Mervyn Edwards – författare

Renowned for their illustrious ceramic manufacturing heritage, the Staffordshire Potteries originally centred upon six towns: Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke-upon-Trent, Fenton and Longton. The modern city of Stoke-on-Trent was created from these six towns and around fifty villages. In The Potteries Through Time, author Mervyn Edwards presents a nostalgic visual chronicle of the towns and villages in the Potteries across the decades.In his previous Through Time books, Mervyn Edwards focused upon each of the six towns individually. This latest volume explores the hills and hollows between the centres whilst also offering new archive photographs of the main towns. We find shabby backstreets cowering in the shadow of enormous coal tips – the Potteries’ own ‘black hills’ – and there are industrial hotspots and busy suburbs. Then there are the proud old chapels and pubs and the even prouder people that patronised them. Stoke-on-Trent was not a pretty place, but as the proverb tells us, ‘where there is muck there is brass’, and the fascinating landscape came to be captured by all manner of writers, artists and photographers.This collection of archive photographs is an engaging book that charts changing times and the shifting identity of the Potteries. It will be of immense interest to local residents, visitors and all those with links to the area.

The area of North Staffordshire combines urban and rural areas, from Stoke-on-Trent and the Potteries, the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, the moorland and Peak District towns and villages to the border with Cheshire and Derbyshire.In spite of the many changes that have occurred in North Staffordshire, its towns and villages have retained their identity, with historical buildings alongside the new. This fascinating selection of old and new images of North Staffordshire will be essential reading for all those who know the area.

The North Staffordshire Coalfield is concentrated around the Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme areas, with a small outlying area around Leek and Cheadle. During the Industrial Revolution coal from the area fired the Potteries’ ceramics and iron industries.At its peak, fifty pits were working in the area but as the coal industry declined nationally, pits gradually merged or closed in the post-war years. Closures accelerated following the Miners’ Strike in the 1980s and the last deep mine, Silverdale, closed in 1998. Today, most of the sites have been reclaimed, including a nature reserve at Chatterley Whitfield.This fascinating selection of old and new images of the North Staffordshire Coalfield will be essential reading for all those who know the area or have family members who worked in the local coal mining industry.

North Staffordshire was transformed by the growing industrialisation of the towns in the Potteries but the area also includes the historic town of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the moorland and Peak District towns and villages. Through the centuries the history of North Staffordshire has had its darker side, from deprivation and disease to disaster and tragic accidents. Medical care and welfare were much more basic than today, entertainment was often more bloody and many were familiar with tales of strange or unexplained happenings.In A Dark History of North Staffordshire author Mervyn Edwards delves into the often lesser known but darker stories from North Staffordshire’s past. This fascinating insight into the area will be of interest to all those who want to know more about North Staffordshire’s remarkable history.

Hanley has been the dominant Potteries town since the early nineteenth century. From being 'a humble collection of dwellings' in the early eighteenth century, it grew into a recognisable town and ultimately emerged as the Potteries metropolis and the city centre that we know today. From 1801 it was the largest of the six towns, and it was politically dominant too. It was in Hanley that the meeting that many regard as being the first step towards federation took place in 1817. Hanley might perhaps be considered the cultural centre of the potteries towns too, with many cultural amenities here, from the Pottery Subscription Library to the modern day Potteries Museum. With its grand Victoria Hall, Hanley Park and a diverse shopping centre, Hanley continues to be one of the most vibrant neighbourhoods in Stoke-on-Trent. Here we take a look at the evolution of the town through fascinating photographs spanning the last 100 years.

Stoke-upon-Trent, described as a village in 1795, grew rapidly from the 1820s and 1830s, by which time a new Anglican church had been built as well as new streets. Noted in a trade directory of 1829 as having 'many handsome houses, wharves, warehouses and earthenware manufactories', it became famous for pottery manufactured by the likes of Spode, Copeland, Minton and Goss. However, Stoke is not just the story of ceramics. Other forces shaped the development of the town, including the North Staffordshire Railway Company, the Michelin Tyre Company and even Stoke City FC. Entertainment venues and public houses contributed conspicuously to community life and were part of a vibrant town that began to decline from the 1970s. As Stoke struggles to reassert itself, this book looks back at more prosperous times.