Historical (Pre-Covid) Lockdowns In UK, Any memories?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Was that to do with the pottery riots (general strike) in 1842?

I'm not sure, probably. I think there was one in Hanley too.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The French do love a riot. Poor Macron is going to be bricking it soon when the fishermen lose loads of access to our waters. Then the farmers as the CAP is going to get squeezed with them all needing to put more in so others lose to France to prop that up. And the yellow vests.

I would have thought the superior palettes of the French would have been after more expensive stuff. Nutella must be doing well over there.

[NoraB]

I'm not sure, probably. I think there was one in Hanley too.

How is Hanley doing these days? Haven't been there since about 2006. I used to go all the time then I switched to Newcastle. I asked Hubs to drive us through the Burslem a few years ago and I was shocked at the deterioration. More than shocked actually. It upset me. It was a totally different place when I was growing up..

[Lencoboy]

How is Hanley doing these days? Haven't been there since about 2006. I used to go all the time then I switched to Newcastle. I asked Hubs to drive us through the Burslem a few years ago and I was shocked at the deterioration. More than shocked actually. It upset me. It was a totally different place when I was growing up..

Self-inflicted destruction because many can't even be bothered to vote anymore, they constantly moan for England about austerity and the like but whenever elections come up they consider it the lesser evil over say 'them pesky foreigners comin' over 'ere willy nilly', 'them bleedin' benefit scroungers', etc!!

Some people are so wrapped up in their own bubbles and out of touch with the real world, but still continue to moan about nearly everything going to hell in a handbasket whilst still seemingly doing naff all about it!!

And I'm not naming any specific areas BTW.

[Lencoboy]

Not a lockdown as such but a building evacuation.

I recall one occasion in the summer of 1989 (when I was 12) us going to Birmingham Airport to drop my grandma off as she was going to stay with my aunt who lives in Ireland for a week and when we arrived at the airport there was a mass gathering of people on the car park in front of the main terminal building, due to a bomb scare in said building, that luckily turned out to be a false alarm, then all normal activity was able to resume within the airport.

Once my grandma had checked into the departure lounge for her flight to Dublin, we went upstairs to the spectator gallery on the top floor of the main terminal building, which overlooks the runway, so me and my younger brother (who was 9 at that time) could watch my grandma's plane bound for Dublin take off into the sky.

Strangely none of us in our family felt particularly fazed by the earlier bomb scare ordeal in the airport (nor terror threats in general) as in these more enlightened times, the idea of hanging around in major airports after dropping people off or picking people up would be considered virtually unthinkable and something of an alien concept, even if there are no actual 'terrorism' scares.

How times have changed.

By some strange coincidence, I had a very bizarre dream about Birmingham Airport last night, that we were walking along a river/canal which went past the back of the main terminal building in the dream (must have got mixed up with Broad Street and the Symphony Hall/ICC complex in the city centre), and I walked into the main terminal building through the back door of one of the bars that backed out onto the (fictional) river/canal bank looking for the toilets but was unable to find them anywhere in the airport building, and I ended up getting lost and panicked.

Then I woke up and I actually needed the toilet for real!!

Funny things dreams can be!!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Self-inflicted destruction because many can't even be bothered to vote anymore, they constantly moan for England about austerity and the like but whenever elections come up they consider it the lesser evil over say 'them pesky foreigners comin' over 'ere willy nilly', 'them bleedin' benefit scroungers', etc!!

Some people are so wrapped up in their own bubbles and out of touch with the real world, but still continue to moan about nearly everything going to hell in a handbasket whilst still seemingly doing naff all about it!!

And I'm not naming any specific areas BTW.

It has always been red rosette on a donkey land until recently. That just means you get a stale council who know no matter how crap they are they will still get in. They were once in the top 10 worst councils.

Add to that all your industry disappearing to be replaced with unskilled low pay work.

[AntsyVee]

Can I ask what your occupation is, LB?

[Lolalee1]

May I ask as well?
LB you should be the fact checker in the next debate between The Don and Biden

[MyNameIsTerry]

May I ask as well?
LB you should be the fact checker in the next debate between The Don and Biden

He would have a contract out on him from both sides

[MyNameIsTerry]

How is Hanley doing these days? Haven't been there since about 2006. I used to go all the time then I switched to Newcastle. I asked Hubs to drive us through the Burslem a few years ago and I was shocked at the deterioration. More than shocked actually. It upset me. It was a totally different place when I was growing up..

To be honest I haven't been for a few years. It's little different other than the old bus station was moved to a new one across the road. The old bus station shops and the arcade across with the army recruitment centre all became empty long before.

Otherwise it's about the same around the Potteries Shopping Centre. As big businesses went bust new ones came in (e.g. Poundland replaced Woollies).

There are more supermarkets now as the land just across from the museum and further down was all demolished to put a big Tesco on.

Not much outdoor market remains but the big indoor one is still there. But the smaller arcade just across from the entrance (the one opposite the Debenhams end) got turned into a big TK Maxx.

I rarely go through Burslem as I'm near Longton. But yeah away from the main ones the small towns have died. Stoke is like that.

Longton is lots of charity shops, some smaller stores in the precinct (many empty for years and the old Woolliss remains empty from when they went bust) and a few larger stores (Tesco, Argos, Matalan, Sports Direct, B&M, etc) but they did build a new retail park down the A50 from the train station which has a few big stores on. Longton market is pretty dead too.

Fenton is another dead one other than the retail parks down Vickie Road.

Newcastle was always a pain to get too for me by bus so I went Hanley instead.