How Could £20 Million Transform Meir North?
Plus alfresco art at Bethesda Gardens, Stoke bid for bee-friendly city status, local libraries launch free digital newspaper service, and Tales in the Park returns…
🥨 A word from Helen, editor/writer at The Knot
Hi, and welcome to The Knot's weekly round-up of good news from around the region, designed to start your week with a little positivity.
From Broadway shops to the local library, residents, businesses and community organisations in Meir North are being invited to help shape the area’s future following a £20 million investment through the Government’s Pride in Place programme.
Meir North wasn’t selected at random. It was chosen because it faces significant challenges, including high levels of deprivation and weaker community infrastructure, such as fewer community organisations, facilities and local meeting places than many other neighbourhoods.
Now, from supporting local shops and improving GP access to repairing pavements, creating more community events and investing in parks and public spaces, residents have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help decide how that funding is spent.
What would you spend £20 million on in Meir North? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.
Good News 🎉
🏗️ Plans for Meir North. Newly appointed Meir North Pride in Place Board chair Catherine Kilvington will work with fellow board members and the local community to help decide how £20 million of government funding is invested over the next decade. Better public spaces, tackling anti-social behaviour, improvements to local shopping areas and youth projects are just some of the ideas that could benefit. A former broadcaster with Signal 1, Kilvington brings more than 10 years' experience in leading projects, managing change and bringing communities together. Fancy getting involved? There’s more info here.
☕️ THE KNOT’S PEOPLE OF THE WEEK – Sandra and Clyve Baddeley ☕️
Here at The Knot, we love a good coffee – and we know that you do, too, as every time we write about new cafes, we get plenty of clickthroughs! That’s why we’re chuffed to hear there’s a fresh spot for a brew called Biddulph Baristas, which is handily situated right on the high street. Owned by couple Sandra and Clyve Baddeley, it serves up lattes, smoothies, milkshakes, and home-made baked goodies, with recent offerings including a raspberry, coconut and lemon cake and gluten-free chocolate cake. Fancy dropping in? It's open 9am–4pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9am–1pm on Wednesday, and 10am–5pm on Saturday.
🖼️ Enjoy Art Outdoors. A new outdoor exhibition, Past Times, has opened in Bethesda Gardens, with life-sized artworks exploring everyday life across the generations through large-scale reproductions of paintings from the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery’s collection. A life-size portrait of Josiah Spode II, works by acclaimed British and Irish artists John Currie, Roderic O’Conor and Ethel Gabain, and paintings by Stoke-born artist June Burnett are among the highlights of the show. It’s free to visit until 31 January 2027.
📚Stoke Libraries Launch Free Digital Newspaper Service. Local library members can now read six daily newspapers for free, thanks to a new digital newspaper service available through the BorrowBox app. The ePress service offers access to the latest editions of the Sentinel, Staffordshire Newsletter, The Guardian, the i newspaper, Daily Mail and Metro. Newspapers are available on the day they are published, and back copies can also be browsed 24 hours a day. Want to give it a try? There’s more info here.
🐝 Stoke Bid to Become Bee-Friendly City. Stoke-on-Trent has launched a bid to become a Bee Friendly City, with plans to create a network of pollinator-friendly spaces across the city. A bottle kiln-shaped bee hotel has already been installed at the new Potters' Patch community garden in Hanley, while other projects in the pipeline include wildflower meadows at Stoke Minster and Berryhill Fields, a bee-friendly community garden at Smithfield, and a dedicated wildlife area at Longton Park. Want to find out more? Head to the Bee Friendly City event at Burslem Park on 1 August (time TBC), or read more about the initiative here.
😃 Our Top Five Don’t-Miss Events this Week. What happens when football and fairy tales collide? Footy Fairy Tales has the answer, with live music and performances across local libraries (10/08, Newcastle Library, 10.30am; Kidsgrove Library 2.30pm; 18/08 Stone Library, 10.30am and Stafford Library 2.30pm), tickets £3 for the first child, 50p for any siblings, and adults and under 3s go free.
Check out Saints in the Summer Music Festival (23/07-26/07) at All Saints Church, Leek, with acts including ABBA tribute REVIVAL (tickets £20) and Britain’s Got Talent star Denise Leigh (tickets £15). There’s free family storytelling with Tales in the Park at locations including Tunstall, Hanley and Fenton (28/07-14/08, 11am-3pm), admission free.
Burslem History Club is hosting The Quest for Arthur Berry’s Biddulph this Wednesday (08/07) at 7.30pm; tickets £3 (pay on the door). Tunstall’s Great Bear Gallery is hosting an art exhibition, Greetings from the Gallery, (01/08 & 02/08, 10am-6pm), a postcard-sized takeover of original artworks by local artists; admission is free.
🥨 Most popular stories from the last week on The Knot
🌿 Protecting Nature from Extreme Weather: We spoke to the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Keele University, and local campaigners about their biggest concerns
🏊♀️ Open Water Swimming for Tittesworth: Knotters wanted to find out more about the managed open water swimming sessions (Thur eves & Sat morns); there’s more here
🌈 Community Speaks out on Pride Display Removal: Still proving popular with you…
Weekly Weather (Stoke-on-Trent):
Mon ⛅️ 23° (15°) Tue 🌧️ 23° (14°) Wed ☀️ 27° (15°) Thu 🌧️ 29° (16°) Fri ☁️ 27° (15°)
Sat 🌧️ 27° (14°) Sun 🌦️ 27° (14°).
Sunrise 06/07: 04.51 ☀️ Sunset 06/07: 21.35 🌅