Sunday 13 October 2013

In Burslem.

One of the stunning buildings from across the ages.

Having added the ‘Burslem’ element to my ‘Last Words’ post, I thought I’d Google the dear old place and see what I might come up with. I found one website dedicated to it, and it included the statement ‘It is packed with stunning buildings from across the ages.’ Of particular note are the words ‘packed’ ‘stunning’ and ‘ages.’

Bit of hilarious hype going on here.

As far as I recall, Burslem has one building – the neo-Classical town hall – which might be described as being of minor architectural note. That’s about it, I think. As for ‘ages,’ well, let’s see: We’ve had three Stone Ages, a Bronze Age, an Iron Age, the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, an Elizabethan Age, the Renaissance, an Industrial Age, and a Technological Age. Age, in a historical context, is a big word. A bit bigger than Burslem. I don’t think there’s anything in Burslem that’s older than America, which goes to show, if you needed any reminding, that you have to be careful about giving credence to anything you read on a website.

Burslem does, however, have two notable people associated with it. The first – and by far the most important – is Molly Leigh, the Burslem witch. I made a post about her once, and her grave can still be seen aligned north-south in St John’s churchyard. The other is the novelist Arnold Bennett, who lived there until he couldn’t stand it any longer and moved to London. Oh, and there's me, of course. I was born there and never smiled again.

7 comments:

andrea kiss said...

I read this article a few minutes ago and was trying to think of where i'd heard of Burslem and Molly Leigh and oh yeah... it was here.

Maybe you've inherited something? LL may have something for you after all, hehe ;)

Molly Leigh's will has been found.

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Revealed-final-Burslem-witch-Molly-Leigh/story-19934973-detail/story.html#axzz2hpIqSXp9

andrea kiss said...

Related to any Booths, Bennetts or Bookers? Haha.

JJ said...

I first heard the story of Molly Leigh from my mother when I was a kid. And to think, a girl from Tennessee reads Molly's will before I do.

Only I'm sure it isn't. A woman who had £400 to dispose of in the early 17th century, and land in Cheshire, was obviously a woman of wealth and position. Hardly fits the picture of an old lady living in a ramshackle cottage and selling milk in the local market, does it? I have a sneaking suspicion that Margarett Leigh was not our Molly.

andrea kiss said...

Maybe not.

Speaking of towns and legends i noticed on your Feedjit that you've had a visitor from Tarrytown, New York... that's Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane territory :)

JJ said...

That's Madeline - or maybe her mother - of the blog 'Frances Collier.' They live somewhere in that area of New York state, but probably not in Tarrytown. Feedjit approximates and changes the location every so often.

I looked up Tarrytown in Wiki, though. It was an interesting read. Tim Burton's film version is one of my favourites.

andrea kiss said...

Yes, i am in Kingsport and i show up as a visitor from Johnson City.

That is one of my favorite films, too. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle are my top two favorite short stories.

JJ said...

Since you have your own Feedjit you can set your correct location via 'Menu.'