0:00:05 > 0:00:08Today, I'm managing to be in six places at once.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Can you work out where I am and how I'm doing it?
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Well, here's a couple of clues.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Cue music.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25# I'm loving angels instead. #
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Coming up -
0:00:31 > 0:00:33pots, pits, and postage stamps,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37and the daughter of football legend, Stanley Matthews.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Plus music from Kristyna Myles, Stuart Pendred,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44and six cherished hymns.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Any guesses where I am yet?
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Well, I'm exploring six towns while in one city.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02No, I'm not suddenly Superman.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04I'm in Stoke-on-Trent!
0:01:06 > 0:01:10In 1910, the towns of Hanley, Burslem,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Longton, Stoke, Tunstall, and Fenton
0:01:13 > 0:01:16came together to form Stoke-on-Trent -
0:01:16 > 0:01:18still often called "the Potteries"
0:01:18 > 0:01:20after the industry that once defined it.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25The name "Stoke" comes from an Old English word "stoc",
0:01:25 > 0:01:27which had several meanings,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29including "place of worship."
0:01:29 > 0:01:32The first stone church was built here
0:01:32 > 0:01:35around 1,200 years ago.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37And this could be the remains of a cross
0:01:37 > 0:01:39from the original Saxon church!
0:01:42 > 0:01:44This church isn't quite that old.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46It's the Methodist Central Hall and it's stood here in Longton -
0:01:46 > 0:01:49the most southerly of the six towns,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51since the mid-19th century.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Our first hymn also dates back to that time,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57when Robert Walmsley wrote these beautiful words.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42In the Old Testament, God says to the prophet Jeremiah,
0:04:42 > 0:04:46"As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand."
0:04:48 > 0:04:50The message is that no matter
0:04:50 > 0:04:53how messed up our lives have got, God can remould us.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Which is more than I'm going to be able to do for this pot.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02HE LAUGHS
0:05:04 > 0:05:08At one time, there would have been more than 4,000 brick kilns
0:05:08 > 0:05:10on the Stoke skyline.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13About 46 of these remain today - like these ones
0:05:13 > 0:05:15at the Gladstone Pottery Museum.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Beautifully preserved, they give a real sense
0:05:18 > 0:05:21of what a pottery would have looked like in days gone by.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Everything from teapots to toilets were made here.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35One of the most recognisable names and designs is Wedgwood.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Josiah Wedgwood was born here, in the town of Burslem.
0:05:38 > 0:05:44He started his business here, too, leasing his first premises in 1759.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Josiah Wedgwood was born, literally, in the churchyard pottery,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53which was adjacent to St John's Church in Burslem.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58But his mother, Mary Stringer, was, in fact, Unitarian.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00And Unitarians were classed,
0:06:00 > 0:06:01at that stage,
0:06:01 > 0:06:02as a dissenting religion
0:06:02 > 0:06:04from the Church of England,
0:06:04 > 0:06:05although highly respected.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09And he was to be extremely interested
0:06:09 > 0:06:12in the whole of the dissenting movement -
0:06:12 > 0:06:17those men who were prepared to push out the boundaries of education,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and to do things for the benefit of mankind.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23And when he built his new purpose-built
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Etruria manufactory,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28he also built housing for his workers.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Similarly, he was extremely good about providing healthcare.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37The life expectancy of a potter at that time was 34 years
0:06:37 > 0:06:38the majority of them dying
0:06:38 > 0:06:42from what is rather graphically described as potter's rot.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44It was inhalation and absorption of lead.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48And Weslie, when he comes to the area,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51writes that he's met a young man by the name of Josiah Wedgwood
0:06:51 > 0:06:54who makes his workman wash their hands and faces,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58and, he adds, that he's small and lame but his soul is near to God.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03His greatest example of humanitarian activities
0:07:03 > 0:07:07was his huge support for the abolition of slavery.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12He, of course, also manufactured thousands of small medallions
0:07:12 > 0:07:15showing the manacled kneeling slave
0:07:15 > 0:07:18and the motto, "Am I not a man and a brother."
0:07:18 > 0:07:20And he freely distributed those,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22both here and in America,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24to anybody who would support that course.
0:07:28 > 0:07:34Our next hymn is also associated with the struggle to end slavery.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37It was written at the height of the American Civil War,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41when the author, Julia Ward Howe, heard some Unionist soldiers
0:07:41 > 0:07:45singing "John Brown's Body Lies A-mouldering In The Grave".
0:07:45 > 0:07:49She thought such a great tune deserved more uplifting words.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Well, she certainly achieved her aim.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45All over the Potteries, there are places like this one in Longton
0:10:45 > 0:10:49selling a local culinary delicacy - the Staffordshire oatcake!
0:10:49 > 0:10:51I don't know what it is. I'm going to find out.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58It's a savoury pancake that you can put anything that you put on bread.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00It all began with colonial times
0:11:00 > 0:11:02when the soldiers came back from India
0:11:02 > 0:11:05and tried to recreate the chapati but failed.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09Ended up with an oatcake and became very popular and a local delicacy.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Our next hymn was written by Emily Huntington Miller
0:11:16 > 0:11:18with children's voices in mind.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23But the words are so lovely that people of all ages can enjoy it.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59The most famous literary son of the Potteries is Arnold Bennett.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01His novels were closely based on the lives
0:14:01 > 0:14:03he witnessed here in the latter half of the 19th century.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10His most famous novel was Anna Of The Five Towns.
0:14:10 > 0:14:11Why five instead of six?
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Because Arnold Bennett left out of this place - Fenton.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Pottery wasn't the only industry in Stoke-on-Trent.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24The six towns that make up the city, were all originally built
0:14:24 > 0:14:26along the clay and coal seams.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31This was the site of Glebe Colliery.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Now, the word Glebe means land belonging to a parish church.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37And this area was associated
0:14:37 > 0:14:41with the Glebe lands of the Church Of St Peter-Ad-Vincula.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45This church, now known as Stoke Minster,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48is in the town of Stoke itself.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52People have worshipped on this site for over 1,200 years.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The original church was built near the River Trent,
0:14:55 > 0:14:59so people would literally have come Down To The River To Pray.
0:15:03 > 0:15:09# As I went down in the river to pray
0:15:09 > 0:15:12# Studying about that good ol' way
0:15:12 > 0:15:16# And who shall wear the starry crown?
0:15:16 > 0:15:20# Good Lord, show me the way
0:15:20 > 0:15:24# O, sisters, let's go down
0:15:24 > 0:15:28# Let's go down, come on down
0:15:28 > 0:15:32# O, sisters, let's go down
0:15:32 > 0:15:37# Down in the river to pray
0:15:37 > 0:15:41# As I went down in the river to pray
0:15:41 > 0:15:44# Studying about that good ol' way
0:15:44 > 0:15:48# And who shall wear the starry crown?
0:15:48 > 0:15:52# Good Lord, show me the way
0:15:52 > 0:15:56# O, fathers, let's go down
0:15:56 > 0:15:59# Let's go down, come on down
0:15:59 > 0:16:03# O, fathers, let's go down
0:16:03 > 0:16:07# Down in the river to pray
0:16:07 > 0:16:12# As I went down in the river to pray
0:16:12 > 0:16:15# Studying about that good ol' way
0:16:15 > 0:16:19# And who shall wear the robe and crown?
0:16:19 > 0:16:23# Good Lord, show me the way
0:16:23 > 0:16:27# O, mothers, let's go down
0:16:27 > 0:16:31# Come on down, don't you want to go down?
0:16:31 > 0:16:35# Come on, mothers, let's go down
0:16:35 > 0:16:39# Down in the river to pray
0:16:39 > 0:16:44# As I went down in the river to pray
0:16:44 > 0:16:47# Studying about that good ol' way
0:16:47 > 0:16:51# And who shall wear the starry crown?
0:16:51 > 0:16:54# Good Lord, show me the way. #
0:16:59 > 0:17:04Tunstall is the most northerly of the six towns,
0:17:04 > 0:17:05and nearby is a clue
0:17:05 > 0:17:10to why the pottery industry here was so successful - transport.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13There are more miles of canal in Staffordshire
0:17:13 > 0:17:17than in any other county in England, including the Harecastle Tunnels.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20When the first one was built in the 1770s,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23it was twice the length of any other tunnel in the world.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25I'm going to take a look.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27- Can I catch a lift? - Of course you can, David.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29- Thank you.- Where to? - Harecastle Tunnels.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Excellent, that's the way I'm going.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40The first tunnel didn't have a tow path,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42so the boatmen used to have to lie on their backs
0:17:42 > 0:17:45and push the boat through with their feet.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Fortunately, this one's got an engine.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Our fifth town is the town of Stoke, itself,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17where the artist and sculptor, Arnold Machin was born in 1911.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Now, you might not realise it,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22but you're already very familiar with one of his works.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26In fact, if you sent a letter in the last 45 years,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28you've probably licked the back of it.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32My uncle Arnold was a fascinating man.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Of course, as a young child you never appreciate what he had achieved,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38you know, you think everyone's uncle did a picture of the Queen
0:20:38 > 0:20:39that appeared on the stamp.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43He came from a potteries family.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45His father and his older brothers were already
0:20:45 > 0:20:48working in the potteries and he was going to be an apprentice.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- So, he was from a working-class background?- Oh, completely.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54I mean, at the age of 16, he was at Minton's gilding plates.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58At the time, working for Minton, they had a worker's library.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02And he educated himself.
0:21:03 > 0:21:04The big thing that I think, actually,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06really pushed him forward was actually the war.
0:21:06 > 0:21:07The Second War.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Because of what had happened to his brothers
0:21:10 > 0:21:13in the First War, he was a conscientious objector.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16So, when Arnold received his call-up papers - the bit of document
0:21:16 > 0:21:19that said, you now, "Mr Machin, present yourself for a medical."
0:21:19 > 0:21:22You had to go along. If you didn't go along, you were sent to prison.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24So, while his health was very poor,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27and he knew he was going to fail the medical,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29he decided not to go, because that was principle.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30So, he stuck to his principles.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33He was put in front of the magistrate in London
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and then sent to Wormwood Scrubs for 12 months.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43He was a deeply spiritual man and a great deal of his art at that time
0:21:43 > 0:21:45was entirely religious in nature.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47I mean, St John the Baptist was his best known piece
0:21:47 > 0:21:49that was produced in the '40s.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54And that was entirely driven by his experiences with a war.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57So, can you explain how a conscientious objector
0:21:57 > 0:22:00goes in two decades, from that status
0:22:00 > 0:22:02to being the person commissioned
0:22:02 > 0:22:06to design the most iconic image of the Monarch.
0:22:06 > 0:22:07In the early '60s,
0:22:07 > 0:22:12the Mint decided that they had to start designing decimal coins.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Arnold set to work with some other designers
0:22:14 > 0:22:17and produced the best thing the committee had seen.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21John Betjeman was involved
0:22:21 > 0:22:22and the story goes that he said,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24"He's made her Majesty look a little bit sexy."
0:22:26 > 0:22:29And then, the same time, the Stamp advisory committee
0:22:29 > 0:22:33were meeting to look at changing the design of the stamps.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37When people look back at this age,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41and they're looking for something to put on the poster
0:22:41 > 0:22:44that says "the age of Elizabeth", it will be his head that'll be used.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46It's that iconic figure.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57# O Lord my God
0:22:57 > 0:23:03# When I in awesome wonder
0:23:03 > 0:23:09# Consider all the works
0:23:09 > 0:23:14# Thy hand hath made
0:23:14 > 0:23:19# I see the stars
0:23:19 > 0:23:26# I hear the mighty thunder
0:23:26 > 0:23:37# Thy power throughout the Universe displayed
0:23:37 > 0:23:40# Then sings my soul
0:23:40 > 0:23:46# My Saviour, God, to thee
0:23:46 > 0:23:52# How great thou art
0:23:52 > 0:23:58# How great thou art
0:23:58 > 0:24:02# Then sings my soul
0:24:02 > 0:24:08# My Saviour, God, to thee
0:24:08 > 0:24:12# How great thou art
0:24:12 > 0:24:17# How great thou art
0:24:17 > 0:24:22# How great thou art
0:24:22 > 0:24:30# How great thou art. #
0:24:34 > 0:24:36The town of Hanley
0:24:36 > 0:24:40is now considered to be the city centre of modern-day Stoke-on-Trent.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44While some people flock here at the weekends
0:24:44 > 0:24:47to do their shopping, the fans of Stoke City Football Club
0:24:47 > 0:24:49head for the nearby Britannia Stadium,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51and I'm off there now
0:24:51 > 0:24:54to meet the daughter of Hanley's most famous son -
0:24:54 > 0:24:56footballer Stanley Matthews.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00He was a great dad.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05Very loving, very family-orientated.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10Lots of things we did quietly. He hated to be in the public.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12What was his proudest moment?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14As far as we're concerned,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17it's the 1953 cup final.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Right, tell us about that.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Blackpool were 3-1 down with about ten minutes to go.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24We thought, really, it was all over.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26And then it was just magical.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29We all expected it to be extra time.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31But the last goal in the last minute.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35He ran down the wing using his speed, like he does.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36'Matthews beat the defence,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39'centred for the South African Bill Perry to score the winning goal.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41THEY CHEER
0:25:41 > 0:25:45'For Blackpool, it was like a boys' school story come true.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47'Congratulations to Blackpool,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50'and from the whole world of sport to Stanley Matthews.'
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Was he a man of faith?
0:25:52 > 0:25:54He didn't talk about it, but he was.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00He never asked God to help him win a game.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05But I know he would ask him to give him strength.
0:26:05 > 0:26:06Like we all need strength.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12He thanked God for the gifts that he had given him.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14But he didn't think he was anybody special
0:26:14 > 0:26:17he reckoned he got to use these gifts
0:26:17 > 0:26:19for the benefit of everybody else.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24During the '50s, and into the '60s, he was doing something else
0:26:24 > 0:26:27that people didn't know about, as well, wasn't he?
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Yeah, he was going over to South Africa.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35He went to coach, and he coached the black people in Soweto.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39He loved the people, and he went back every year.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42It was quite dangerous to go in there for a white man,
0:26:42 > 0:26:43but it was fine.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45They actually loved him.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49They called him the black man with a white face.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Getting football coaching from Stanley Matthews
0:26:55 > 0:26:58was a rare glimmer of hope for boys growing up in Soweto,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00boys like Paradise Moeketsi.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05During the Apartheid, as a young boy,
0:27:05 > 0:27:06it was very difficult.
0:27:06 > 0:27:07Very difficult.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09It was so bad that one can think
0:27:09 > 0:27:12he was born in the wrong time.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17We were unprivileged.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20You know, we were living in shacks, and we didn't even go to school.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25We didn't have any hope of changing to become a better person.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28You're good players, yes. You've got to work hard.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31You've got to work. You've got to work.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34That opportunity to be taught by him, it was a big blessing,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38and hence, today that man changed our lives.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42We didn't even have money, to buy a real ball,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46so, we used to have plastic and fill it with some papers inside.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48It must look round, and so we played.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51So, that was the only thing that was making us so much happy.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53And that was the only thing that was giving us hope.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Stanley's influence helped Paradise turn his life around.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And he's now a football coach in Johannesburg,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04passing on the legacy.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10After he gave us a pep talk, that man, he changed my heart.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12And I changed for the better.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17You know, I started to believe that God is alive.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Loving, heavenly Father,
0:30:39 > 0:30:41we pray for our city -
0:30:41 > 0:30:45rejoicing in its history, the skills of its people...
0:30:48 > 0:30:51..and new signs of regeneration.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54We pray for our friends and neighbours,
0:30:54 > 0:30:59that they may find inspiration and fresh hope in their hearts and lives.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01In the Saviour's name.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04ALL: Amen.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09It's time to say goodbye from the Potteries.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Did you know that the word "goodbye"
0:31:11 > 0:31:14comes from the phrase "God be with you"?
0:31:14 > 0:31:16And that's our final hymn today.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36Next week, Aled introduces a Big Sing spectacular
0:33:36 > 0:33:37from the Royal Albert Hall.
0:33:37 > 0:33:385,000 voices sing
0:33:38 > 0:33:41some of Britain's biggest hymns -
0:33:41 > 0:33:43and there'll be great music from special guests -
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Alfie Boe and Jaz Ellington.
0:33:55 > 0:34:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd