Walk 2: Berry’s Burslem

Discover Arthur’s Burslem, where he spent time as both a student and a lecturer at the School of Art.

Shine Again

At night you can see the Shine Again neon on the roof of the Market Place Café just down from Barewall Gallery. Shine Again was created by Neon Workshops in 2019 as part of Appetite’s Light Night event and taken from Arthur’s poem Heat Wave: ‘And all the roofs of the town will shine again.’

Point Two

Lemmy Forever statue, situated on the site of the former Meat Market.

St George of Scotia Road

From the Lemmy Forever statue you can look up Scotia Road, the inspiration for Arthur’s play St George of Scotia Road, which was the first play to be performed at the New Vic Theatre, Etruria Road.

Point Three

Burslem Town Hall, inspiration for Arthur’s poem ‘Town Hall in January. Currently owned and operated by Haywood Academy.

Point Four

Brickhouse Street / Cock’s Entry, an area of inspiration for Arthur, reflected in his monologues, Sweet Mystery of Life and the poem Clock Tower. Read Arthur’s poem Wednesday Night, about the Leopard pub using the link opposite.

Point One

Start the walk at Barewall Gallery, where you can see Arthur Berry originals, and purchase prints, books and CDs of Arthur’s work.

Point Five

Queen Street - the location for both Burslem School of Art and the Wedgwood Institute, where Arthur used to have a studio. A new plaque acknowledging Arthur is being placed at the School of Art as part of his centenary year.

Point Six

Former site of the Star Inn, mentioned in the Lament for the Lost Pubs of Burslem.

Point Seven

St John’s Square is the location of the Duke of William, old haunt of Arthur’s.

Point Eight

Finish at the Bull’s Head.

© Appetite Stoke

Arthur’s Illustration of characters from St George of Scotia Road

© New Vic Archive

Arthur working in his studio space at the Wedgwood Institute

EXTRAS

  • Head to Waterloo Road to see the mural inspired by Alan Fraser’s cover image for Arthur’s book The Little Gold Mine. The mural was coordinated by We Are Culla.

  • Head to the Swan Pub (Swan Square), where Arthur Berry first met Peter Cheeseman, then Artistic Director of the New Vic Theatre, leading to a deep and fulfilling artistic collaboration.

  • Head down Bournes Bank to Card Street, inspiration for Arthur’s play Sweet Bird of Card Street, premiered at the Victoria Theatre in 1984.