and into the 1960s, I recall seeing lots of pottery waste (or 'saff' as it was known) which had been tipped around this area. Could this be one of those 'saff rucks'?

Barrels.

Wooden barrels, used for packing ware. The china/earthenware pieces would have been packed in straw to protect them from damage during transport. 'Pot Banks' often had a cooper on site to manufacture and repair barrels.

Meir Hay.

Colliery Railway running along top of embankment.

Wooden crates, with additional materials close by.

Railway Terrace.

Yard full of lengths of timber: possibility for making hurdle fencing or packing crates for pottery transport. Note also the washing hanging out to dry.

High Street/Uttoxeter Road running left/right.

Roof in poor state of repair.

Sutherland Road, running left/right.

H. Bagnall, 'Cash Grocer'.

Barker Street. My Father, born in 1919, was brought up in a house in this street. He used to tell of being sent for a bucket of gas tar from Longton Gas Works to paint on the lower half of the walls in house, so that the beetles couldn't be seen, with lime wash being used on the upper part. Another tale was about him shouting to the men working in the abattoir opposite his home to ask them to throw a pig's bladder over the wall so that he could use it to play football in the street with other kids. Hard but happy times!

Coal wagons standing in exchange sidings just North of Normacot Station.

Level Crossing.

Loading hoppers at the end of a tramway linking back to Park Hall Colliery. Dozens of mineral wagons can be seen near the top edge of the photograph.

'George's Steps' footbridge over the Stoke - Derby railway line.

A car, quite a rarity at the time. Possibly belonging to the adjacent funeral director. Is that another one in the yard to the rear?

A.E. Birch, Funeral Director.