Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
They are best known for Alton Towers, but there’s a lot more to the Staffordshire moorlands than that. They’re incredibly beautiful, right on the edge of the Peak District, and great for walking, especially at the Roaches, a rocky outcrop just outside Leek. There aren’t too many rivers in Staffordshire, so I make the most of the river Dove for fishing.
• For a guide to the area, see staffsmoorlands.gov.uk
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
This is a working Victorian pottery, or 'pot bank'. When I was a boy, most of the working pot banks were still here and a visit to one of them was a classic school trip. Today, a visit to this museum is the next-best thing. You can have a go at throwing pots on a wheel.
• stokemuseums.org.uk
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
Unusually for this day and age, this is a big, independent bookstore. I’m in here all the time looking for books for my children: it’s a lovely place to browse in, the staff are great and you always find interesting things. You need a decent bookstore in your life: I genuinely give thanks for this place.
• webberleys.co.uk
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
Stoke-on-Trent is famous for its oatcake. It’s nothing like the Scottish oatcake – more like a crepe – and, like the city, it isn’t much to look at. Pottery workers would cook them for lunch, pouring the mix on to the side of the kiln. Stoke’s oatcake shops are dwindling, but this is one of the best. They’ll sell you the oatcakes loose, or fill them with melted cheese, tomato, bacon or sausage.
• 232 London Road, Stoke
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
Given Stoke-on-Trent’s history as a world-class manufacturing centre for bone china, this museum has inevitably got some great ceramics – but it's also got a Spitfire. Reginald J. Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, was born in North Staffordshire. The museum is running a campaign to have the plane refurbished and to get a flight simulator.
• stokemuseums.org.uk
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
I’ve been coming here since I was four years old and I now take my son. It’s a classic barbershop with its finger on the pulse: there’s always a great big queue of old blokes who’ll tell you great stories. It makes you realise why Arnold Bennett described Stoke as “the biggest village in the world”.
• 5 Fogg Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
This country pub has been around for years and years: it’s been the scene of birthdays, wakes and many other important events in my life. About 10 years ago, it was taken over and the food’s now very good, too. If I’m feeling good, I’ll go for the sea bass. If I’m feeling bad, I’ll have the gammon and chips.
• theswanwithtwonecks.co.uk
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
The old Victoria theatre was the first purpose-built theatre-in-the-round in the country. This, its newer incarnation, opened in 1986. I saw my old chum Arthur Smith there recently. I hope they’ll forgive me for walking out of Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen last year. I wasn’t bored, honest: my friend was ill.
• newvictheatre.org.uk
Photograph: Andrew Shaylor for the Guardian
