I remember travelling many times on this train; the two engines were called Golspie and Dunrobin - areas in Sutherland. I believe their ancestral Home was Dunrobin Castle at Golspie, hence the names for these engines. I remember at the far end of the lake having to get off and reverse the seats for the return journey, while the engine changed ends. I often wonder what happened to the two engines when the track was destroyed - does anyone know? There was a point on the return journey where the two trains passed and quite often one train would have to wait for the other as it was a single track - many fond memories of this journey

Trentham Railway - a Memory of Trentham.
In the 1960's I was a ticket conductor on this train. Jack Goldstone was the driver and we took people from the gardens to the pool. Today there's no way I would be allowed to work on the railway because of health and safety concerns. We had to stand on a running board by the side of the carriages hang on with one hand and take money and issue tickets with the other while the train reached speeds of 20 - 30mph. Some times conductors fell off and Jack had to stop while we picked all the money that had been scattered over the tracks and by the lake. Luckilly no one was seriously hurt!

My friends and I used to swim in this pool in the summer holidays. My friend's mum used to work for Trentham Gardens and so we used to have free access to the gardens in the summer school holidays. We used to take the miniature train from the lake to the pool and spend all day there. We bought ice creams from the shops above the pool. Looking back I can see that the pool is art deco in style, but when I was young I didn't consider the architecture, I just enjoyed playing in the pool. Oh, happy days!

my family moved to blurton council estate when I was about 4 yrs old, that would be 1952, my sister was 5, our first school was st bartholmews in church lane then we went to Sutherland primary and junior schools, after that we went to blurton senior school, which became blurton comprehensive, then blurton junior high, and I believe is now known as blurton high school, I attended st bartholmews church and joined the choir, later becoming leader of the alto,s choirboys, the vicar at that time was the reverend spencer, or pa spencer as he was affectionately known, I have very fond memories of my time living in blurton and my shool years, 1974 I moved to new Zealand and lived there for 30 years, since 2004 my wife and I have lived in queensland Australia, im glad to see st bartholomews is still going strong but saddened to see they have cut the 11am sunday service.

I was a member of the choir at the dedication of st albans in blurton when it was first built

I remember walking from the bridge onto the ox hay as a teenager, there was a fete and barbeque during the day and a dance at night under a big marquee, complete with a wooden floor. A liitle further along the bridge were the public baths and swimming baths, we used to go along there for a bath before we had a bathroom of our own.

I remember my mom working at Abbey Drapery. I used to love to go in and watch the vacuum payment system. The money was put in a round tube and whoosh off it would go only to return minutes later with the change.

My childhood was lived in Burton and Stapenhill - 1952 to 1965 I remember fondly the swan and gardens, running up and down the beautiful rock garden steps. There was a huge willow tree between the swan and the river that hung down to the ground seemed like such a magical place to stand in with the sun filtering through the leaves into the darkened interior. On Sunday morning the church bell would be ringing out just the other side of these gardens and up the grassy hill. Sometimes on Sunday afternoon we would picnic watching the cricket match.

I remeber on a Saturday evening we would walk from grange street to stapenhill to visit my grandma, and we would stop at the Elms for cherry pop and a packet of crisps in the garden...........Oh Happy Days

Hello,
I worked on Colin Jardine ward at Treloars 1968- 1969.The ward sister was Sister Marie Tarr.I moved back to Wales in 1969 but still try and visit Alton most years as we have good friends there.I remember a patient called Barry who came from Guernsey, having his 21st birthday whilst a patient on the ward, we took him to the Indian restaurant in Alton, which I think is still there. Very happy memories there.

as a student nurse there from September 1962 until September 1964. I have such happy memories as well as sad ones of my days there. Sister Smith or Slosher Smith as my set called her was indeed a strict person to work under. She reduced me to tears many a time when I would disappear to the sluice and scrub the red rubber draw sheets to keep out of her way. My first Christmas there that year coincided with a really bad snow fall. I was unable to get home on the Boxing Day for my half day off. I have photos of my friends and I standing outside the nurses home in the snow in our nighties with our hair in rollers!! I went back to Treloars in 2012 and found the little remberence garden. My name back then was Sheila Weakford. Would love to hear from anyone who might remember me

I remember "the laughing cat" around 1959/60 when it was a coffee bar, I was a patient at the nearby hospital when on occasion I would pay it a visit with a nurse I was friendly with on her afternoon off where we would hang around and play the jukebox, it was good to get away from the hospital confines for a while

I attended Sunday School in the 1960s at St Peter's School, Caverswall and my teacher was Mr Harp. He was a great inspiration to me as a budding historian and he sometimes took us to visit the castle and taught us much about the church. I remember being taken by Mrs Yates (the former Vicar's wife) as Brown Owl and Christine Tranter (Tawny Owl) to Caverswall Square and being taught, with other Brownies, to use the telephone box. We would attend church parades at St Peter's, often marching from the school grounds and presenting our standards. Christmas parties were at great hit, with Bert Poole in charge of the games and music. My friends Ruth and Jane Tranter had bicycles and it was still safe in those days to cycle round the village. St Peter's Church was a very important location in my childhood, however, the first time I went inside St Philomena's RC Church was on the Millennium Eve, when the 2 churches had a joint service, part of which took place in one church and part in the other. A yew tree was planted in the grounds of St Peter's to mark the Millennium. I was confirmed and married in St Peter's in 1986 and my sister Kathryn Boden was married there too, some years later. We have an old home movie of the wedding of Gilllian Inchley and Brian Proctor in 1962, showing the robed choir and Vicar Yates. I am so pleased that the bells have been restored recently at St Peter's. My house in Guernsey has framed notelets which were the result of artwork by the well known artist Tom Hinks, who lived in Caverswall and which raised funds for the building of the village community centre. My daughter Emma Boden-Heaume went to Caverswall School in 2001-2 and we were warmly welcomed back into the area by Mr Beardmore and Mary Hull. The Christmas carol service of 2001, in which we joined the choir, was a great highlight for us, after I had been seriously ill. Ann from Caverswall School and Wendy Scott have been a wonderful support to my family. Mrs Thorley from the school, taught my daugher to play the piano. There was always a cheery smile and supportive comment from Paul in the Post Office along with Tery, Yvonne and Susan from church. Even though so many friends are no longer with us, Caverswall retains a very place in my memory and I hope that others will avail themselves of this opportunity to share something of their memories. I am sure they will be ones of a close, caring community. Long may the spirit continue.

Still looking for 1980-85 years to be published

I have very happy memories of Caverswall as I used to go to the Catholic school in the village along with my brothers Dave and Mike. We lived at that time at Stanley Farm in Caverswall Rd Blythe Bridge. We used to walk to church on a Sunday as we were alter boys. I well remember the Pageants we used to have in the castle grounds as this was the Convent for the nuns who also taught us at school. From my school days in Caverswall I can remember a few of my school mates , Neil Washington, Kenny Watts, Nicky John and Margaret Kimber ,they were truly happy times . As kids we would explore the fields and woods around the village and very often go camping on Dilhorne Hill . When at school Sister Eloise would send me down to Ozzy Mac's tp get another rubber milk tube as this was her form of punishment if we did anything wrong , the rubber tube across the hand. My time and that of my brothers was in the late 50's so a lot of water as flowed under the bridge since then and things change but looking at photographs on my lap top the village as changed very little.I now live in Somerset and have done for the last 50 years ,I am now retired after a very successful career as an artist, My memories of the village and the many happy times I had there have never left me, one day I hope to come back and relive some of my memories and seek out old haunts. It would be nice to hear from old school mates and recall old times in the area. One memory I have of one of the priest's who lived in the village a Father Rowan who was Irish and loved a dram or two ,he would come to the farm on a Wednesday night to see the family ,he and my father would retire to the study to sample a whiskey or to, and on a Sunday in the pulpit the first thing he would ask was who had any good tips for the racing at Uttoxeter or where ever horse racing was being held , a true character, happy days

I lived in Blythe Bridge and travelled to school at the Burslem Junior Technical College in Moorland Road, Burslem over a period between 1943 to 1945. The journey by train on the old loop line was a lot of fun. I remember the screeching noise the coaches made when coming into Hanley station as the line had such a tight curve. We used to play football on a pitch in Hamil Road, this was lost when Port Vale took over the land to build their new ground. After a match we were run through Burslem Park back to the school and for a shower we were hosed down by someone who would be excused sports, he would use a stirrup pump and ice cold water. Then there was a mad rush to get the train home.
Another memory was going to look for Molly Lea's grave, she was reputed to be The Burslem Witch and was supposed to be buried in a Burslem churchyard, but with the grave facing the opposite direction to the others. Does anyone else know of this story? The school was a very good one, very strict, and I had a good grounding for my later trade as an electrical fitter.

My memories start around 1946 and go on 'forever' - but the years I want to mention here are those of my Cobridge schooldays and the Burslem connection to those schooldays.
I lived on the Cobridge side of Burslem, at the top of Elder Rd ... Elder Place opposite the Park, a little row of 'two-up two-down' cottages built in 1852 (demolished circa 1966).
I lived in one of those cottages from 1940, through the war years 'til 1953, growing up there during my schooldays at St Peter's RC Cobridge -on Waterloo Rd.
The Burslem connection re those school days was on two counts. Firstly we had our School-Dinners there, firstly in William Clowes St -in a Church Hall, before it being transferred to the Methodist Church Hall on Swan Bank - sometime around 1950.
Secondly, our school swimming lessons were held at Burslem Baths - directly opposite the railway station.
Mr Kelly, our teacher (Peter Kelly), used to escort us there, using the shortest route from our school, which was to cross over Waterloo Rd immediately and go down Hawthorn St and onto Elder Rd, and head down that road to Nile St (at the bottom of Hot Lane).
Then after a few hundred yards along Nile St -we'd turn right into Hobson St, at the top of which we'd turn into the bottom of Lingard St - where a narrow alleyway (footpath) led alongside the iron-railings of the embankment of the railway-line, coming out on Moorland Rd at the side of the Baths.
When we went to Burslem Baths on Saturday mornings, paying for a public leisure swim, on coming out we'd always head - ravished, straight to the Wright's Pie Shop at the top of Niles St .... for a hot meat and potato pie. Magic days.
I actually learned to swim in the canal at the bottom of the Grange with my mates - aged around 8, at the end of the war. We didn't seem to notice the dead dogs floating, half-submerged on the surface of the black water that changed to a yellowy glow when viewed from beneath the surface.

I attended UGHS from 1959 - 1966 and was in the same year as Pat Inskip, later in the 6th form also Patrick Brockman (hello Pat, remember that black pony?congratulations to you both on such a long marriage!).I remember Mr. Peacock well, the beautiful grass tennis courts by the cedar tree and those dreaded walks to the cold lido for swimming lessons.Afterwards we dried our hair over the bunsen burners in the lab! I was amongst the first group of pupils (1961) to have German instead of Latin lessons with the result that I have lived in Germany for the past 49 years and have been married to my German husband for 44 years. It is nice to hear that Ross House has been named after the Headmistress of those days. We all had great respect for her and I can't remember her ever raising her voice

Please publish these dates and direct more attention

My late father, W Gary Bailey, and my grandfather, Master Builder W Lloyd Bailey (who built all of the houses on Brown Lees Road, Brown Lees ) were conducting maintenance work at the church, namely re-mortaring the exterior walls. My father noticed the mortar dropped through between 3 sandstone blocks at the rear of the chapel.
The ensuing discovery beneath the church was the fabled burial crypt of the De Trafford family, some 500 years old. The vault had been plundered over the centuries, and an ancient oak door led into a small chamber containing human remains, and lead caskets inscribed De Trafford. Apparently, they resided in 1510 at the nearby Swythamley Hall.
My late father told me about this discovery in 1981, and I have been fascinated by this church ever since !!!
Anybody wishing more details on this is welcome to email me

I lived in Remer St Crewe from 1941 to 1966.
I remember;-
Bonars farm , Mosses farm, Barnetts farm all on Remer St.
Groby Rd residents, Percy Barnett, Arthur and Lizzie Badrock.
Powells farm.
North St Chapel
Beeches garage
Elliots fish and chips , Greenway
Dolly Bostocks shop Greenway
Billy Stretch cobblers North St. He was deaf and dumb.
Micklewrights farm Stoneley Rd