GROUP GUIDE 2018/19 STOKE-ON-TRENT Stoke for Groups A4 Advert 2017 ART.qxp_Layout 1 27/06/2017 13:24 Page 1 Great grounds for groups to visit There’s something here to please every group. Gentle strolls around award-winning gardens, woodland and lakeside walks, a fairy trail, adventure play and boat trips and even a Monkey Forest! Inspirational shopping at the new extended Trentham Shopping Village, the impressive Trentham Garden Centre and an array of cafés and restaurants offering food to suit all tastes. There’s ample free coach parking, free entrance to the Gardens for group organisers and a £5 meal voucher for coach drivers who accompany groups of 12 or more. Add Trentham Gardens to your days out itinerary, or visit the Shopping Village as a fantastic alternative to motorway stops. Contact us now for your free group pack. JUST 5 MINS FROM Scan for group J15 M6 information Stone Road, Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire 5 minutes from J15 M6, Sat Nav Post Code ST4 8JG Call 01782 646646 Email [email protected] 2 Car park Coach park Toilets Wheelchair accessible toilet Overseas delivery Refreshments www.trentham.co.uk VSGG17 Stoke for Groups A4 Advert 2017 ART.qxp_Layout 1 27/06/2017 13:24 Page 1 Welcome Contents Inspire me 4 THERE’S ALWAYS The Potteries 6 Shopping and Markets 13 SOMETHING GOING Gardens and Manchester Historic Houses 14 ON HERE Stoke-on-TrentStoke-on-Trent Leisure and Great grounds Birmingham Entertainment 16 London Accommodation for groups to visit and Meal Stops 18 Support Services 21 Welcome There’s something here to please every group. Gentle strolls Stoke-on-Trent is a unique city affectionately known Map 22 around award-winning gardens, woodland and lakeside walks, a fairy trail, adventure play and boat trips and even a Monkey as The Potteries. With its rich industrial heritage it Forest! Inspirational shopping at the new extended Trentham has respectfully claimed the title of World Capital Shopping Village, the impressive Trentham Garden Centre and of Ceramics. The city boasts many visitor centres, A34 A527 Manchester an array of cafés and restaurants offering food to suit all tastes. award winning museums, over 25 pottery factory and the North There’s ample free coach parking, free entrance to the Gardens shops and the exclusive Staffordshire Hoard. A50 M6 for group organisers and a £5 meal voucher for coach drivers Come and visit the Trentham Estate with its Italian Staffordshire who accompany groups of 12 or more. Peak District Gardens, Shopping Village, Monkey Forest and 16 Tunstall Chester A500 B5051 Add Trentham Gardens to your days out itinerary, or visit the mile long lake. We are also the closest city to Alton and North A53 Shopping Village as a fantastic alternative to motorway stops. Towers theme park. A day will not be enough! The Wales Burslem city is located less than an hour from Birmingham, Contact us now for your free A34 City Centre Alton Towers Manchester and Liverpool and only one and a half Hanley & Ashbourne group pack. hours from London Euston by train. A52 Newcastle- under-Lyme How to use this guide Stoke Fenton This guide is divided into themes: The Potteries; Shopping A53 A50 Longton and Markets; Leisure and Entertainment; Gardens and Alton A500 Historic Houses; Accommodation and Meal Stops. Within Towers The Potteries you’ll find visitor centres, factory tours, 15 A50 museums and factory shops. To help plan your visit to Derby and 32 Stone and the East The Potteries, we’ve grouped the pottery attractions into The Stafford World of Birmingham Trentham Wedgwood Estate clusters – the City Centre; the North of the City; and the and the South 36 South of the City. Please use this guide in conjunction A34 Barlaston with the coach maps which are in the inside back cover M6 of this guide. Key to symbols Access information Look out for the symbol which indicates attractions Factory Shops Family Fun Refreshments with facilities suitable for visitors with disabilities. More Factory Tours Museums Passport Gift Shop detailed information is available on the Disabled Go Ceramic Attractions Car Park Map Reference website disabledgo.info Museums Coach Park Bus Service from City Centre Historic House Overseas Delivery JUST VAQAS Accredited (National Visitor Gardens Toilets Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme) 5 MINS visit_stoke Pottery Cafés Wheelchair Accessible Toilet FROM facebook.com/visitstoke All Weather Attractions Scan for group twitter.com/visitstoke information J15 M6 For more information call the Cover Images: Trentham Estate, Burleigh Factory Published by Stoke-on-Trent Tourism. Whilst every groups desk Shop, Mr Wilsons Second Liners from The Big effort has been made to ensure that 01782 236084 Feast 2015 (Image courtesy of Andrew Billington the information contained in this brochure is Stone Road, Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Photography), Staffordshire Hoard at the Potteries correct, Stoke-on-Trent City Council cannot accept or visit our website Museum & Art Gallery, World of Wedgwood responsibilities for any inaccuracies. 5 minutes from J15 M6, Sat Nav Post Code ST4 8JG visitstoke.co.uk/groups Call 01782 646646 Email [email protected] visitstoke.co.uk/groups 3 www.trentham.co.uk VSGG17 The Potteries is a fantastic experience for groups. EXPLORING Visit our award-winning museums and visitor centres, and go on a factory tour and learn about the skills THE and craftsmanship that go into producing our famous pottery. Have a go at creating your own masterpiece POTTERIES with the many hands-on opportunities available, and shop till you drop with the many pottery factory shops in the city. Below is a list of attractions and factory shops categorised into lists of what they can offer your group. To find out more information, have a look at their entry on the relevant page in the guide. If you need further help or advice with your itinerary planning, contact Stoke-on-Trent Tourism on 01782 236084. FACTORY TOURS - DISCOVER FACTORY SHOPS - BUY Emma Bridgewater 7 The Wedgwood & Royal Moorcroft Heritage Visitor Centre 8 Doulton Outlet Store 7 Biddulph Grange Garden Middleport Pottery Emma Bridgewater 7 (Home of Burleigh) 9 Denise O’Sullivan 8 World of Wedgwood 12 William Edwards 8 Barewall Gallery 9 MUSEUM & VISITOR Burleigh Pottery 8 CENTRES - LEARN Churchill 9 Dudson Museum 6 Dudson Factory Outlet Shop 9 Etruria Industrial Museum 6 Moorland Pottery 8 The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery 7 Royal Stafford 9 Moorcroft Heritage Visitor Centre 8 The New English 10 Wedgwood Visitor Center & Museum Middleport Pottery Portmeirion 11 Middleport Pottery (Home of Burleigh) 9 Dunoon 12 Gladstone Pottery Museum 10 World of Wedgwood 12 The Staffordshire Hoard LoveClay 11 Spode Museum Trust Heritage Centre 12 WHERE TO EAT World of Wedgwood 12 Emma Bridgewater Café 19 Gladstone Pottery Museum Café 19 HAVE A GO - TRY intu Potteries 19 Emma Bridgewater 7 Middleport Pottery Café 19 Royal Stafford 9 The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery 19 Gladstone Pottery Museum 10 Trentham Estate 19 World of Wedgwood 12 World of Wedgwood Dining 19 Coach Driver’s and Group Organiser’s Passport Request your copy of the Coach Driver’s and Drivers and group organisers who bring Group Organiser’s Passport by telephoning groups of 15 or more into Stoke-on-Trent will 01782 236084. This scheme encourages users be entitled to one stamp at each participating to start building a collection of stamps in attraction or factory shop when they stay for their ‘Passport’. Every fifth stamp results in more than 30 minutes, or include a meal stop. a gift voucher worth £10, which can then be The £10 vouchers can then be redeemed at all redeemed at any participating venue. participating venues. 4 Inspire me What’s on in 2018 Middleport Pottery Sufi Zen by Akedemi at The Big Feast 15 (image courtesy of Crisp Photography) What else is there for Groups in Stoke-on-Trent? Stoke-on-Trent is renowned worldwide for history, heritage Glorious Gardens FULL OF and culture. There are some spectacular gardens including Rode Hall Gardens, COLOUR home to spectacular winter snowdrop walks, and the Trentham Stoke-on-Trent’s heritage Estate’s Italian Gardens which bloom with striking perennials. At is evident everywhere you Biddulph Grange Garden your group will be taken on a tour of the turn in the city. Steeped in world from Italy to the pyramids of Egypt, a Victorian vision of China industrial history, the area and a re-creation of a Himalayan glen. was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. FAMILY Fun and Entertainment The Trentham Estate has it all. As well as stunning gardens, We’re a creative city and FUN fantastic shopping and a brilliant calendar of events, groups can culture is embedded all around DAYS walk amongst 140 Barbary macaques in the 60 acre Trentham our city in our people, dialect, Monkey Forest where there are no fences or cages between you and the monkeys – only forest pathways. unique culinary offerings, architecture, buildings, Stoke-on-Trent is the nearest city to Alton Towers, just a short half-hour drive away. Not only does Alton Towers have an museums, attractions and the amazing selection of thrill rides and family attractions, it is now ordinary, extraordinary and home to the world’s first ever CBeebies Land, bringing some of the spectacular. the most-loved children’s characters to Britain’s number one theme park. The 250th anniversary of the founding of the modern For a great night out visit the Cultural Quarter in the City Centre which comes alive in the evening, especially when there is a West circus by local Philip Astley; End Show, Glyndebourne Opera or TV comedian on at the Regent a fascinating programme of Theatre, Victoria Hall, or Mitchell Arts Centre.