Badge Design to be confirmed Trentham Rangers
Potteries Challenge
To celebrate where we’re from we’ve put together a badge to teach you all about the Potteries. As we’ve put together this pack we’ve learnt a lot about where we live and the history of the area, we hope that you enjoy learning about it as much as we have. In some of the chapters there may be a number of activities to complete but only one needs to be completed. Rainbows should aim to do 4 – 5 challenges Brownies should aim to do 6 – 7 challenges Guides should aim to do 8 – 9 challenges Senior Section and adults should aim to do 10+ challenges
Overview of activities 1. Decorate a plate/mug/bowl etc. in the style of a famous Potteries artist ...... 4 2. Locate Potteries on map ...... 4 3. Mining ...... 4 4. Potteries Dialect ...... 4 5. Famous people quiz ...... 5 6. History of the Potteries ...... 5 7. Make a bottle kiln ...... 5 8. 6 towns game ...... 5 9. Canals ...... 6 10. Stoke City & Port Vale ...... 6 11. Staffordshire Hoard ...... 6 12. Titanic Captain Edward Smith ...... 6 13. Spitfire ...... 6 14. Arnold Machin ...... 7 15. Waterworld ...... 7 16. Oatcakes ...... 7 17. Duke of Sutherland – Trentham Estate ...... 7 18. The Sentinel ...... 7 19. Resources ...... 8 Potteries Dialect ...... 8 Famous People Quiz ...... 9 6 Towns Game ...... 10 20. Badge Order Form ...... 11
1. Decorate a plate/mug/bowl etc. in the style of a famous Potteries artist The Potteries are famed for their pottery manufacturers and designers, names such as Clarice Cliff and Josiah Wedgwood became known the world over. Learn about some of these famous designers and decorate a plate/mug/bowl etc. in their style.
Note for Leaders: For Rainbows it could be decorating paper plates, Brownies and Guides could decorate actual plates and Senior Section may even consider making their own mugs or bowls to decorate.
2. Locate Potteries on map Locate the Potteries on a map and work out how far it is away from where you live. Imagine you’re going on a trip there, plan the places you’d want to visit and things you’d like to do.
Note for Leaders: For Rainbows this could be picking from a pre-made list of spots to visit and talking about why they’d like to go, Brownies and Guides could plan a weekend trip and find locations for themselves, Senior Section and Adults could also add in costs of travel and lodgings possibly also deciding where they’d like to eat. For those feeling extra adventurous go on the trip you’ve planned!
3. Mining Stoke-on-Trent was a centre for coal mining as recently as the 1990’s. Find out about coal mining and its uses. Have an evening in the dark as though you’re down in the mines, bring torches and sing some songs to keep moral up as they used to do.
Notes for Leaders: Research your local area to find out if there are any coal mine museums open for visits for older groups. If you’re having an evening in the dark you could pick an era to recreate, in the early days of mining they didn’t have battery operated torches.
4. Potteries Dialect Here in the Potteries everyone calls each other Duck, but go back a generation and a considerable amount of people spoke Potteries Dialect, a strange sounding dialect that’s difficult to understand for those who didn’t grow up with it. Find out about Potteries Dialect and learn some of the phrases used.
Notes for Leaders: Further in the pack there are some phrases to start you off, including meaning and pronunciation, for Rainbows you could simplify it by just teaching them one or 2 phrases, Brownies and Guides could do their own sketch in Potteries Dialect and Senior Section could look into how the language evolved.
5. Famous people quiz Further on in the pack is a quiz on famous people from the Potteries, you could set this up so the names of the famous people are spread around the room and the girls have to run to the name they think is the answer to the question. Alternatively you could give the quiz to your patrols/sixes and have the girls try it on their own. This quiz will probably be more of a guessing game for the younger girls. Some of the answers will be used in other parts of the challenge so the girls may begin to recognise some of the names.
This section could be done in conjunction with the scavenger hunt for section 11, the questions could be printed for each girl/group and the answer on slips of paper hidden around the room for the girls to find.
6. History of the Potteries The pottery industry dates back to the 17th century but was the most profitable in the late 1800’s Find out what life was like when the pottery industry was first starting both in the Potteries and in your town Have an olden days evening, maybe have different sixes or patrols be different eras
7. Make a bottle kiln The Potteries skyline used to be dominated by huge bottle kilns used for firing all of the pottery made in the factories. Now there are only 47 left in Stoke-on-Trent, it’s been estimated that there were once 4000! Find out about bottle kilns and have a go at making your own.
Note for Leaders: Rainbows could always colour a bottle kiln if making one would be too time consuming. Your bottle kiln doesn’t have to be clay either, depending on how much you want to clean up you could also consider making a large group bottle kiln from boxes that the girls could walk inside, or individual bottle kilns out of clay, Lego or even something edible like marshmallows!
8. 6 towns game
The 6 Towns make up the Potteries, they are: Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton. Stick up the names of the 6 Towns around your meeting place, read out some facts about that town and the girls have to try to guess which town it is by running over to that town sign. Some example questions can be found in the resources section.
Notes for Leaders: If this game is getting too tricky, give multiple choice options, for example:
Does “Town A” or “Town B” contain the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery?
9. Canals Canals run all through the Potteries, in the days when the pottery industry was flourishing deliveries were made by boats on the canals dragged by horses. Look at the unique brightly coloured designs on canal boats and design your own. If you live near a canal go and take a look at the designs yourself.
10. Stoke City & Port Vale The city has 2 football clubs, SCFC (founded in 1863) and PVFC (formed in 1879). Design your own team football shirts, maybe even decorate real tops using fabric pens and paints! Play a game of football, this could be in your unit or have a competition across your district or division.
11. Staffordshire Hoard While the Staffordshire Hoard was discovered in Lichfield part of the collection is on display in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. This collection of gold and silver Anglo-Saxon metalwork is the biggest ever found, it was discovered back in 2009 and consists of over 3,500 items! Hold your own scavenger hunt and try to find your own Staffordshire Hoard Find out what items were found in the Staffordshire Hoard and make your own version
Note for Leaders: For the scavenger hunt Rainbows could have picture clues on where to find the next clue, Brownies and Guides could have riddles to solve to find the next one, Senior Section could hold their scavenger hunt outside around the local area possibly using GPS tracking.
12. Titanic Captain Edward Smith The Captain of the ship Titanic was born in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. While famous in modern times due to the sinking of the Titanic in the late 1800’s Smith was seen as being a “Safe Captain” with some people only sailing on ships which he captained. Look into what life aboard a luxury liner in the early 1900’s was like, how would people dress for dinner and activities. Senior Section could watch the film Titanic and find what differences there are between the film and the true story.
13. Spitfire Sir Reginald Mitchell inventor of the Spitfire was born in Stoke-on-Trent. Find out about the Spitfire and then design your own paper planes, find several different types of paper plane and have a competition to see which flies the furthest. 14. Arnold Machin Arnold Machin designed the most reproduced work in art in history, the picture of the Queen used on postage stamps. He also designed the portrait of the Queen which was used on all British coins between 1968 and 1984. Create your own portrait for a postage stamp and display them in a gallery See how many years you can find on pennies, get together as a unit to try to find more years.
15. Waterworld Waterworld is an indoor waterpark in the Potteries. Visit a waterpark or go swimming with your unit Have a water themed evening in the meeting places. Activities could include apple bobbing, sail boat races, water balloon hot potato or relay race games getting water from one end of your meeting room to the other in inventive ways.
16. Oatcakes Arguably the most famous food from Stoke-on-Trent is the Staffordshire Oatcake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffordshire_oatcake). Oatcakes can be eaten with a savoury or sweet filling, typically they’re eaten filled with ingredients found in a Full English Breakfast. Recipes can be found for making your own Oatcakes but this is a very timely process (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/staffordshireoatcake_92371) instead consider having the girls decide what they’d have on their oatcakes or make pancakes instead as the batters are similar and the consistency is the same in the finished product.
17. Duke of Sutherland – Trentham Estate The Dukes of Sutherland have their final resting place in the south of the city in Trentham. Trentham Mausoleum is the only Grade I listed building in Stoke-on-Trent, the Duke lived in the nearby Trentham Hall, a sadly now demolished stately home. Find out if there are any stately homes near where your unit is, go on a trip and visit one. Spend the evening as Dukes and Duchesses. Find out how things would be different for those living stately homes and try some of the things they used to do for fun in the days Trentham Hall was lived in by the Duke (1800’s). Spend an evening being the servants in a stately home and find out the nature of the various jobs within the stately home. Senior Section could watch an episode of Downton Abbey and discuss how their life is different to the girls in the show of the same age.
18. The Sentinel The Sentinel is the city’s main daily newspaper, based in the centre of the city it was founded on January 7th 1854. Find out what the local paper is for your area and see if you can visit the factory. Make a newspaper or newsletter for your unit or district. 19. Resources
Potteries Dialect Below are some common words you may hear out and about in the Potteries (along with the meaning!):
Ay’up – Hello, Greeting Brok – broken Conna – cannot Canst, const, cost, conyer - can you? Chunter - to grumble Dither - to shake or tremble, or be indecisive Duck – Term of endearment, dear (e.g. Ay’up Duck) Fost – first Give over - Please stop Hersel – herself
His sel - himself Inna - isn't Lobby - a form of stew Lossocking about - lazy doing nothing Mard – spoilt, acts like a big baby Mither - to bother Monstink - pretentious, conceited young man Nesh - Soft, to feel cold Oss – horse Owe rate – All right (e.g. I’m alright) Shouldna - shouldn't (e.g. 'I shouldna eat this cake’) Slat - to throw ("It's slattin' it down with rain") Snaffle - to steal Snappin – food usually taken to work Sneap - to snub someone Wast? - Were you? Yed – head
Below are a few phrases and how they’d be said in potteries dialect: Ar fer toke crate – How to talk right Gi credit weer credit is due – Give credit where credit is due Wen cats awee, mice’ll plee – When the cat’s away the mice will play Fost things fost – First things first If yer conna bate em, jane em – If you can’t beat them, join them A foo an eeze brass are soon patted – A foole and his money are soon parted
Ay up duck! ‘Ow at? – Hello dear! How’re you?
Famous People Quiz 1. This novelist famously wrote about the 5 towns of the Potteries i. Arnold Bennett 2. This person designed the picture of the Queen on postage stamps i. Arnold Machin 3. This actor is best known for his role in Men Behaving Badly i. Neil Morrissey 4. This person founded the local radio station Signal One i. Peter Coates 5. This person founded Bet365 i. Denise Coates 6. This person co-founded Phones 4u i. John Caudwell 7. This person. born in Burslem, founded Motörhead i. Lemmy 8. This singer was a member of Take That before going solo i. Robbie Williams 9. This famous Guns N’ Roses member spent some of their childhood in Stoke-on-Trent i. Slash 10. This person designed the Spitfire i. Reginald Mitchell 11. This person was the Captain of the RMS Titanic i. Edward Smith 12. This person founded Aynsley China i. John Aynsley 13. This person was famed for their brightly coloured pottery designs i. Clarice Cliff 14. This person is credited with bringing pottery to the area and was also Grandfather to Charles Darwin i. Josiah Wedgwood 15. This person is arguably one of Stokes most famous football players i. Sir Stanley Matthews 6 Towns Game 1. This Town is the location of Gladstone Pottery Museum (Longton) 2. Author Arnold Bennett was born in this town Hanley 3. This town is often referred to as the forgotten town as it was left out of Arnold Bennett’s novels Fenton 4. This town is the most northern of the 6 Towns Tunstall 5. Pottery designer, Clarice Cliff, was born in this town Tunstall 6. Singer Robbie Williams grew up in this town Tunstall 7. Port Vale football club is based in this town Burslem 8. Darts Player, Phil Taylor, was born in this town Burslem 9. Lemmy, the lead singer of Motörhead, was born in this town Burslem 10. This town contains the city’s main shopping centre Hanley 11. Sir Stanley Matthews, famous footballer, was born in this town Hanley 12. Titanic Captain, Edward Smith, was born in this town Hanley 13. The city’s main railway station is located here Stoke 14. This town is where the City’s main University campus is Stoke 15. This town is where the main council offices are Stoke
20. Badge Order Form
Unit Name Unit Contact email Number of badges Cost per badge £1.00 Total Cost Payment Method (Please Tick) Cash Cheque Delivery Address
Please send completed form to email address below. If you wish to do this by post please email for details. I will be able to give you a cost of postage once I have received your order.
Cheques should be made payable to
Trentham Rangers
Email address to send completed forms to: