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Post by johnnypotter on Sept 6, 2019 20:48:28 GMT
So many of us [ myself included] love to put our own personal anecdotes on various threads, so I thought I would start a specific anecdote page. We all have our own memories of following our beloved Stoke City, some great, others grim. I love to read these posts of fellow fans, I will start us off with one of mine.
A typical home match in 1972-73. About 05.30, our Clover Dairies milkman would collect me from my home in Brighton street and take me to collect his three wheeled milk float from their old depot on Leek road at the bottom of Limelin Bank.
We would finish the round between 12-12.30, then it would be home to change into my match gear. Two Stoke scarves, one wool, one silk,each one tied round my wrists. Then out came the Tungsten Red polish to polish my Doc Martens until I could see my face in them. Then the walk from Penkhull to the Victoria Ground via the chip shop in Lonsdale Street.
The enthusiasm of the afternoon ahead would be blowing my mind. Upon arrival outside the old Stoke End I would finish my chips waiting to hear the magical sound of the turnstile gates being unlocked. Once inside, I would charge up all the steps to take in the view of our ground, I was home again to see my heroes. let the fun and games begin.
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Post by onefatcopper on Sept 6, 2019 20:56:41 GMT
So many of us [ myself included] love to put our own personal anecdotes on various threads, so I thought I would start a specific anecdote page. We all have our own memories of following our beloved Stoke City, some great, others grim. I love to read these posts of fellow fans, I will start us off with one of mine. A typical home match in 1972-73. About 05.30, our Clover Dairies milkman would collect me from my home in Brighton street and take me to collect his three wheeled milk float from their old depot on Leek road at the bottom of Limelin Bank. We would finish the round between 12-12.30, then it would be home to change into my match gear. Two Stoke scarves, one wool, one silk,each one tied round my wrists. Then out came the Tungsten Red polish to polish my Doc Martens until I could see my face in them. Then the walk from Penkhull to the Victoria Ground via the chip shop in Lonsdale Street. The enthusiasm of the afternoon ahead would be blowing my mind. Upon arrival outside the old Stoke End I would finish my chips waiting to hear the magical sound of the turnstile gates being unlocked. Once inside, I would charge up all the steps to take in the view of our ground, I was home again to see my heroes. let the fun and games begin. What was your routine for when it was a home game ?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 21:18:27 GMT
Brookfields toy shop in Longton.
Heaven on earth. Toys R Us could never hold a candle.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 21:29:27 GMT
Meir Airodrome. A couple of times a year they used to cut the grass. We kids used to hang on to the waggon, and get taken right across to the other side. then hitch a ride back. The "other side" to us kids was like then end of the earth. It all sounds quite mundane, but the farmer did his best to stop this all happening, which made it exciting.
Jack Ashes Lane - it is called something else now I think. There used to be an old air raid shelter just across the hedge. EDIT They call it Grange Road now.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 21:34:00 GMT
Anyone remember "Cromwell's Caves" - just off Gravely Bank? It was an old sand quarry - but for kids it had to have more importance than that!
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Post by crapslinger on Sept 6, 2019 21:45:24 GMT
Brookfields toy shop in Longton. Heaven on earth. Toys R Us could never hold a candle. Still have some toy animals brought at a shop by Broadway roundabout for me as a child by my aunty who raised my dad after his mum and dad rejected him as a child, lived on Chatsworth off Sandon Red Meir by the old scout hut, God this brings back some happy memories as well as painful ones, they had a Nissan hut in the back garden which lead down to the old Broadway Cinema. My uncle was a very poorly man, a POW in Burma had his toes amputated by the Japs ex miner returned to Florence after the war died from the dust, doc's put it down as pneumonia which meant no compensation from the NCB ">
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 21:48:34 GMT
Brookfields toy shop in Longton. Heaven on earth. Toys R Us could never hold a candle. Still have some toy animals brought at a shop by Broadway roundabout for me as a child by my aunty who raised my dad after his mum and dad rejected him as a child, lived on Chatsworth off Sandon Red Meir by the old scout hut, God this brings back some happy memories as well as painful ones, they had a Nissan hut in the back garden which lead down to the old Broadway Cinema. My uncle was a very poorly man, a POW in Burma had his toes amputated by the Japs ex miner returned to Florence after the war died from the dust, doc's put it down as pneumonia which meant no compensation from the NCB "> Would that shop have been the one actually called "The Gift Shop"? I bought a few toys from there. Just down from the library.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:02:35 GMT
Is Sammys Pool in Fenton still there. I used to go fishing there a lot.
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Post by crapslinger on Sept 6, 2019 22:03:23 GMT
Still have some toy animals brought at a shop by Broadway roundabout for me as a child by my aunty who raised my dad after his mum and dad rejected him as a child, lived on Chatsworth off Sandon Red Meir by the old scout hut, God this brings back some happy memories as well as painful ones, they had a Nissan hut in the back garden which lead down to the old Broadway Cinema. My uncle was a very poorly man, a POW in Burma had his toes amputated by the Japs ex miner returned to Florence after the war died from the dust, doc's put it down as pneumonia which meant no compensation from the NCB "> Would that shop have been the one actually called "The Gift Shop"? I bought a few toys from there. Just down from the library. Not sure my memory is shot to shit these days, I do remember Brookfields though was it on Trentham Rd ?, my Nan used to buy me clothes from Bradburys in Normacott on tick.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:08:37 GMT
Yes - Brookfields was on Trentham Rd. Their downfall, like many other independent traders was places like Tesco. Eventually people would go to Brookfields to get the service and then actually buy in Tesco.
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Post by UsAndThem on Sept 6, 2019 22:31:38 GMT
Meir Airodrome. A couple of times a year they used to cut the grass. We kids used to hang on to the waggon, and get taken right across to the other side. then hitch a ride back. The "other side" to us kids was like then end of the earth. It all sounds quite mundane, but the farmer did his best to stop this all happening, which made it exciting. Jack Ashes Lane - it is called something else now I think. There used to be an old air raid shelter just across the hedge. EDIT They call it Grange Road now. It’s still known locally as Jack Ash Lane but I had no idea about an old air raid shelter there. Where was that?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:34:30 GMT
Meir Airodrome. A couple of times a year they used to cut the grass. We kids used to hang on to the waggon, and get taken right across to the other side. then hitch a ride back. The "other side" to us kids was like then end of the earth. It all sounds quite mundane, but the farmer did his best to stop this all happening, which made it exciting. Jack Ashes Lane - it is called something else now I think. There used to be an old air raid shelter just across the hedge. EDIT They call it Grange Road now. It’s still known locally as Jack Ash Lane but I had no idea about an old air raid shelter there. Where was that? Go up Sandon Rd, turn into Jack Ashes lane - the "lane" swings right - about 100 yards on the left.
There used to be a field on the right with a barn in it. That was our cricket field. We spent more time looking for the ball than actually playing cricket - the grass was two feet high.
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Post by UsAndThem on Sept 6, 2019 22:35:01 GMT
Anyone remember "Cromwell's Caves" - just off Gravely Bank? It was an old sand quarry - but for kids it had to have more importance than that! The name Cromwell’s Caves doesn’t ring a bell but the woodland and caves off Gravely Bank was known to me and my mates as Shooters Hill. There were sand caves on Rough Close common too but that was just know as the common. I spent time at both as a kid, I’m 31 so not that long ago 😂
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Post by UsAndThem on Sept 6, 2019 22:38:40 GMT
It’s still known locally as Jack Ash Lane but I had no idea about an old air raid shelter there. Where was that? Go up Sandon Rd, turn into Jack Ashes lane - the "lane" swings right - about 100 yards on the left.
There used to be a field on the right with a barn in it. That was our cricket field. We spent more time looking for the ball than actually playing cricket - the grass was two feet high.
When was the last time you were there? I can imagine the whole area has changed. If you turn in to jack ashes from Sandon, Meir Park estate is to the left behind the trees and a small field off jack ash
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:42:32 GMT
Anyone remember "Cromwell's Caves" - just off Gravely Bank? It was an old sand quarry - but for kids it had to have more importance than that! The name Cromwell’s Caves doesn’t ring a bell but the woodland and caves off Gravely Bank was known to me and my mates as Shooters Hill. There were sand caves on Rough Close common too but that was just know as the common. I spent time at both as a kid, I’m 31 so not that long ago 😂 As you went down Gravely Bank, assuming that you could stop your scooter (one of those things that we stood on and paddled along with our other leg), as the road took a 90 degree left turn - Cromwell's Caves was on your right. It is all built on now I would expect.
Yes I remember Rough Close Common, and the sand pits there. If you keep going you enter Cocknage Woods - all sorts of mysterious goings on happened there!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:45:11 GMT
Go up Sandon Rd, turn into Jack Ashes lane - the "lane" swings right - about 100 yards on the left.
There used to be a field on the right with a barn in it. That was our cricket field. We spent more time looking for the ball than actually playing cricket - the grass was two feet high.
When was the last time you were there? I can imagine the whole area has changed. If you turn in to jack ashes from Sandon, Meir Park estate is to the left behind the trees and a small field off jack ash I lived there in 1962. The cricket field was backing on to our back garden. So go out of our garden, across the cricket field, across the lane, and there was the air raid shelter.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Sept 6, 2019 22:50:09 GMT
Meir Airodrome. A couple of times a year they used to cut the grass. We kids used to hang on to the waggon, and get taken right across to the other side. then hitch a ride back. The "other side" to us kids was like then end of the earth. It all sounds quite mundane, but the farmer did his best to stop this all happening, which made it exciting. Jack Ashes Lane - it is called something else now I think. There used to be an old air raid shelter just across the hedge. EDIT They call it Grange Road now. A prominent junior football player told me recently that in the 60s he played a game at Meir Airodrome where it was so cold that four players played the second half in donkey jackets!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:52:10 GMT
Ok another "anecdote". As you turn into Jack Ashes Lane there were (are?) bungalows on the left. Before the sharp right turn one bungalow had a meter wide black "smudge" right next to the chimney. I saw what caused it. It was certainly still there thirty years ago.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:54:34 GMT
Meir Airodrome was for some reason extremely difficult for planes to land on. Planes did occasionally land and take off in the early 1960s.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 22:58:49 GMT
Meir Airodrome. A couple of times a year they used to cut the grass. We kids used to hang on to the waggon, and get taken right across to the other side. then hitch a ride back. The "other side" to us kids was like then end of the earth. It all sounds quite mundane, but the farmer did his best to stop this all happening, which made it exciting. Jack Ashes Lane - it is called something else now I think. There used to be an old air raid shelter just across the hedge. EDIT They call it Grange Road now. A prominent junior football player told me recently that in the 60s he played a game at Meir Airodrome where it was so cold that four players played the second half in donkey jackets! When you get snow, where is the last place that the snow melts? Often Meir Heath.
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Post by stiggerstackle on Sept 6, 2019 23:11:24 GMT
There were some great snowfalls in Meir Heath when I was a kid - proper cut off from the world stuff.
I used to play cricket on that field Clem, bowling uphill all day so the ball didn’t run away. We used to dare each other to go down in the shelters at night, it was proper shit your pants stuff 😆
And the quarry, ah, the quarry. I found my first copy of Razzle there and fell in love...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 23:13:58 GMT
There were some great snowfalls in Meir Heath when I was a kid - proper cut off from the world stuff. I used to play cricket on that field Clem, bowling uphill all day so the ball didn’t run away. We used to dare each other to go down in the shelters at night, it was proper shit your pants stuff 😆 And the quarry, ah, the quarry. I found my first copy of Razzle there and fell in love... Were you there the day the barn caught fire?
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Post by stiggerstackle on Sept 6, 2019 23:15:45 GMT
There were some great snowfalls in Meir Heath when I was a kid - proper cut off from the world stuff. I used to play cricket on that field Clem, bowling uphill all day so the ball didn’t run away. We used to dare each other to go down in the shelters at night, it was proper shit your pants stuff 😆 And the quarry, ah, the quarry. I found my first copy of Razzle there and fell in love... Were you there the day the barn caught fire? No mate, before my time. I remember Meir Park being built when I was in my early teens (I’m 46) and the barn was long gone.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 23:17:51 GMT
Were you there the day the barn caught fire? No mate, before my time. I remember Meir Park being built when I was in my early teens (I’m 46) and the barn was long gone. Ah. I thought for a minute we might know each other. We did used to dare each other to go to the shelter at night!
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Post by stiggerstackle on Sept 6, 2019 23:21:03 GMT
No mate, before my time. I remember Meir Park being built when I was in my early teens (I’m 46) and the barn was long gone. Ah. I thought for a minute we might know each other. We did used to dare each other to go to the shelter at night! Yeah, going down there at night was just like entering the ‘upside down’ in Stranger Things - never been so scared in my life 🤣
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 23:27:09 GMT
I've just been on Google Maps Street View - I think that our cricket field is still there. Also, where I think that the old shelter would have been, there seems to be a cycle/footpath entering the area.
The bungalow with the "smudge" seems to have gone.
We lived on Sandon Road pretty much opposite the reservoir.
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Post by stiggerstackle on Sept 6, 2019 23:31:35 GMT
Yeah I drove past it the other day and the top end of the field is still there, I was actually thinking about all the happy times I’d spent there playing cricket and thought about the shelter too. Odd - not thought about it for years. We were off Golborn Avenue.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 23:41:45 GMT
Yeah I drove past it the other day and the top end of the field is still there, I was actually thinking about all the happy times I’d spent there playing cricket and thought about the shelter too. Odd - not thought about it for years. We were off Golborn Avenue. A real long shot here but, does the surname Oakes mean anything to you? That isn't my surname.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2019 1:11:24 GMT
That barn in our cricket field did actually contain an owl. As all kids know, a barn owl can very easily peck your eyes out! Only the bravest of us kids would set foot in the barn. I don't actually ever remember any of us entering the barn.
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Post by OldStokie on Sept 7, 2019 1:25:19 GMT
Just to put the record right lads. Cromwell's Caves was accessed by taking the path at the top side of the reserviour and following it down towards Lightwood Road. There were two caves... a long one and a short one. Last I heard was from a mate of mine who bought a new house in Lightwood Road and he told me the caves had been demolished to make way for the gardens of those new houses. I was gobsmacked. Those caves must have been centuries old. When we were kids we used to camp out there. I remember the aerodrome when it was actually in use. Spitfires used to land there after they'd been flown over from Canada. I lived in Anson Road at the time. After the war there was talk of making it into a proper airport for the city but the PTB pooh-poohed it. It was then used by a few rich buggers for their own light aircraft and then the ATC used it for glider training. I remember it when it was pretty much all grass except for Staffs Pots at the bottom on Uttoxeter Road. Everybody played nogger on there but my most abiding memory of it was the grass was filled with wild flowers before they moved it. And there were loads of skylarks who used to nest there. Us kids would lie in the grass and watch them for ages as they flew up, singing as they went, until they were almost out of sight and then come back down in stages until they landed again. Me old mam used to work in the canteen at Creda and according to her, there's loads of Spitfire parts - engines and stuff - buried by the side of Grindley Lane when they decommissioned the aerodrome. Everybody in them days used to use celluloid aircraft windows to start fires. Bits of the stuff was everywhere, and if you couldn't find any, you could always break a wartime lorry window and use that. Brilliant stuff it is. Once you set fire to it there's no stopping it. There were some air raid shelters at the bottom of the aerodrome as well the one at Jack Ash's lane. They would have been opposite where Meir Infants stood by the railway bridge. The only Oakes I knew was Les Oakes from Chaydle. Bit of a lad was Les. Me and mar mate called in to see him one day and he asked us if we wanted some breakfast. So we sat in his bungalow chatting, as you do, and then him and his missus had a big row. He ended up throwing stuff about and broke most of the windows in his bungalow. When we left he was still ranting and raving and throwing stuff. The Meir was a bastion of Stokieness and nogger. There were always queues outside paper shops on a Saturday night waiting for the football edition of The Sent'nul, and then later, The Green 'un. And you're right lads... Brookfields was the most fantastic shop ever. I bought all my Dinky Toys and balsa wood model aircraft from there. They had petrol pumps there at one time. When that shop closed they kept the one on the other side of the road open and it's only just closed. Enough for now before I get arrested if I tell you some of the goings on at The Meir back in those days. And just to keep this thread on a Stokie path, one of my most abiding memories is seeing the masses of Stokies walking along Lonsdale Street just before the game. The smell of fish and chips and ale was like a nogger aphrodisiac. A sea of red and white it was and the atmosphere was electric. Lifts the hairs on the back of my neck just thinking about the emotions and tribalism of the old days at The Vic when there was no internet. Rather than letting off steam every minute of every hour of every day as we do now on here, that's when the passions were released... during those few crazy hours of a matchday. Beautiful madness. OS.
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