When I was younger, I lived in Shelton, and then in Cobridge. I often use to hang out in Etruia, and Festival park, which were about a fifteen minute walk from both areas. I found it absolutely fascinating to come across various plaques that would be inscribed with interesting quirks and anecdotes about the history of the area. In Etruia Park, I learned that a huge segment of it had once belonged to the Garden Festival. A festival which was wildly known across the land, and brought across a lot of tourist activity. The entirety of festival park was nothing but a huge fantastical garden, with both sculptures of amazing art, and plants from homeland and across seas galore. Some of it still remains, and some of it was removed for the creation of the shopping segment. A lot of it was either moved to Trentham Gardens or Biddulph Grange - the two nearest fancy tourist attracting gardens around.
There's something eagerly refreshing about taking a stroll through what is left of the festival park nature reserve. You can almost feel the history of the place linger in the air. Coming across old segments of stone and plants that were once part of a bigger scenic picture brings to light just how much the area has changed drastically over the years. Of course the good ol' Etruia Hall - a great manor that once belonged to our local potter Josiah Wedgwood, still remains, and is incorporated as part of the nearby hotel. Centuries before the area was converted into a massive scenic garden, it was owned by Wedgwood, with a pottery factory and residential area for his workers having been built by his say so. But alas, the second world war seemingly changed all that with a lot of his works and whatever being moved into storage and then later to Barlaston.
Back to my original point, I find it absolutely titillating that so much of my own history, of my own life time seems to loop around and find connections through various things. I partially grew up in Shelton, not far from Etruia. I went on to graduate University at Trentham Gardens - a place where some of the old Festival Park Garden festival plants and such had been moved to. Trentham Gardens itself also had connections with Wedgwood (which had evident linkings in with Festival park/Etruia), but it also has connections with John Joule - a local brewer who purchased Oulton Abbey, a building which was not far off from the Trentham Estate.
Intriguingly, not long after graduating, I found myself working at The Glebe, in Stoke, an old public house which has, in later years, been taken over by the Joules brewery. A brewery based in or near Drayton that still uses the old Abbey's supply of natural mineral water to create their three title ales, Pale Ale, Joule's Blonde, and Slumbering Monk. I have to say, that personally I find the Monk to be the preferred ale of them all, a sweeter yet deeper, darker coloured ale with hints of nut and caramel at its core.
There I am with a half pint of the monk on a night out, as well as some sneaky photos from the same night out with a couple of old friends. Sometimes, I find myself missing those nights of going to an ale house, drinking a couple of pints (sometimes of just water or cordial) and playing munchkins or some other board game. Also connecting all these little tidbits, is the fact that Wedgwood is buried in Stoke cemetery - a cemetery that is literally across the road from The Glebe. Intriguingly, The Glebe is also apparently haunted, though in all honesty I've never really so much as felt a chill that could be mistaken as a ghost, whilst I was there. Though, the building itself does hold such a lot of history, with one old chap telling me how he took a girl on date well back in the thirties or forties, and the part where the entrance leads to now, apparently looked like a waiting room with wooden benches lined up against the wall. The other entrance leading to the main bar area. Whether this old man's memory of the place is legit or not I can't be sure of, but I still found it highly interesting to hear such things.
I'd already mentioned that I graduated at Trentham Garden, haven't I? Well in some weird twist of fate, I have found myself back there, not once, but twice. For two separate jobs - one in the garden centre, and another in the shopping village. Yet again, I find it intriguing how it all seems to just weave together. I also find it intriguing how I never bumped into any of the people I later worked with in the village prior to working with them, since I used to spend a lot of my early finishes wondering around the village, in avoidance of going home to my ex. It's almost as if, even though the weaves were in motion, they were not quite sewn together properly yet. I suppose, timing is absolutely vital. I spent a lot of my time during that time also walking through the same walk way that I would rewalk through years later too. Here's some pictures just to give a refreshing idea of just how scenic that route was.
Since the initial time of working in a job at the Trentham Estate, I spent a couple of days wondering around the woodland at the back of the estate, climbing up to the very top and looking down at the remainder of the area - being able to see a large selection of Stoke on Trent, and some of Newcastle under Lyme also. Here is an absolutely adorable picture of me in a cute little owl beanie hat from the highest point that I could get to:
I would spend my days off, and evenings after work, wondering through the Hem Heath Woods with a friend. When I lost my first job there, that was also how I would spend my days off. Wondering through the woods, coming across the pond and admiring the beautiful scenery and natural wildlife of the area. To my suprise, the woods seemed to extend further each time, at one point we came out at a clearing that I now know to be the World of Wedgwood, and at another time, we came out on a farmers field. We spent the remainder of the night trying to find the way back in the pitch black darkness of midnight, going across country lanes and hoping we wouldn't get hit by any passing vehicles.
And in a way, all that, coming up at the random clearing of where World of Wedgwood is, has lead up to the point in my life of now - the other day I found myself visiting the World of Wedgwood site, and was blown away with just how magnificently huge and historically filled the place is. Prior to my visit to the site, however, I'd written up notes on Wedgwood. Because the huge history nerd in me feels compelled to just handwrite things every now and again :)
