Remembering the North Staffordshire icons we lost in 2023
Historian and Sentinel columnist Mervyn Edwards looks back on those we have lost during 2023
As we begin to pack away the tinsel and the Christmas decorations and reflect on the last 12 months, it’s as well to remember just some of those who passed on in 2023 but who undoubtedly endowed North Staffordshire life through their involvement in leisure, entertainment, heritage, retail and other spheres of life.
Frank ‘The Piano’ Leigh
Frank ‘The Piano’ Leigh died on July 7 aged 90. Over the decades, he tickled the keyboards on cruise liners and at various North Staffordshire venues including Trentham Gardens and the Manor House, Alsager. I attended his funeral at Bradwell Crematorium as did his close friend, Needmore – a Zimbabwean immigrant – and her two handsome boys Rodney and Ronnie. Years ago, they had met Frank in the Potteries Museum café, where he offered them a seat next to him. He gave Needmore £2 to buy the children some food.
Frank Leigh on the piano (Image: Stoke Sentinel)
A week later, they met again – entirely by chance – with Needmore now beginning to open up about her re-settlement in this country. They ended up living together as friends, with Frank playing a major role in bringing up the two boys.
She told me at the funeral, “I wouldn’t be here but for Frank.”
Frank and his music touched a lot of lives. Another friend of his, Stephen Allerton, remembers the pianist fondly: “I met Frank when he was in his mid 70s, when he was playing songs in a local supermarket. I couldn’t believe the beauty of his music. Chatting to him revealed that like me, he had been a member of the North Staffordshire Carers Association, Frank having looked after his late wife Mary, whose favourite song was from Disney’s The Lion King.
“Years later, I discovered that Frank was the resident pianist at the Potteries Museum and I regularly visited to have a light lunch and to listen to the wonderful piano playing of this lovely man.”
For me, he was one of the most underrated – and, I insist, under-appreciated - musicians in North Staffordshire, with a heart of gold.
Dave Walley
Another loss to the world of music was Dave Walley, chairman of Biddulph Male Voice Choir who died on July 12, aged 64. He was a retired police officer who in his day had climbed, cycled and camped with Staffordshire Police climbing club.
Clive Shone
From the world of retail, we include Clive Shone – known to numerous Wolstantonians of a certain age. He is remembered for having been the proprietor of C & M Shone, the hardware premises in Wolstanton High Street, which he ran for 30 years prior to his retirement, aged 65, in 2000.
Clive Shone
The old building is now the Four Candles bar, but was a beloved ‘old school’ Wolstanton shop. Clive died in November, aged 89.
Geoff 'the Net' Stoker
Even better known was Geoff ‘the Net’ Stoker, who died on October 14, aged 74. I met him a short while before he died, for he loved a pint in the Archer, Wolstanton.
His colourful life was full of incident. He was born in Birmingham, but from the age of 14, he lived and worked with the Shipley family who owned the famous funfair whose home site was Drayton Manor Park.
He grew up in a trailer behind the ghost train, later working the waltzers and other attractions – and developing a work ethic that would stand him in good stead for the rest of his life. He later became a market trader in both Nottingham and Tamworth but ultimately came to live in Trentham and swiftly became well-known on the Potteries market scene, where he demonstrated the gift of the gab that he’d shown at the fairs.
Indeed, it was said by family that he could sell net curtains to people who didn’t even have windows. He was a showman to the core and had a wardrobe full of polychromatic ties, spotted socks, loud shoes and garish jackets, cherishing a profound dislike for convention. Much of what he said had to be taken with a pinch of salt, as he’d say some things to get a laugh or a reaction.
On holidays abroad, he’d sometimes be asked by strangers what he did for a living – a query he evidently thought was pointless. He replied to one questioner: “I’m retired now, but I used to run a chain of brothels!” Looking at his (second) wife Jenny Stoker (nee Copley, herself a former Hanley marketeer), he’d add, “But she doesn’t do it anymore, she just collects the money for me, now!”
Paul Dykes
A similar free spirit was Paul Dykes who died on November 5, aged 70. He was the doting son of Iris Dykes, a showgirl and magician’s assistant. Born in Manchester in 1952, he arrived in Burslem in 1974 with ‘no bank account, no licence and just two bin liners.’
Paul Dykes in 2014
However, he forged a career as a boxing trainer and promoter, businessman, inventor, fine art dealer, playwright and entertainer, being well-known in Burslem. Upon his death, his daughter Natalie Mataranga told The Sentinel: “With everything he tried his hand at, it was never about the end result but about having a go, following his dreams and having a good story to tell.”
George Andrews
George Andrews has passed away
Yet another notable character was local sports broadcaster George Andrews who died in October, aged 64 having worked for Radio Stoke and other stations. He reported on over 5,000 football games and was famously kidnapped by Stoke City kit man Neil ‘Nello’ Baldwin and left bound and gagged in the Victoria Ground laundry room while a Potteries derby he was supposed to be commentating on kicked off.
Kate Roberts
Kate Roberts – who was in her seventies but looked far younger - died this year. I got to know her through several cultural events in the Mother Town of Burslem.
Amanda Bromley of the Barewall Art Gallery tells me: “She was involved in the Burslem arts scene from the early days. She knew a lot of the emerging creative talent in Burslem and would often be seen in pubs or art balls. She was a great poet and had some of her work published in an international poetry book. She was very humble and didn’t talk about her work but played her part in creating a very strong arts scene in the town.
“Her love of Barewall as a cultural hub was referenced at her funeral, which was very moving for us.”
Thomas Botham
It’s nice when we remember the whole-hearted contributions of those who have passed on. Mining historian Keith Meeson has been a regular patron of the Travellers’ Rest in Stanley over the years. “The Botham family’s contribution was much appreciated,” says Keith. “As landlords of the pub, they were first-class.” Thomas Botham, erstwhile landlord and owner of the pub, died on January 4, aged 83.
Sid Alcock
Another former pub landlord was Sid Alcock, who kept the Vine in Naylor Street, Pittshill, up until the covid epidemic. I recall him as a ball of energy and an unstoppable talker once he was in flow.
Wherever he went, the hind legs of herds of donkeys would be seen scattered in his wake. The Alcock family took over the Vine in 1939 with Sid and his sister Ida assuming control in 1981. They made it a destination pub, notwithstanding the lack of proper real ale – because Sid’s down-to-earth personality and the interior décor were a magnet for all of us who appreciated a no-frills, old-fashioned pub practising high standards.
Sid Alcock, far left. (Image: Stoke Sentinel)
I would have put good money on Sid reaching his 100th birthday, but sadly this former blacksmith’s striker at Chatterley Whitfield Colliery died on November 27 at the age of 94.
Bob Fyson
As these all-too-brief notes confirm, the whirligig of time ultimately defeats us all – but not before our individual stories have fed into the collective history of North Staffordshire. Few commentators were better at dissecting the past than heavyweight academic historian Bob Fyson, who also died this year.
“Bob was a devoted contributor to the North Staffordshire Historians’ Guild, established in the year 2000,” remarks the group’s long-time champion, Paul Anderton. “He attended the first meeting at Barlaston and was a regular participant in all discussions, his wide reading and depth of research being a sound foundation for his authoritative pronouncements.”
Bob Fyson (Image: Stoke Sentinel)
I too knew Bob through the guild’s activities but my favourite story about this impressive man goes back to 1992. I was among his audience on a history walk around Burslem that discussed possibly Bob’s favourite subject, Chartist history.
He was addressing us in the old ‘Pigeon Park’ area behind Burslem Town Hall but his flow was briefly interrupted by some appalling oik who asked what we were doing.
Bob gave a courteous, intelligent reply and then continued speaking to his audience. The lout remained behind Bob, and losing interest in his efforts to intimidate, threw his bottle of booze on to the concrete below, the glass smashing loudly upon impact. Bob Fyson never even flinched.
And the moral of this story is that while some of us fail to dignify life’s journey, the contributions of others continue to enrich us long after they are gone.
May I wish all readers a Happy New Year and thank innumerable readers for those memories that I’ve reproduced in this column. Acknowledgements also to Hartshill community champions Joe and Barbara Andrew, genealogist Gillian Carp and Longton historian Phil Rowley for their kind words.
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