It's Staffordshire Day today!
It is 1000 years since the first recorded mention of the term Staffordshire, written as 'as Staeffordscir' in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (for 1016) - so this is a millennium anniversary.
And why May 1st? I wondered that; but it turns out that May 1st was the date of the founding of the Wedgwood pottery company, which is based in Staffordshire, and, arguably, the county's most historically famous name.
Why the powers that be wanted to tie Staffordshire Day into the pottery industry, I don't know, but even the Oxford Companion to British History states quite categorically that "Staffordshire is one of the counties most affected by the industrial revolution" so, there you go.
It's all a bit artificial, but it's fun.
Old Josiah Wedgwood himself might have be surprised at seeing his work made quite so central to the whole county's identity, but then again, there are probably more famous images of him than any other Staffordshire figure. (Barring Saint Chad of course - and Sir Stanley Matthews...) The one in the picture above is on the side of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London - although the most famous statue of him is in Stoke.
Strangely enough, I celebrate 1000 posts on this photo-blog myself this month. Bit of a coincidence...
