Smallthorne

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Smallthorne
latitude = 53.0516
longitude = -2.1733
population = 4,161 (2001 Census)
unitary_england = Stoke-on-Trent
region = West Midlands
lieutenancy_england = Staffordshire
constituency_westminster = Stoke-on-Trent North
post_town = STOKE-ON-TRENT
postcode_district = ST6
dial_code = 01782
os_grid_reference = SJ884504

Smallthorne (population: 4,161 - 2001 Census) is an area in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is in the north-east of the city, near Burslem. Smallthorne borders Bradeley in the north, Norton-in-the-Moors in the east, Sneyd Green in the south, and Burslem in the west.

History

Administration

Although all of Smallthorne falls comfortably within Stoke-on-Trent North parliamentary constituency, for local government purposes it is currently split between two different electoral wards: Burslem North and East Valley. The part of Smallthorne that falls within East Valley is sometimes referred to as New Ford and has an active Residents Association of the same name. The Burslem North part of Smallthorne also has an active residents association and has chosen to call itself Smallthorne Village Residents Association. [ [http://www.smallthornevillage.co.uk/index.html?_ret_=return Smallthorne Village Residents Association website.] Retrieval Date: 17 September, 2007.]

For 115 years Smallthorne was administratively separate from Stoke-on-Trent. From 1807 to 1894, Smallthorne (and Ford Green), along with Bemersley, Norton, Norton Green, and Milton, was part of the Norton-on-the-Moors Parish. An Act of Parliament , entitled 'An Act for separating the Chapelries and Chapels of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Burslem, Whitmore, Bucknall-cum-Bagnall and Norton-in-the-Moors, from the Rectory and Parish Church of Stoke-upon-Trent, and for making them five district rectories', was passed in 1807. For Poor Law purposes, the parish became part of Leek Union in 1834. A visitor in the 1850s observed that "the whole parish is a cold and hilly country, abounding in coal, which is got at various depths, in beds from four to seven feet thick". [ cite book |last=White |first=William |year=1851 |title=History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire |place=Sheffield ]

Smallthorne was from 1894 to 1922 part of the Smallthorne Urban District. In 1922 the urban district was wound up, with the bulk of it becoming part of the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent.

The building that once served as the council HQ is still in existence and can be found near Smallthorne Cemetery. The HQ became a public library before that closed in the early 1990s. It now serves as an undertakers' premises.

One interesting side effect of the fact that the Potteries' six towns and Smallthorne were administratively separate was the duplication of many street names. This led to significant confusion after unification. Thus, in the early 1950s a large number of streets had to be renamed. In Smallthorne twenty streets were given new names, including Ford Green Road (formerly Leek Road), Coseley Street (formerly Edward Street) and Preston Street (formerly Wedgwood Street).

Industry

Today, there is virtually no sign of heavy industry in Smallthorne but this is a relatively recent development. The district used to be criss-crossed by a canal and numerous mineral lines servicing five collieries – Cornhill, Holden Lane, Intake, Norton and Pinfold; the Ford Green Ironworks; a forge; and a chain, cable and anchor works. These lines joined the main Biddulph Valley Line near Ford Green Hall. The Foxley, a branch of the Caldon Canal, itself a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal, fell into complete disuse with the arrival of the railways and its remains have almost all been obliterated over time.

The Biddulph Valley Line, later part of the North Staffordshire Railway, was opened in 1859 and a passenger station called ‘Ford Green and Smallthorne’ began service in 1864. Passenger services between Stoke and Biddulph ceased in 1927 but some special excursion trains continued until 1962. With the decline of the heavy industries all along the route, the line was gradually downgraded until the last section between Ford Green and Milton Junction closed in 1977 (when Norton Colliery closed).

Thus, until the late 1970s Smallthorne was very much a coal mining area. In the mid 1960s there were still three large collieries - Norton (Ford Green), Sneyd (Burslem) and Hanley Deep Pit - within a mile or less of 'Smallthorne Bank' (the main shopping area today) and a number of others where within an easy commuting distance. One of the many workingmen's clubs scattered throughout the surrounding district is still called the Norton Miners Welfare Institute and Cricket Club and can be located off Community Drive in Smallthorne. (The semi-pro football club Norton United F.C. are also based at the Institute, although, being only a mile and a half from Vale Park, home of League One Port Vale F.C., crowds are rarely large).

Ranters

One of the Smallthorne streets off Ford Green Road is called ‘Primitive Street’. For a hundred years or more, it contained two complete rows of unspectacular terraced housing. Those houses are now demolished and the area has been partially redeveloped. The street’s significance lies in its name.

‘Primitive Street’ is named after Primitive Methodism, which, in the mid nineteenth century, was an influential Protestant Christian movement. There was a Primitive Methodist Chapel close by in Sangster Lane, as well as Victoria Methodist (recently demolished after a fire) and Salem Methodist. There were numerous such chapels throughout the North Staffordshire coalfield until, in 1932, the three main Methodist groups in Britain, the Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists and United Methodists came together to form the present Methodist Church. In recent years many have closed and now only one, Salem, remains in Smallthorne and its future is currently threatened by the need to comply with the latest disabled access laws.

Primitive Methodism was founded by two Stoke-on-Trent Christian converts: Bucknall-born Hugh Bourne (1772-1852) and Burslem-born William Clowes (1780-1851). Bourne, and his supporters, were originally known as 'Camp Meeting Methodists' because they organised large open-air meetings for preaching, prayer and the public declaration of sin. From a vantage point on Chetwynd Street, outside Smallthorne Primary School, you can see three important places in the early history of the movement: Mow Cop, the site of the first two Camp Meetings on Sunday 31st May 1807 and 19th July; Norton-in-the-Moors, the location of the third Camp Meeting on 23rd August 1807; and Chatterley Whitfield Colliery winding gear and spoil heap behind which can be found the small former mining village of Bemersley, where Hugh Bourne lived and died. In 1907 the Primitive Methodists celebrated their centenary with a new Camp Meeting at Mow Cop that attracted around 100,000 people.

Primitive Methodists were popularly nicknamed ‘Ranters’ because of their tendency to sing hymns in the street. Before the age of state education, many of Smallthorne’s children would have received their elementary education from ‘Ranters’ in Primitive Methodist Sunday Schools.

Demographics

Smallthorne has a large elderly population, twice the City's average. Nearly a third of its residents live in council housing and there is an even larger proportion in terraced housing (Source: 2001 Census). According to the Council’s Neighbourhood Area Profile (July 2006), Smallthorne “is typified by large areas of privately-owned terraced housing and significant areas of semi-detached council-housing”. The average gross household income of Smallthorne residents is lower than the City's average but there are ten other neighbourhoods in the City that are poorer (Source: CACI Ltd). Social housing in the area is usually very sought after and private house prices are buoyant. [ Steve Johnston (July 2006) "Neighbourhood Area Profile: Smallthorne NA23", Knowledge Management, Stoke on Trent City Council; ]

Present Day

The hub of the community is around the junction of Ford Green Road (known locally as ‘Smallthorne Bank’ because of its gradient) and Community Drive. Here can be found a community hall, an NHS health centre, a chemist, a sub-post office, a number of other shops, a restaurant, an Oatcake shop and take-aways.

Smallthorne’s community hall was one of only twelve council-owned, community-run halls in the city. Today, many of these Halls are social enterprises owned by local Trusts. In addition to its community hall, Smallthorne has two churches [Saint Saviours Church of England Parish and Salem Methodist Chapel - part of the Stoke on Trent (Burslem) Circuit of the Methodist Church] and two primary schools (Smallthorne and New Ford). Both primary schools are 'feeder schools' for Haywood High in Burslem, with a significant minority of former New Ford pupils attending Holden Lane High School in Sneyd Green.

There are six public houses in Smallthorne (Last Orders, the Barrel, the Ford, the Green Star, the Kings Head, and the Swan Inn) and three Workingmen's Clubs (Norton Miners Institute, the Pioneer WMC and Institute on Chetwynd Street and the Victory WMC and Institute on Hanley Road - a member of the Working Men's Club and Institute Union).

Landmarks

Ford Green Hall

Ford Green Hall is a farmhouse, originally built in 1624 It stands on land adjacent to the B5051 minor road in the east of Smallthorne. It is the only timber-framed yeoman farmer's house still surviving in Stoke-on-Trent. Originally, it stood in 36 acres of farmland, but this has been gradually encroached upon over the years so that now it is surrounded by comparatively small grounds. Beyond its grounds there is now housing, a busy minor road, and a nature reserve.

In its grounds, there also stands an 18th century dovecote.

Both the hall and the dovecote have been restored to as close to their original condition as possible, and the hall itself functions as a museum, managed by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

Various events are held at the hall, many focused around children and historical events that the Hall has lived through in its early life.

Green Star public house and Esperanto

A former Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in the 1950s, Horace Barks was a strong advocate of Esperanto (gaining the nickname Mr. Esperanto). So when 'The Green Star', a Smallthorne pub, was being built Barks naturally requested that the brewery add the words 'la verda stelo' (the pub's name in Esperanto) onto the side of the building. The brewer agreed.

The Green Star can still be found on the corner of Esperanto Way, a stones throw from Zamenhof Grove (named for the creator of Esperanto) though from some time in 2005 the sign saying 'la verda stelo' is no longer displayed.

The office and administrative centre of 'Esperanto-Asocio de Britio' (Esperanto Association of Britain) is just outside Stoke-on-Trent in the Wedgwood Memorial College, Barlaston. Horace Barks helped set up the first courses there in 1960.

Notable residents

* Arthur Berry English playwright, poet, teacher and artist.
* Mark Bright Professional footballer and BBC sports pundit.
* Joseph Dundas Television Presenter and Documentary maker.
* Alan Martin (footballer born 1923)

References

External links

* [http://beehive.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/default.asp?WCI=SiteHome&ID=8361 Salem Methodist Church]
* [http://www.placeopedia.com/?12515 Placeopedia Streetmap of Smallthorne]
* [http://www.smallthorne.org/ Smallthorne Parish Church]