By RichardAult
Have UFOs ever visited the Potteries?
Have you heard about the candle maker who was swallowed up by the Earth in Hanley? The pub landlord who kept explosives in a bedroom? Or the dwarf who challenged a pit bull to a fist fight?
The Sentinel archives are chock full of fascinating facts that open a window to the past here in the Potteries. Here are 12 of the more surprising titbits of information, contained within.
In 1864 a loud blast shattered the still night of Longton and destroyed the Roebuck, one of the town's best frequented pubs. According to the Weekly Sentinel, the explosion was caused by landlord Henry Johnson's lax attitude to health and safety. In his day job he worked as a miner and kept a large stock of explosives in his bedroom, used for blasting coal. Mr Johnson's two children were asleep when the dynamite exploded, but luckily, were not seriously hurt.
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In December, 1903, candle maker Thomas Holland was walking to his shop along St John Street, Hanley, when without any warning, a gaping hole appeared in the ground and swallowed him up. An old pit shaft had suddenly opened and poor Tommy was never seen again.
Thomas Holland
London journalist James Greenwood claimed to have witnessed a fight between a “dwarf", a four-and-a-half feet tall battler called Brummy and a pit bull called Physic, at Hanley in 1874. In lurid detail, Greenwood described the fight between man and dog, which lasted 11 rounds before the dwarf was declared the victor. Although the truth of the battle was never proven, three years later The Sentinel reported how a drunken miner from Burslem was jailed after starting a fight with a Newfoundland dog – possibly influenced by the notoriety of the "dwarf versus dog" fight.
In October, 1966, The Sentinel reported on a woman who was so scared of going to the dentist that she literally dropped dead of fright. Cause of death was a cerebral haemorrhage, but an inquest found the 46-year-old Sneyd Green woman died of, “fright from the thought of a dental extraction".
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Royals have been visiting North Staffordshire for centuries – but perhaps the most bizarre stop-off came in June, 1987, when Prince Edward, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and the Duchess of Kent, Sarah Ferguson, all captained teams in It's A Royal Knockout, held at Alton Towers. At the end of the spectacle, where royals and celebrities competed in whacky games wearing oversized comedy outfits, Prince Edward asked an embarrassed press conference, “well, what did you think of it"? The awkward silence prompted him to storm out in anger.
Prince Edward (left) at Alton Towers during It's A Royal Knockout
In November, 1966, The Sentinel was raving about Port Vale's 16-year-old goalkeeper Michael Lawton, who pulled off a string of remarkable saves in 'near Siberian' conditions at Wigan. He was destined to find fame – but not in football. Lawton reinvented himself as comedian Mick Miller, instantly recognisable with his trademark bald head and long hair at the sides.
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Garden gnomes were stolen from a garden in Uttoxeter, in November, 2002. Soon after a note, written with words cut from a newspaper, was pushed through their door. It said: “Mum, we have been taken by the gnome police. This is not a ransom letter but because you were nasty to us and left us in the cold, wet and rain, they want you to say you are sorry. We will be in touch."
In 1908, Joe Deakin – a grocer's son from Shelton – became the city's first Olympic hero, winning gold in the three-mile team event at the London Games. To celebrate, the British team were treated to a lavish lunch of steak and Champagne. Immediately after eating, Joe was due to compete in the five mile race. He failed to finish.
Joe Deakin at the 1908 London Olympics
In March 1965, children's TV show Blue Peter appealed for a mystery boy from Stoke-on-Trent to come forward after he rescued his hamster from a washing machine. The boy was washing his jeans in a self-service laundry when he remembered his pet was in his pocket. He plunged his hands into the hot water, rescued the hamster and managed to revive him using massage – a feat worthy of a Blue Peter medal.
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Cowboys and Indians came to Stoke-on-Trent in August, 1891, when the famed frontiersman Buffalo Bill brought his Wild West Show to North Staffordshire. Passers by witnessed the bizarre spectacle of cattle being driven along Station Road in Stoke, while the show itself spectacularly recreated events like Custer's Last Stand.
Buffalo Bill meets some admirers at his Wild West Show
Jack Wilson, son of Pottery owner David Wilson, of David Wilson & Sons (formerly Neale & Co, based at the Church Works in Hanley), was one of the city's most notorious gang leaders. He was infamous notorious for playing mean tricks on citizens – such as convincing a grieving family a relation had returned from the grave – for using his pet monkey to terrorise passersby and leading the Rough Fleet Gang, Hanley's version of Peaky Blinders. His reign predated the Sentinel (Wilson died in the early 19th century) but his exploits were recounted in a series of character studies published in the 1870s.
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Have aliens ever visited the Potteries? Among the more credible X-files in The Sentinel's archives are of a "bowl shaped object, square lights around it, red in colour", reported to the police above Stone in December, 1981; and a report filed by Staffordshire Police in February, 1985, of a large "mushroom shaped" object, with a "glowing orange colour", which was observed hovering over Bucknall for about an hour, before it headed off at speed towards Stoke. In 1967, paranormal investigators Anthony Pace and Roger Stanway investigated 80 UFO sightings in Stoke-on-Trent, which they collected in a book, UFOs Unidentified Undeniable.
Do you know of any strange and bizarre stories from Potteries past? Please send letters and pictures to Colette Warbrook, including your full name, address and telephone number, at The Way We Were, Sentinel House, Bethesda Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 3GN, or email waywewere@thesentinel.co.uk
