Latest news with #JosiahWedgwood
BBC News
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Stoke-on-Trent's 100th: Artist returns to site of his first job
Artist Rob Fenton is no stranger to big projects - most recently he has been part of the team behind the new look Nemesis at Alton two decades though he has been using Stoke-on-Trent as his canvas, creating the likes of the Belstaff in Longton. But, this weekend he is back where artistic inspiration first his latest work, as part of the celebrations of the city's 100th birthday, has been unveiled at The Potteries Shopping Centre, where he used to work before taking up the artist life."To actually come back it's kind of like a full circle moment to me where I am able to create work in the centre that gave my career a push when I was 16," Mr Fenton said. He and the shopping centre have collaborated to highlight 10 points they believe are key in the city across the project, entitled The Mural, has taken a few weeks to complete because of its sheer size. "We've had some really big days, but the feedback from the public has been superb," Mr Fenton said. Robbie Williams to Josiah Wedgwood The work has been designed to be a mis-mash of dates, so its not in chronological order and also merges different styles together."We've got a mix of styles as well some photo-realism then we go into more graphic work and then a more illustrative," the artist of the figures that make Stoke-on -Trent the city it is today feature, including Robbie Williams, Josiah Wedgwood and John Mr Fenton has been the main force behind the work, he brought in other local talent such as his partner Kirsty Fenton and Ethan assisted on his favourite part of the mural, which was based around the film adaption of Arnold Bennett book The said: "I really like the colourway and the mix of photo-realism of graphic background". Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Lunar Society is a cautionary tale for Trump's America
This week, America celebrates 1776 – that is, the moment on July 4th of that year when it declared independence from the British. But as the holiday unfolds, leaders in Washington should also consider a year that fell later in the same century: 1791. This was the moment when Britain discovered just how damaging political populism can be for scientific innovation. And while the episode is barely known in America, it ought to make for sobering reading there, particularly as President Donald Trump pushes his 'big, beautiful' tax and spending Bill through both houses of Congress. This is the story of the Lunar Society, a network of entrepreneurs, scientists and curious citizens that emerged in Birmingham in the mid-18th century. It was based around dinners held during the full moon to aid travel (hence its name). Over several decades, this network unleashed inventions that accelerated the industrial revolution, including the discovery of oxygen and carbonated water (Joseph Priestley), advanced steam engines (James Watt) and innovative ceramics (Josiah Wedgwood). READ MORE Think of it as an 18th-century version of Silicon Valley, a place where innovation erupted because key individuals were close to each other and operated in an intellectually diverse and free community with far fewer political controls than in places such as London. In 1791, Britain experienced a wave of political polarisation and populism. Mobs attacked Lunar Society workshops, innovators such as Priestly emigrated and the network crumbled. 'The damage went beyond physical destruction,' David Cleevely, a British entrepreneur, notes in a new book, Serendipity. 'The riots sent a clear message about the vulnerability of intellectual networks to political pressure ... and a climate of fear descended.' American scientists tell me that research programmes are being culled if they contain words or prefixes such as 'trans-', 'bi-' or 'gender' – even if used in connection with, say, 'binomial stars' or 'transgenic' mice This resonates 234 years later. In the US, there has been a wave of hand-wringing from scientists about Trump's attack on research. At Harvard, for instance, $2 billion in funding for (mostly) medical research is at risk because of the president's political vendetta against the university. At Nasa, half of the budget for scientific research is at risk under Trump's 2026 funding plans. Billions of dollars are slated to be wiped from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health budgets, too. Indeed, Cassidy Sugimoto, a professor of public policy at Georgia Institute of Technology, suggested this week in London that the totality of Trump's moves meant that science faced a '50 per cent cut' in all US government research funding. 'Trump has cut science funding to its lowest levels in decades,' she lamented. But what is as notable as these numbers is the fear aroused by Trump's political attacks on 'woke' causes (such as diversity) and the science that his populist supporters dislike (such as vaccine research). This is not just affecting institutions such as Harvard; American scientists tell me that research programmes are being culled across the country if they contain controversial words or prefixes such as 'trans-', 'bi-' or 'gender' – even if used in connection with, say, 'binomial stars' or 'transgenic' mice. 'It's Orwellian – like an artificial intelligence program just cuts anything with those words,' one eminent mathematician tells me. [ Trump administration's assault on science focused and co-ordinated Opens in new window ] In response, scientists are swapping secretive notes about how to avoid the censors. Internal battles have erupted at prestigious institutions such as the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine about whether or not to capitulate to Trump. Meanwhile, some scientists are leaving. In April, the journal Nature calculated that job applications by US scientists to institutions in Canada, Europe and non-China Asia were 41 per cent, 32 per cent and 39 per cent higher respectively in 2025 than 2024. And, this week, France proudly unveiled its first official group of US 'scientific refugees': an eight-strong cohort of researchers who are heading to Aix-Marseille university. Trump supporters tell me these departures don't matter, since they are just a drop in the vast ocean of American talent. The White House also insists that scientific funding structures were so bloated they needed an overhaul to unleash a new 'Golden Age' of science. Moreover, there is no sign that this assault has actually hurt the innovation machine in places such as Silicon Valley – or at least not yet. That is perhaps no surprise. In fields such as artificial intelligence, a growing proportion of research now occurs in the private sector. And many innovators in California are trying to shut out the noise coming from Washington and focus on their own projects instead. 'It's a coping tactic,' one tells me. But the moral of the Lunar Society saga is that no innovation network is safe. This attack is crazily self-destructive. So this July 4th, let us hope that Trump's shocking onslaught on science will be reversed. In the meantime, the country's business leaders and politicians urgently need to back lobby groups such as 314 Action, which is fighting Trump's plans, and speak up themselves. Think of that when you next see a bottle of sparkling water – and then remember 1791. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Celebrations planned for ninth Staffordshire Day
A range of events are planned for Staffordshire Day this year - the ninth such celebration of the will start on 1 May and run until 5 May, with various competitions and activities taking place. The first official Staffordshire Day took place om 1 May 2016, the year Staffordshire turned 1,000 years old."It's an important and proud day for everyone living in Staffordshire and when we tell the world what a great county it is," Staffordshire County Council said. The selection of 1 May was made through a public poll, and reflected the date on which Josiah Wedgwood set up his pottery company in the county in include Staffordshire Moorlands Walking Festival and free taster tours at tourist attraction World of Wedgwood in walking festival offers free or low-cost guided walks through hills, fields and villages from 25 April to 3 May. Activities inspired by the street party spirit of 1945 will be held at The National Memorial Arboretum, near Lichfield, with dance workshops, live performances and singalongs. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Historic Burslem pub The Leopard's renovation plan withdrawn
Plans to restore a fire-ravaged historic 260-year-old pub in Stoke-on-Trent have been withdrawn, it has been proposals to turn Burslem's The Leopard into shops and 17 flats were lodged last March, after the building was gutted in the devastating blaze in 2022, before police uncovered a cannabis factory inside the original application has now been withdrawn by the owner of the building in Market Place, Daneets Investments.A new planning application for the Grade II listed building - which was the meeting place of Josiah Wedgwood and James Brindley where they discussed building the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1765 - is expected in the summer. Stoke-on-Trent City Council said the submission of an entirely new application would "avoid any confusion" and allow a fresh round of consultation."Our planners have been in frequent dialogue with the owner since the planning applications were submitted last year and now, as a result of these discussions, the owner has appointed a team of professionals to review the original proposals and produce an amended scheme," a spokesperson said."These new plans will be considered under a fresh application which is likely to be submitted in the summer." The Leopard closed its doors in 2020 at the start of the first Covid lockdown, but did not reopen before the fire in men were arrested on suspicious of arson and burglary following the blaze, but they were later released without charge and the exact cause of the fire has never been year's planning application included proposals to preserve the building's historical features, with the creation of 17 assisted-living flats and a retail space in the basement and ground floor.A consultation response from Historic England highlighted the need to "safeguard as much remaining historic fabric as possible". This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
