A small UK town that was once-thriving is now lined with empty shops and boarded-up buildings. Locals said the market town was “buzzing” in the nineties but has rapidly declined in recent years.
By 2019, Burslem, in Stoke-on-Trent, had a higher percentage of empty units than anywhere else in the UK. It is the birthplace of Take That star Robbie Williams who spent his earliest years in the Red Lion pub which was run by his parents. However, the boozer is now set to be turned into flats and has “sold” signs on the hoardings.
The contrast in Burslem is stark. The town contains 27 listed buildings, stemming from the 18th and 19th centuries, but there are now as many blue plaques as there are open shops.
As reported by the Daily Mail, 72-year-old Terry Cotes has lived in the area for all of his life. He said: “The only banks now in Burslem are food banks. Everything has closed and deteriorated. The market has been gone for decades now.”
Terry had his wedding reception at the George Hotel, close to the town square, but the building is now permanently closed. Locals said it is now used by asylum seekers and homeless families.
Terry Landis, 60, said: “I have seen that building over 20 years now and in that time the curtains have never been cleaned.
“The frames look like they could fall out at any minute and most of us think it’s a blessing that it is now used by refugees.
“Before that it was alcoholics and druggies. There’d be an ambulance out every day, often twice a day and the clientele scared everybody off.”
Shelley Bond, a 62-year-old pottery worker said she was frightened to take her grandchildren into Burslem due to the drug monkey dust. The power and cheap hallucinogen is rife in the area.
She said: “It’s true. I was frightened to bring my grandchildren into Burslem. You don’t want them to see people in that state. You don’t want to have those conversations.
“This was a buzzing little town but in the nineties the decline became really rapid. The pottery firms moved production to Indonesia – chasing a profit as they do and now there’s not much left.”
The old Leopard Hotel, a Grade II listed building, once served pioneers of the Industrial Revolution, including Josiah Wedgwood, James Brindley and Erasmus Darwin. However, recently morphed into a cannabis farm before being ravaged by a mysterious fire in 2022.
It is now derelict and held up by scaffolding. While plans were submitted to turn it into shops and flats, they have since been withdrawn.
At the heart of Burslem is Queen Street which was once a bustling road full of shops. However, it is now empty and soulless.
Marilyn Mountford, 72, said: “I heard they had £1.25 million to do this street up. I’m told it’s going to be tree-lined.
“But it’s been like this for years. The place has gone to the dogs. All we hear is talk of what they are going to do to but nothing happens. Businesses cannot afford the rents so the shops are empty and their doorways are full of rough sleepers.”
Pointing to another imposing 19th century building, she added: “That was a cannabis farm. Now there’s some foreign chap wants to do it up into flats and but he can’t afford the standards the Council are after.’
Burslem born Steve Cleveland 78 said: “This place used to heave with working people. What has happened in the last 20 or 30 years could make you weep.”
