h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

But what is a POTBANK? Potteries-People may be inclined to call it a POTBONK - particularly on the last day before the Christmas holiday! But thats yet another story!! So POTBANK - is it really a huge safe full of pots. I think not. Answers please on a postcard!!

A POTBONK it is....amongst many other STOKEY terms of endearment such OATCAKES, MAR LADY, THE GREEN UN and great phrases such as 'Cos kick a boe agen a woe and ed' it til it bosses '....A great dialect and local language, but in opinion we sound awful on the telly

A Potbank is the Potteries term for a small factory complex - like Gladstone - one or two bottle kilns and a couple workshops.

It is where the saggarmakers bottom knocker knocks the bottoms of the saggars...

Potbank: A potbank is the kiln in which pots are placed (banked) and then baked.
Saggar makers bottom knocker: I'm not certain, but I believe saggars were the people who loaded the potbanks, and the bottom knocker was a piece of clay added to a pile of pottery to stop it sticking to the bottom of the kiln, it would later be knocked off.

Saggar Makers Bottom Knocker - The triumph of the "Whats my Line" contestants art.

The story I heard is...

A saggar (I'm pretty sure) is a big pot. A Saggar Maker makes saggars (school boy stuff so far). A quick test to see if a saggar is broken (whilst still in the kiln after firing) is to tap the bottom of it to see of you get a dull thud (broken) or a resonating sound (OK).

A relatively wealthy Saggar maker (relatively, this is Stoke remember) could employ someone to perform this test for him - hence a Saggar Maker's Bottom Knocker.

Absolutely right. Of course, not being a saggar maker myself, I have never had the honour of having my bottom knocked, but living on the edge of the Potteries I can confirm your definition.
However, why is the capital town of Stoke on Trent actually Hanley, whilst Stoke itself is one of the smaller towns in the group?

If you must play with your football, try to find someone elses wall. I feel I should also point out that heading the ball may lead to permanent brain damage, and I additionally feel obliged to point out that when describing a potential consequence of an action of this nature, you should identify the subject to which the result occurs, namely does your head burst or the aforesaid football?

And you think the Stoke accent sounds bad??

Incidentally, when Stanley Matthews gets cannonised, do we refer to him as Sir Saint Stanley or as Saint Sir Stanley??

At a guess, Stoke was the city centre until Hanley was redeveloped, turning it into the largest and best shopping centre in the city.