The wrong town hall

Not a clever way to start the day.

I had a meeting in Stoke-on-Trent at 10am, so left home early to allow plenty of time. I drove as the train connections just did not work.

I looked at my road atlas before setting off, and thought it was obvious - straight down the M6 and the the A500 - and that would be it.

Now, I have never ever been to Stoke (amazingly) so this was new territory. I followed the signs to the city centre, parked and had a bit of a wander around as I had plenty of time. Not too impressed by the centre, noted the statue of Stanley Matthews, and then arrived here passing some boards hosting a photo exhibition about the 6 towns - and suddently realised the city centre of Stoke was in Hanley and not Stoke.

These chaps were doing some survey of Hanley town hall. As I checked my phone sat nav, I gathered that the news from the man in the cherry picker was not good.

Worked out where I needed to be, back to the car - and off to Stoke town, which is where the rail station and civic centre are. I got to the Civic Centre just in time ..........

The Potteries is not your typical city ! It really is an amalgamation of 6 towns and more, with no obvious "heart".I'll have to come back (although first impressions were not that good, there must be more here).