15 Problems Only People From Stoke-On-Trent Will Understand
9. Bottle Kilns Look Nice But Aren't Used Any More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcR-093WK9Y As part of maintaining its heritage, Stoke-on-Trent has preserved and restored roughly 50 historic bottle kilns. In its pottery-producing heyday, Stoke's skyline featured almost 4000 of these kilns, but most of them are now a distant memory. So is most of Stoke's once-great pottery industry. Because of that industrial decline, it's frustrating for Stokies when visitors go on about how pretty the kilns are. Yes, they are quite striking - but the ovens are also a persistent reminder of how many jobs have been lost. And in a city like Stoke-on-Trent where getting a decent job can be a labour of Hercules, people don't need to be reminded that jobs used to be more plentiful. To find out exactly what a bottle kiln (or oven) was, view the video. It even shows the inside of one, which is a sight not seen by many people these days.
Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike