Citizen of Staffordshire

  

I don't know why particularly it should amuse me but I could only smile that the symbol for maternity at the North Staffordshire Hospital is a Stafford/Staffordshire Knot.  (The knot is the ancient symbol of the county itself).   By contrast, the other departments have rather arbitrary symbols.
It's as though each incoming baby is automatically granted Citizen of Staffordshire status simply by being born here - which, maybe, I suppose, actually is the case...!

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Threatening land-owner

This is the sort of thing that really gets my goat.  A selfish land-owner (near Ashley) has put up a threatening notice on a public footpath warning walkers not to use the path.

Of course I understand that land-owners don't always want strangers on their land, but the fact is that these are established common routes - by law - and the owner must have bought the land (or inherited it) knowing that a right of way existed across it.  So they need to learn to live with the fact and adapt.

Secondly, ramblers and farmers have one common aim - to protect the countryside. What farmers don't grasp is that, by being aggressive to walkers, they are making enemies where they should be making friends.

Heart is 'knot' in it

Stafford College is trying to combine two symbols here - a heart and a Stafford knot - in order to make its slogan "The Heart of Staford" work.

The trouble is that the Stafford Knot is not in this shape: its two loose ends in fact should emerge at the top, not the bottom of the design (there is good reason for this - see the legend of the knot).
Has the college deliberately decided to ignore the legend?

Lobby in Croatia

In Croatia, I was oddly fascinated to see this sign, which (apparently) pointed the way to a restaurant where I could get a bowl of lobby.  Staffordshire Lobby is a left-overs stew, a little like the Liverpudlian scouse dish.  I wondered if an ex-pat was pushing the idea.

Of course, no lobby was forthcoming. 
The owner of the restaurant explained that 'Lobby' was just the restaurant's name.  However - this is the puzzling bit - he could not remember why this name (a meaningless and very odd one for Croatia) had been chosen...

Inspiration is Progress

The golden light of a sunset over the buildings at Staffordshire University still doesn't beautify them much...

The rather sinister-sounding slogan is to do with the new construction work going on on the site.

Keep away from fire!!

Actually, I'm in favour of strict health & safety rules - they save lives.    But when I saw this 'Keep Away From Fire' label on a shirt in a local shop, you do begin to wonder about some people...

Using car park is illegal !

This comes under the heading of 'bizarre instructions one sees on signs'.
Apparently, it is "illegal to drive cars or motorbikes" on the Hednesford Hills car park.
I guess that must make actually using the car park a rather risky venture.

Anarchy in Burton

The crossed A inside a circle - the Anarchy sign, beloved of 1977-style rebellious 'punk' youth - seems to have lost some of the terror it could once inspire.

Nowadays the symbol is used to advertise a cheap drinks night at the Association night-club in Burton.  Everything fades, huh?

PS - what is a 'Teapot'?

Being watched in the woods

Apparently Britain's population is one of the most 'watched' in Europe, with more CCTV cameras in surveillance on us than in other countries of the continent.

However, it still seemed odd to see this sign ... in a wood!!  Maybe the land-owner doesn't like people picking bluebells (?)

Clayhanger - book and cottage

Anyone from Staffordshire will immediately react to the word Clayhanger - it being the name of the first of Arnold Bennett's trilogy of novels of family life in the Potteries.
Why this cottage (just outside Cheadle) adopted the name, I don't know.  Maybe the owner is a Bennett fan.

They're great books of course.  Read the workhouse section by clicking here.

Sign reflects Victorian confidence

This marvellously intricate piece of wrought-iron work hangs outside Tunstall Library, and says on it 'Tunstall Free Library'.  Quite why the sign is needed is a mystery as Tunstall Library, a great piece of Victorian Gothic architecture, is absolutely massive, and you couldn't miss it if you wanted to.

However, such a grandiose piece of artwork (and the library building itself) shows the huge confidence of those late Victorians. Tunstall was then an important industrial town, in the middle of a country that commanded the largest empire ever seen on Earth. I guess this sign rather reflects that feeling.

Unisex etiquette

Unisex toilets are pretty commonplace now, being mostly just simply rows of cubicles (which each contain a toilet & sink) in the one space.

However, what about one that is just a small room containing just the one cubicle within it?
The unisex toilet in the reception area at South Staffordshire Council Offices in Codsall is a little tricky. In this instance, in the one small room (with hand-basin) and the toilet cubicle.

So, does one queue inside the room, ie standing by the hand-basin - or outside the room's main door?

I wasn't sure how the woman who went in before me would feel about standing by the basin, next to her cubicle, waiting for her to finish. 
I decided to wait outside the door.

You are here, wherever you are

There is something spooky about this sign, which I saw in the main building at the City General Hospital in Newcastle.

When it says: "You are here"... but, erm, where is here, exactly?  it doesn't say.

I had surreal imaginings about having to endlessly wander blank corridors, only to be told (by sign after sign after sign) that I was forever and ever "here".   Spooky.

Crooked road leads to...

The Crooked House in Himley is one of your more out-of-the-way pubs. It's down a long, abandoned, unlit, narrow lane, and new visitors are never quite sure they're on the right route.

Fortunately, happy lttle signs (such as the one in the photo), advising drivers not to go so fast that they will end up in the river, do remind you that you're on the right road. 

Maybe it's the Black Country sense of humour...(?!!!)

Christ's own wash systems

'Christ' wash systems??? I did a double take on seeing this logo on the side of a van. 
Admittedly, in West Africa, businesses often name themselves in a way that might bring them blessings, eg The Holy Ghost Hair Salon, or Christ The Redeemer Newsagents - but this was a first for me in England.

However, it turns out that Christ is the family name of a German engineering firm, and that Christ Wash Systems is famous for producing a 'sophistocated girlie calendar' - like the Pirelli one - every year.

Well, I guess it is Easter-time, so Christ should get a mention of some sort on this blog!

Rest in peace, mum

The death of a mother often comes with the bitter feeling that you never shouted from the rooftops just how much you appreciated her life and efforts.

I guess this family may have had similar feelings; but they certainly wanted the world to know that they mourn her passing.

Free ... Beer in Uttoxeter

Well, you have to smile...  It may seem as though the Ye Olde Talbot Pub in Uttoxeter is offering free beer, but... you do need to check out the small print (literally).  As you can see, if you screw up your eyes, it's actually offering "Free Wi-Fi and Great Beer".
Still, it's a grand old traditional pub, so I'll still take that offer anyway.

A Long Way From Poland

'A Long Way From Home' is how these words translate from their original Polish.
However, there seems to be no reason as to why this archway should be here, as it's over an alleyway in Leek which leads just to a Belgian-style bar known as Den Engel.
Odd.

Anyway, it is probably associated with the 'Borderland Voices' project, which works with the local Polish community especially in the area of recording memories. Many of the Poles here came to this part of Staffordshire after the War.


LINK: A Long Way From Home - Borderland Voices

Nemesis... now

It is very, very dark by 6pm these days, and in some neglected city streets, after workers have gone home, you can barely see your hand in front of your face.

This facade you see in the photo, underlit by strong lamps, gave me quite a shock as I saw it while driving round the back of Longton.  It reminded of that movie where the main character is assailed by ominously-appearing signs in the environment - and I wondered if this sign was intended for me personally in the same way! (Nemesis is of course the revenge of the gods on the over-arrogant...) Hmm.

The phenomenon was made worse by the fact that there is no indication at all on the building as to what Nemesis Now actually is.  It turns out that it's a place that makes Gothic-style figurines.

New arms for Keele University

Keele University (founded in 1949 as the University College of North of North Staffordshire) became a university in 1962 - and so is celebrating its fiftieth birthday this year.

The latest reworking of its coat of arms is seen on the banner in the photo above. The Stafford Knot is pre-eminent, while the open book represents learning, and the scythe is the symbol of the Sneyd family (the family which once owned the estate Keele is now built upon).
Apparently, the green slash marks the university's committment to sustainability, which is very modern of them.

See: Keele's heraldry