Uttoxeter...

Life sent me to Stoke on Trent today. I'm sure it has it's charms but I haven't discovered them yet. It's officially a city but is really a collection of old, industrial towns that have grown and merged together, linked by a budget copy of the Los Angeles freeway system but without the beaches and the palm trees. While I am able to negotiate much bigger Manchester with ease, S-o-T I find confusing and frustrating. Having done business it was time for lunch. I'm sure that Stoke has many fine eateries but I've been spoiled by what's on offer in Manchester and I didn't want to get lost on the budget freeway system so I drove out of town to Uttoxeter.

It's a small, market town in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside about 10 miles SE of Stoke. I've never been before but it looked to be the right size and position to have a selection of those centuries old pubs that serve delicious pub food. And so it would have if it had been a little smaller. But it is large enough and prosperous enough to have attracted an out of town shopping park filled with all the usual suspects like TESCO and B&Q.

I parked up outside B&M Bargains and less than 5 minutes later I was in the attractive high street of the old market town. It looks attractive with a mixture of buildings ranging in age from Tudor to Edwardian. Sadly, the out of town shopping has sucked the life out of the older area and there were far too many closed units, charity shops and cheap stores to make it a destination. A couple of independent coffee shops had opened but the council needs a trip to Chorlton to see how it's done. I hope they can revive the area because it's a pretty street with great potential. It needs a visit from St.Mary of Portas.

The end of the street where the trendy coffee shops were, was also the Market Square. It's been renovated recently. There was this curious structure in the centre of it. I had no idea what it was for. It seems to be a memorial to an event in the life of local boy (from nearby Lichfield), Samuel Johnson, more commonly known as Dr. Johnson. He was one of our most famous writers and wrote the first dictionary of the English language.

Here's what Wikipedia said about the monument....

'The most famous event in the history of Uttoxeter was the penance of Samuel Johnson. The Lichfield writer’s father ran a bookstall in Uttoxeter market, and young Samuel once refused to help out on the stall. When he was older, Dr Johnson repented and stood in the rain without a hat as a penance for failing to help his father. This sad but moving event is commemorated by the Johnson Memorial in the Market Place.'

There were a couple of pubs in Tudor buildings that looked like they might serve good food. But when I peered through the windows of both the first things I saw were flashing slot machines. I did eventually get lunch when I got lost in the Staffordshire countryside. I found a village called Marchington which boasted that it was the 'best kept village' in Staffordshire. Villages like that usually have good pubs. And so it proved in the Dog & Partridge where the Steak and Stilton Pie was sensational (extra picture). And while they had run out of Ginger Sticky Toffee Pudding, the Treacle Pudding with Vanilla Custard more than made up for it. I can recommend this place and I've booked for Christmas....