Towns and Villages

Funky Facts about Burslem

In the St John's churchyard, close to the church, is the grave of the witch "Molly Lee" or "Peggy-Lee". Margaret Leigh, to give her proper name, was reputed to have caused herds of cattle to die, chimneys not draw and other such evils. When she died in 1748 she was buried in the churchyard. However, when the funeral party returned to her old home they found her there knitting by the fire! (oo-er). To "lay the spirit" her body was dug up and put in a new grave which had been cut north-south, not the Christian way of east-west.

Lemmy - the legendary Motorhead frontman - was born here, and Arnold Bennett and his Five Towns novels centred on Burslem (or Bursley, as Bennett called it in his books).

The town's football club, Port Vale, is a relative newcomer. The club was for a long time sited in Hanley.

Weblinks

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Comment

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Some of Your Comments

Jon T says Ceramica (in the old town hall) is the best thing: not so much a museum as a celebration of the pottery industry, with a good mix of information for the adults and fun, educational things to do for the kids. Very reasonable entrance fee too.

According the Jon T, the worst thing is: the loss of most of the pottery factories and the resulting dereliction.

Joan Aucock gave us her memories of Burslem:-
Jackfield infants’ school... marching round the playground on Empire Day, waving Union Jacks and singing 'Waltzing Mathilda.
Moorland Rd. Junior School...going to the Festival of Britain exhibition in London in 1951... The annual school outings from Burslem station... sports days near Sneyd colliery. Sitting for ages on the wall in Moorland Rd. waiting for the excitement of seeing a car go by! Seeing old Mr.Alcock drive his straw covered, horse-driven cart to and from Gibson's pot bank. Being chased by the 'Parkies' to 'keep off the grass.
Dancing round the band-stand on summer afternoons after Sunday school. Special occasions at the Congregational. The many hours I spent in the junior library on Queen St... The excitement of being able to go to the 'grown-up' one in the old Town Hall.
As a teenager, I would spend 3d to stand behind the Bycars Rd. goal at the P.V.'s home games ... the players were part-timers! I could go on for ever.
On my visits 'home,' it saddens me to see how depressed the town centre now is compared to the busy, smart place it was in the '40's and '50's. But from the park to High Lane, little has changed. All my memories of Burslem are good ones. We were happy kids.

Diva_PVFC
Burslem is the ONLY place to be. We got The Bulls Head Pub and Titanic Ale, we got The Vale, we got Old St. John's and Molly Leigh, and probably one of the best chippies in the world!

Georgethedog
I work in Burslem and live in Alsager. I love Burslem, the pubs, the mighty Vale and best of all the new beer shop in the Market Place - The Beer Emporium. C'mon the Vale