Bull Baiting in Burslem

by Mervyn Edwards

The Burslem Arts and Crafts Festivals of recent years have been civilised affairs compared to some of the Wakes celebrations of yore which saw bulls being baited in the middle of the town.

It is as well to remember that the activity was not always regarded as a working-class preserve. In 1174, William Fitzstephen wrote that the baiting of bears and bulls was a favourite pastime of Londoners in the winter. The sport was encouraged by English sovereigns and flourished for centuries.

The more respectable elements of society opposed bull baiting by the late 18th century, though it died very hard indeed. At Burslem Wakes in 1814, an infuriated bull injured a dozen people including a Burslem man who had his thigh deeply lacerated and a Longport man whose "recovery was very doubtful." Noah Heath, a poet from Sneyd Green, famously wrote some verse on bull-baiting, opposing the brutality of the sport and the people it attracted. It was often organised near to pubs, and a metal bull-baiting ring was still to be found in front of the Old King and Queen pub in Sneyd Street even as late as 1892.

The baiting seems to have taken place in St. John's Square though it was also arranged in close proximity to the Bull's Head at Sneyd Green, which formed part of the Cobridge Estate. A group of dog owners would acquire a bull on which their dogs were set during the bait. Often, the bull would be led through the town by the bulward and the dogs would also make an appearance, perhaps to catch the scent of the animal to be tortured. One suspects also that this would increase the anticipation of spectators prior to the event.

At the Burslem Wakes of 1830, the authorities stamped down hard on an attempted bull bait and the man who had the animal - described as a newly-established publican and "late a guardian of the laws" - was committed to gaol. The practice was banned by Act of Parliament in 1835 but that did not prevent historian John Ward from remarking around 1840 that Burslem Wakes was "some years ago marked with more vulgar and demoralising scenes than have been witnessed since the practice of bullbaiting was prohibited."

Author Arnold Bennett sometimes made references to this age-old Burslem bloodsport in his novels. In The Elixir of Youth, there is bull and bear baiting in the Cock Yard Inn, "from which burst a maddened bull killing a poor girl who was Black Jack's lover."

Upcoming Festivals

This page will be updated - if you would like us to include any festivals or fun days accessible to people in the Local Edition area please leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

May 5: Traditional Carnival, Burslem
May 6 – 12: Axis-Titanic Fringe Festival, Burslem (an extension of the main Axis Festival in Hanley)
May 10: Arts & Crafts Festival
June: Tunstall Carnival, Tunstall Park
June 21: Burslem South Community Event, Central Forest Park
July 5: Haywood High Festival, High Lane, Burslem
August: Stoke Sounds Launch Event, Burslem Park
August: Six Senses Exhibition – a major exhibition originating in Burslem, Trentham Gardens
November: Tunstall Lights switch-on & entertainment
December: Christmas Arts & Crafts Festival & Lights switch-on

Burslem Festivals 2008: introduction

Welcome to Burslem Festivals 2008, now available to download. If you haven’t seen Local Edition before, it is a fortnightly street newspaper* distributed throughout Burslem, Tunstall, Cobridge and Middleport in Northern Stoke.

This special edition has been put together to raise funds to promote Burslem’s festivals with the distribution of 20,000 copies and any profits being set aside to assist with promotion of future events. Half the copies are going to local houses to try and reach people who may not have been to Burslem in a while and the other half are to be distributed across the city and to tourist centres, plus it is available to download online. Throughout the editorial, graphics and advertising, we’ve aimed to give you a taste of the fun and hard work that goes on in Burslem, Mother Town of the Potteries.

As a social enterprise newspaper, we avoid the extreme paths of mainstream media and public relations that feel compelled to portray a place in either an overly negative or positive light. Rather, social journalism is about making the connections that can inspire change and giving people a tool to communicate effectively, whoever they are. It is the case, however, that everyone involved in Local Edition shares a love for Burslem, so in this case we’re unapologetic about our mission to overturn negative perceptions.

Our heritage as the place where the globalised pottery industry first started is ever-present on our fascinating streets, but we don’t just look back to our illustrious history. Many of our businesses are still pioneers in their fields and trading across the world in diverse industries, from Spitfire parts to pop music production. Much of the activity happens behind the scenes, but it’s still here.
We’re asking for your support, whether you’re a local resident or reading this from afar, to build on everything that is here: knowledgeable traders happy to provide that extra level of service to the customer, wonderful food and drink from an array of cultures and, through May and beyond, festivities for the whole family across the area – most of them free and put on by volunteers who work hard to organise them through the year. We’ve put the issue together with very limited resources and a small team, and so there is plenty more than we’ve been able to include here – but you’ll have to come and find it all out for yourself!

A big thanks to everybody that has helped make the brochure happen, especially the festivals’ committees and everyone who has chipped in small and large amounts of money and time to support its production and distribution. Whether you’re coming from near or far, we all look forward to welcoming you to Burslem soon.
love, Clare & the team

• Any errors or ommissions are normally the fault of the editor, who apologises in advance. Please let us know anything we’ve missed by emailing clare @ localedition.org.uk or dropping a note into the Burslem Arts shop at 7 Queen Street.