History & Memories
Who is Thomas Tomkinson – The Original Smallthorne Poet?
Further to “Village Changes – A Tribute to Thomas Tomkinson” by Barry Ashley, being, published, direct descendents of Thomas have decided to find out more about the man and his family. The Book, Village Changes, reprinted the poems found in the original book, simply...
What is the Connection between Smallthorne and Gertie Gitana?
Gertrude Mary Astbury was born on 28th December 1887 at 7 Shirley Street, Longport. Her mother Lavinia was a school teacher. William, her father worked in a pot-bank. She began her stage career at the age of four with a Potteries-based entertainment act called...
Smallthorne to Smallthorne
You can take the man out of Smallthorne but you can’t take Smallthorne out of the man. or From Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent to Smallthorne Tasmania Further to Publishing “Village Changes – A Tribute to Thomas Tomkinson” some of Thomas’s descendents have been...
Smallthorne Open Air Swimming Pool
This wonderful photograph of Smallthorne Open Air Swimming Pool was sent to use by Jean and Phill who has kindly given permission to include it on the site. She also shared the following memory with us "I was born in the late 1940's so my only memories of the...
Alternative Courage
My dad was a shopkeeper D.E. Allman, Grocer and Wine Merchant, Purveyor of Fine Foods. Commonly called Danny's. His was a corner shop in an area of back to back terraced houses peopled by hard working, hard living families loyal to Danny who had seen them right during...
V.E. Day – Poem by Ann Graal
Here’s an ancient photo, the me of here and now impressed at how, in a frugal time, those mums (other mums, I mean, more clued up, more ambitious than my own) contrived red Indians, two cowboys and a tiny bride – half- familiar faces, grinning or else gawping out from...
Down Smallthorne – Poem by Ann Graal
Aunt Maud, who’d never slept a night away from 4 Wharf Street, two up two down, rented, close to where they piled the coal from Bellerton and Sneyd – reads only columns of the Evening Sentinel’s Births, Marriages and Deaths, her lips laboriously shaping names she’d...
Chris Phillips – Smallthorne Lad to Local Businessman
I have known Chris for many years, he lived in Fell Street and his mum lived there for 50 years until she recently passed away. When he was back in Smallthorne he could be found in one of the local hostelries, I remember him frequenting the Bush. Chris first got back...
Andrew Bramhall’s Memories of Smallthorne in the 60’s
"I lived in Smallthorne from 1957 to 1969, at the bottom of Nettlebank, behind the Victoria Working Men's Club, at 17 Holden Avenue North. My best childhood friend lived immediately adjacent to the club at 296 Hanley Road." Below: The Victory Club Today "He and I had...
Smallthorne Miners’ Hostel
I was very lucky to be contacted by Yvonne Findlay who wanted to know the whereabouts of a statue that her father sculpted in memory of his colleagues. The statue was at the Miners Hostel and I then got to see some fantastic pictures which Yvonne has given me permission to share.
Ford Green Hall Photographs
These wonderful images of Ford Green Hall come courtesy of Barry Knapper
F F Graham Pharmacy, Smallthorne – A potted history
Courtesy of Peter Graham 1899 Frederick Foster Graham qualified as a pharmacist (in those days “a chemist and druggist”) and started practice, we believe, in County Durham. 1905 F F Graham moved to South Africa and was registered as a “Chemist and Druggist” there....