Saturday Night’s All Light

Last evening, my mother and I braved the bitter cold to drive into Burslem for this free event. Over the past couple of years or so an organisation called Appetite Bites has been busy organising these things and, so far, I’ve been to a few. Based at The New Vic theatre in neighbouring Newcastle under Lyme, this theatre-in-the-round is renowned for the quality of its ideas and productions.
Last year, I went to see the circus show it organised,.  Circuses were all over the place in the area , due to it being the anniversary of the birth of Phillip Astley, the man considered to be the father of the modern day circus, who originated from N u L.

The Enchanted Chandelier. The Water Fools.  The No Fit State Circus. Excellent, offbeat, arty and quirky productions and last night’s little display was no different.

The pictures show some of the light displays around the Mothertown of The Potteries and the culimination was a procession led by drummers  to find 2 light puppets and a drum dance display with the large puppet of the two. When I say large, the puppet was probably about 12 feet tall and lit up. How the drummers and puppeteers managed to stay in sync, I don’t know, but the display was excellent.

This show was free, the others I have been to had a small charge to see.

All highly appropriate for an area which needs a good injection of revitalising serum and an inexpensive one, as since most of the pot banks closed, work, especially well paid jobs, are a rarity.

More out of cold than thirst, we took advantage of the 10% off (on production of a Light Night programme)  at the local Titanic Brewery pub, The Bull’s Vaults and got warm by the real fire in there. Downside was that I had to have a soft drink, as I was driving, rather than a pint of the Titanic brew, but one can’t have everything.

Burslem, The Mothertown, has some beautiful and historic buildings and boasts The Leopard Inn, which is detailed by Josiah Wedgwood himself to have been the place where he met and dined with James Brindley to discuss the building of the Trent and Mersey canal.

By the way, there is a local connection with The Titanic ship, after which the locally brewed Titanic ale is named. Captain Edward Smith, The Titanic’s captain,  was born and lived in Well Street, Hanley (another of The Towns), until he left the area by running away to Liverpool to become a merchant seaman.