North Staffordshire &
The Staffordshire Moorlands

Towns & Villages

Stoke-on-Trent, affectionately known the world over as "The Potteries", is a unique city made up of six separate towns: Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley (the City Centre), Stoke, Fenton and Longton. The City is the centre of the UK ceramic industry and home to some of the world's greatest pottery manufacturers, including, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton and Spode.

A visit to the City's award-winning museums offers a fascinating glimpse into the area's rich industrial heritage. The Potteries Museum houses the world's largest collection of Staffordshire ceramics together with a Mark II Spitfire, designed by locally-born Reginald Mitchell, and at the Gladstone Pottery Museum you can get an insight of life at a 19th century pottery factory, and test your own pottery skills by throwing a pot or making an ornamental flower. The Etruria Industrial Museum was originally a bone and flint mill and the original steam engine which powered the mill is in steam the first Sunday of every month.

For unbeatable family entertainment, look no further than the Visitor Centres of the various potteries. The larger ones, Wedgwood, Spode and Royal Doulton all offer museums, craft demonstration areas, audio visual presentations, factory tours and restaurants but many of the smaller factories have shops providing excellent shopping opportunities for anyone seeking a bargain. Often the products for sale may be labelled as "seconds" but the untrained eye would not be able to find any imperfection.

In the City Centre, you can also find Festival Park, original site of the 1986 National Garden Festival, and now home to a 10 screen Odeon Cinema, a water fun pool, a dry ski centre, and a colourful canalside marina with restaurant.