| Prodigious portrayer of the Potteries |
Arnold Bennett, author, was born at 90 (now 92) Hope Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Educated at Burslem and Newcastle-Under-Lyme he left his home and went to London where he became a full-time author and journalist. His literary output was prodigious. It comprised not only novels and short stories but also essays, reviews, play and film. Achieving considerable critical and financial success he became a national figure. Much of Bennett's best work is set in the 'Five Towns,' a thinly-disguised depiction of the Stoke-on-Trent area as it was in his youth. In Clayhanger (1910), he described the Potteries as he knew it: "On a little hill in the vast valley, was spread out the Indian-red architecture of Bursley - tall chimneys and rounded ovens, schools, the new scarlet market, the high spire of the evangelical church ... the crimson chapels, and rows of little red houses with amber chimney pots, and the gold angel of the Town Hall topping the whole. The sedate reddish browns and reds of the composition all netted in flowing scarves of smoke, harmonised exquisitely with the chill blues of the chequered sky. Beauty was achieved, and none saw it". His ashes are buried in Burslem Cemetery. Stoke-on- Trent Museums Services Your Comments (0)
 Tell Us What You Think
|
||
Show/Hide comments
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
