Dripping With Bennett : A Sad Tale Of The Five Towns

Luckily the location of this old 35mm negative is obvious from the church notice board and the proud lettering over the portico, but if not I suspect I would have guessed it was one of towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent. The church drips Arnold Bennett : I can see Constance Baines fussily climbing the church steps, Edwin Clayhanger walking down the street dreaming of a different life and Anna Tellwright planning her wedding to tragedy. I must have taken the photograph in 1971 or '72 when I was at the university up the road and would take a break from macroeconomic theory by walking the streets of the "Five Towns". If you were to walk that street today you would be met by a sad sight indeed - in 1977 a fire destroyed most of the building and now only the portico remains.