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STONE STAFFS ENGLAND
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LOCAL NEWS
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WEATHER FOR THE NEXT 5 DAYS IN STONE STAFFS ENGLAND -
A NO FRILLS DO IT YOURSELF WEB SITE
DEER ON CANNOCK CHASE
* FOR OTHER PAGES GO TO SITE MAP *
SCROLL DOWN FOR INFORMATION AND GREAT PICTURES OF
STONE STAFFS ENGLAND
PLEASE VIEW OR SIGN MY GUEST BOOK
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Stone stands in the valley of the River Trent, and was an important stopping-off point for the coaches on one of the roads turnpiked in the 18th century. A directory for 1851 says that Stone was a very lively town, and a great thoroughfare for coaches, carriers and travellers … No fewer than 38 stage coaches passed through the town daily.
The road was later to become the trunk road (the A34 road) from Birmingham to the North, but Stone is now by-passed by the M6 motorway.
Railways
The coming of the railway was to end Stone’s era as a coaching town. The North Staffordshire Railway opened its main line from Congleton through Stone to Norton Bridge on 3 April 1848; the following year a branch line from Stone to Colwich began operating.
The Trent & Mersey Canal
The River Trent, which runs through the town, had been used for cargo-carrying vessels since Roman times but the further inland, the smaller the boats that could be used. Seasonal fluctuations in water depth proved insurmountable, although cargo could be carried from the sea as far south as Wilden Ferry (SE of Derby), where the River Derwent joins the Trent and increases the quantity of water, then onwards by road.
James Brindley, the canal builder, put forward the scheme to build what he called the Grand Trunk Canal to connect the two rivers, Mersey and Trent in 1766. It was backed by Josiah Wedgwood who saw that it offered an efficient way to bring raw materials to the potteries and to transport finished wares to his customers.
By 29th September 1772 (Brindley died on 27th September), 48 miles of the Grand Trunk Canal (now known as the Trent & Mersey Canal) from Wilden Ferry to Stone was navigable - the length past Burton-on-Trent being completed in 1770.
Stone became the Headquarters of the canal company with its office at Westbridge House, sited then below Star Lock on what is now Westbridge Park.surveyor and inspector of nuisances
and canal boat inspector for Stone Council" in the 1901 census was Alfred Ridout
It also stated he was living with his wife and family at Westbridge
House in Stafford St.
The offices were moved later to Stoke on Trent.
The Canal Cruising Company today operates from the historic site of the canal maintenance and boat building operations of the Trent & Mersey Canal Company. This restored docks complex with its workshops, by Yard Lock, continues to be used for the maintenance of pleasure craft and historic boats.
Stone today
Stone parish church, dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, is at the south end of the town. It was commenced in 1753, and finished in 1758. Christ Church stands on the north side of the town, where the population is still increasing. It was erected in 1839.
The canal still dominates the town, as witness the following:
John Joules Brewery brewed beer from 1758, although it is now closed. The canal playing a great part in their export. They once owned a pair of boats that delivered coal to the brewery and as late as the 1950s had the telephone number ‘Stone 1’. Joules bottle store remains an imposing building on the canal.
The Star Public House was fully licensed in 1819 although the building predates the canal by some 200 years. The building has in its time been a butcher’s shop and slaughterhouse. Stabling for boat horses was available up to the 1950s and the business relied heavily on the canal for trade.
Many canal side sites have in recent times been taken over for modern day use including ‘The Moorings’ a development of apartments based on the old Stubbs warehouse and also apartments and housing surround the old Trent Hospital, once the Workhouse. Housing developments also border the canal.
Commercial traffic has now been replaced by the leisure craft that pass through Stone each year.
Personalities
James Brindley, the Surveyor-General of the Trent & Mersey Canal.
L. T. C. Rolt, author of ’Narrowboat’ which helped to promote the canal network of today, plus several engineering biographies and other works.
Cedric Price, architect, was born in Stone in 1934.died 2003
Rendel Wyatt the founder, in 1948, of the Canal Cruising Company in Stone.
Rendel was a pioneer of Narrowboat holidays.
Population
Some figures are as follows:
1801 2843
1831 7808
1841 8349
1991 12646
External links
1851 description of Stone parish
(http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/STS/Stone)
Christ Church website
(http://www.lichfield.anglican.org/stoke/stonecc/church.htm)
St Michael’s website
(http://www.stmichael-stsaviour.org/StMichael&StWulfad.htm)
The Trent & Mersey Canal (http://www.canaljunction.com/ctm.htm)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone%2C_Staffordshire"
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Honorary Texans of Carthage.
JOHN HOWLAND
This is the email i sent to Texas
How nice it is to hear from a fellow Texan, i remember John Howland from Carthage visiting Stone and telling us that we had been made honorary Texans of Carthage and presented to those associated with him a badge to prove it.I still have mine.John was a member of the U.S.Army Air Force during World War II and he and his crew had to report to the air force base at Yarnfield about two miles from Stone.John was a navigator of a B17 bomber he and his crew flew from America to Prestwick, rested for the night then flew on to Warton near Blackpool ,they left the B17 at Warton and travelled to Stone by train,from Stone they had motor transport to take them to Yarnfield,they where at Yarnfield at Christmas 1943 for a few days to be allocated their bomber base in England then they returned to Warton to collect their aircraft and fly to their operational base in England. When John and a member of his crew where walking around Stone town a middle aged women and a boy came up to them, the women asked "Won't you Yanks come home with us and have Christmas tea with our family?" as she had been sent out by her parents to look for American service men. Johns bomb aimer and colleague also had a similar experience. I was a member of the R.A.F at the time and i was on leave, i was walking down the town one morning when an American airman asked me where the forces canteen was, i told him that it was at St.Josephs Hall, i mentioned it to my mother when i arrived home and she said"If you meet him again bring him home for tea".We had many meetings after that.All this is why the people of Stone where made honorary Texans of Carthage.
STONE TOWN CENTRE.
CANAL NARROWBOAT.
THE BOATYARD WHERE NARROWBOATS ARE BUILT AND REPAIRED.THEY CAN ALSO BE HIRED OUT.
LOOKING AT THE BRIDGE AND LOCK.
CANOE'ING COURSE LOOKING TOWARDS THE OLD PEOPLES HOME.
CANOE'ING COURSE OPPOSITE BRIDGE.
WESTBRIDGE PARK SPORTS CENTRE.
THE TOWER IN THE DISTANCE IS ST.MICHEAL'S CHURCH
WALTON MIDDLE SCHOOL STONE.
SOMERFIELDS SUPERMARKET.
CROWN HOTEL STONE STAFFS.
STONE HIGH STREET.
STONE ST.MICHAEL'S CHURCH.
Church flies white ensign for Trafalgar battle anniversary
In view of the close links between Stone and Admiral Sir John Jervis.
First Sea Lord grants special dispensation
The white ensign will be hoisted at dawn on Friday,October 21 and will be lowered on Monday October 24 2005.
CHRIST CHURCH STONE STAFFS ENGLAND.
SAINT MARY'S NURSING HOME.
SAINT DOMINIC'S CHURCH STONE STAFFS ENGLAND.
ANOTHER VIEW OF SAINT DOMINIC'S CHURCH.
SAINT DOMINIC SOCIAL CLUB.
CHRIST CHURCH FIRST SCHOOL
SAINT JOHN'S CHURCH STONE STAFFS ENGLAND.
THE COMMON PLOT LOOKING FROM MEAFORD ROAD TOWARDS OLD ROAD.
THE COMMON PLOT LOOKING FROM OLD ROAD.
MEAFORD LOCK NARROWBOAT IN THE LOCK RISING TO THE HIGH WATER.
MEAFORD LOCK LOOKING NORTH.
STONE SENIOR COUNCIL SCHOOL NOW CALLED GRANVILLE SCHOOL OLD ROAD STONE.
SCHOOL IN OLD ROAD AGAIN. HEAD QUARTERS 1436 SQUADRON ATC DURING WW2.
THE FORD AT THE DOWNSBANKS BEAUTY SPOT NEAR STONE.
THE BARLASTON DOWNS NEAR STONE.