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

What are you doing in North Staffordshire, Otto? I've been to see Newcastle Town play once - I grew up in Eccleshall and did my A-Levels at Newcastle College. Odd ground, isn't it - with the cycling track surrounding the pitch and all. I remember they did good Bovril and had a player with the amusing name of Poxon (as in 'both your houses!', we thought at the time. But we were students then).

Right, off to the beach!

I'm not from this neck of the woods originally. I first came here to study (Keele) and then went away and sort of came back again and then finally got a job up here. I'll be living in 'Castle for the foreesable future, which is great. Castle has improved out of all recognition in the last few years - cinema, more shops, new bus station. All in all a pleasant Staffordshire market town. And not in the Potteries.... I learnt that quickly....

I used to live in Hartshill, funnily enough. I thougt I was living in Stoke, but it apparently was just Hartshill. Not a bad place to live - quiet. The hill was a bit of a killer, though - walking back from Stoke with shopping wasn't good....

Enjoy the holiday!

Otto

A job??? In North Staffordshire??? And a new bus station in ´Castle???
I think you must be dreaming it, Otto...

Myself, I wonder whether the region will ever really recover from the loss of the Mike Lloyd Megastore. Is 'Stolen from Ivor' still there? And is the Rigger still a dodgy rockers pub? What's Ritzy / The Cube / The Hippodrome called these days?

Blimey, here I am in a semi-tropical wonderland and I'm getting homesick for Newcastle-under-Lyme. I must have been out in the sun for too long.

I was born in Hartshill, by the way... North Staffs General.

'Castle is marvellous now. There's a new bus station - it's moved slightly too. The tacky row of shops opposite the bus station has been replaced by a new road that runs parallel with the main high street, linking with the other roads that run parallel with Hassel Street, if that makes any sense. The new road has a new Wilko's, naffish CD / DVD shop, cheapo bookstore, furniture shop, couple of boutiques and .....

[drum roll]

... a Marks and Spencers' foodhall! We're a middle class town now!

The old market and multi-storey car park has been replaced by a Warner Village (with Pizza Hut ) Cinema. There's a lot of more classy pubs and coffee shops, with "continental style" pavement cafes. The latest new thing is a new luxury housing and leisure development on London Road (sort of near Safeways ish).

Stolen from Ivor - not sure. It always seemed to be in a closing down sale. I think it might finally have gone now. I stopped shopping there after I stopped being a student!

I'm told that the Rigger is as dodgy as ever, and the main nightclub is now Zanzibar, with a monstrous quasi-exotic head hanging on the wall. Yuck.

And the Dancing Octopus is still the greatest chippie in Castle, though for some reason people round here don't do battered sausages....

Otto
Not duck, dear me know...

Newcastle's *always* been a middle-class town - at least compared to Stoke. Although I suppose that's like saying Plymouth Argyle are a world-class football team when compared to Exeter City...

Incidentally, Stoke or Vale?

Vale. But only because of the Stoke hooligan element, and because I've got some Vale supporting friends.

I went to see Crewe play Everton in a pre-season friendly, and I was very impressed with Crewe, and I was thinking of going to see them a few times this season. They were playing some great football, although Everton were shocking...

Otto

Stoke for me - everything about the nature of the clubs and my ideological outlook would suggest Vale, but the sheer number of miserable experiences I've had at Vale Park watching Argyle means I can't stand them... no matter how badly they've been playing, or how good a team we've got out, they always beat us. In the early 90s, there was a 4-1 in the freezing cold, a 5-0 in the rain, and then they beat us 2-1, with the winner coming from a free-kick that the ref for some reason decided to award rather than a drop ball, after one of our players had gone down injured. Those two points meant they got automatic promotion, and we lost to Burnley in the playoffs... AND they sold us our record signing and worst-ever buy that summer - Peter Swan, who'd cleared one off the line for them in the said 2-1 win.

So when we beat them just before Christmas, it was one of the most satisfying victories I've ever had.

I've always liked Crewe, though. Good football and they gave student discount to away fans, back when I was still eligible for it... and we beat them at Gresty Road as well, last season.