Regeneration

‘Regeneration’ (which, a cynic might say, is a modern form of slum clearance) is rabid in Stoke-on-Trent. Over the past few years, there have been great swathes of nineteenth-century homes and factories knocked down in a quest for a better and customised future.

Of course, a lot that is good goes too. Old people have to leave properties they’ve lived in much of their lives, and a unique industrial landscape is disappearing - though (to be honest), it wasn’t much-loved.

One thing that will be missed, as part of this familiar environment, is – the porch tiles. Terraced homes in the Potteries have some really interesting decorative tiles, which no doubt will be smashed to pieces as the bulldozers move in.