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Lichfield Street, STOKE-ON-TRENT, ST1 3AS

A line up of (mainly) First Group vehicles waits to set off to various destinations across the Potteries.

Looking across Lichfield Street from the new bus station, one can see its predecessor, fenced off but still intact. Presumably redevelopment will have to wait for an improvement in the economy.

The Face of Stoke-on-Trent was a collaborative photography project commissioned by Stoke City Council to support the city's bid to be UK City of Culture 2021. Lead artist was Helen Marshall of The People's Picture. There were portrait photography sessions all of the city at markets, football matches and libraries, and citizens were also encouraged to send in or post their own portraits or those of loved ones with the #faceofsot hashtag. Over 3550 portraits were merged by Helen Marshall into one giant photo-mosaic that made up the Face of Stoke-on-Trent: Jozef Clarke, a 23-year old from Stoke. It was unveiled in November 2017. Over six years later it is looking the worse for wear, with several missing panels.

Artwork unveiled a couple of days ago using thousands of individual photographs to reveal the face of local lad Jozef Clark aged 23 of Hanley.

The 4m (13ft) tall image of Jozef Clark, 23, was unveiled in November 2017 for the Face of Stoke-on-Trent project. Artist Helen Marshall said Mr Clark's image was chosen from 3,550 submitted because it provoked conversation with people "wanting to know his story". Web site >> https://faceofsot2021.com/ BBC News >> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-42124719

"The Albion Hotel, built 1902 is a fine example of Edwardian Architecture. Red brick with a stucco ground floor. There are many embellishments such as the intricately patterned gable ends and the half cylinder oriel window at the first-floor level" (Steve Birks). The grim 1970s monolith behind is Blackburn House, former HMRC offices closed in 2019.

This is the sign for Image Since 1763 there have been nine Royal Navy ships that carried the name HMS Albion. But because there is no HMS prefix to the name and the ship depicted is rigged as a sloop, I believe this might have been a 22 gun armed former merchantman that was hired by the navy between 1793 and 1794. The navy then purchased her outright in 1798 before selling her on in 1803 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Albion . Albion is a popular name for ships coming from mythology where Albion was the son of Neptune, the Roman God of the sea. In poetry, England is often called Albion. This is possibly a reference to the Latin word 'albus' meaning white that could be describing the white cliffs of southern England.

Originally built in 1902 as the Albion Hotel, this pub is located on the corner of Lichfield Street and Old Hall Street. Beautifully built of brick it looks strangely out of place beside the huge modern concrete structure next to it on the left. For a close up of the sign see Image