Walking Sticks Stoke on Trent, Newcastle under Lyme, Stone & Stafford

Copyright:CastleComfortWalkingSticks

Walking Sticks Stoke on Trent & Newcastle under Lyme

and all of Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire & Shropshire

The famous  -  CASTLE FOLDING ADJUSTABLE WALKING STICK  is always available at ...

A special offer price
                                                       of JUST  £10
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WALKING STICKS .. Castle Comfort of Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire became kind of 'famous' for the supply of walking canes when they opened their stall in a Stoke on Trent market stall.  A decade ago, quite a stir was caused when visitors to Hanley, Stoke on Trent indoor market found themselves having their 'ferrules' changed on their walking canes - FREE OF CHARGE. The ferrule is the metal or rubber stopper on the end and folks came from miles around to see if it was true.

It started, not as a gimmick as such, but the firm who obtained the ferrules from manufacturers for around 50p each - found it time consuming and uneconomical to  account for and charge 75p-£1 and write out a receipt for each one. So they gave them away. Soon it was realised that peoples appreciation of getting something for nothing (and an item that can be difficult to find) resulted in one of Castle Comfort's best ever marketing policies. The local community got to know and love this local company that was clearly not out to make every penny it could - and naturally when time came to invest in a chair, bed or a stair lift - then CCC's Wolstanton showroom became the place to visit.

Source:Walking Sticks Stoke on Trent

To this day - a posse of Castle Comfort team members make regular visits to lots of care homes, residential complexes and  a 'coffee morning ferrule change.'  They can be found at place such as  Bradeley Village, Lisbon Place in The Westlands, Newcastle under Lyme, Gordon Court, Newhouse Court, Mill Rise, Amberly House, Lea Court, Berry Hill, Garners Garden Centre and many more.  You no doubt will have seen us when out shopping at your local Morrison's and Sainsbury's stores (the latter especially on Red Nose Day).

If a similar product (and of a similar quality) is found elsewhere it will probably be around the £15 mark - thought it has been spotted retailing at up to £30 and even some suppliers may charge carriage.  Also, if people cannot get to the showroom and live within a fifteen mile radius, it will be delivered FREE OF CHARGE. Naturally if ever the ferrule needs changing- that will be free.

Details -

A height adjustable CASTLE WALKING STICK folds when not in use for compact storage or transportation. Available in SMALL or STANDARD. One or the other will be fine for a very tiny dot of a person - up to an Olympic pole jumper.  Simply try them out at  the Newcastle under Lyme showroom or in the comfort of your own home when the Castle team member arrives, of course, by appointment.

They are  made from strong powder-coated steel,  have an arthritic friendly shaped handle and have non-marking slip resistant rubber ferrules (tips.)

SO, NOW YOU KNOW WHO TO CONTACT WHEN  YOU WANT A WALKING STICK  - AND REMEMBER IF YOU ARE HUNTING AROUND FOR A LOVED ONE - THEN THERE IS NO FINER PRESENT - (AND IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE FOR A BIRTHDAY, ANNIVERSARY OR CHRISTMAS)

CONTACT CASTLE COMFORT ON 01782 611411

OR VIA THEIR LINK HERE.

NOW - WALKING STICK AND CANE ENTHUSIASTS - AND WE KNOW THERE ARE MILLIONS OF YOU OUT THERE, READ ON... AND ENJOY ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING  ACCOUNTS EVERY WRITTEN ON THE SUBJECT OF WHAT MAYBE MAN'S (OR WOMAN'S) BEST FRIEND... EVEN MORE SO THAN THE DOG ................

If you thought that a walking stick was just a walking stick, plain and simple, you would be wrong. The humble walking stick, giving walking support to the aged and infirm, is anything but. Walking sticks have been seen as a fashion accessory by some and even a real, trusted friend by others with which to share life; akin to walking the dog!
Walking sticks are also becoming an acceptable self-defence tool for ladies. But if you ever bash a would be mugger over the head don´t tell the police you carry it for that purpose. Just invent ´´a little arthritis in the knee´´ - and wink at the copper. He´ll tick the right boxes.

“When you have no companion, look to your walking stick.”

(Albanian Proverb)

“The best, the most exquisite automobile is a walking stick and one of the finest things in life is going for a walk with it.”

(Robert Coates Holliday)

“Speak softly and carry a large stick; you will go far.”

(Theodore Roosevelt)
Edward VII (1841-1910) was the son of Queen Victoria. He served as heir apparent and held the title Prince of Wales. It is not hard to draw at least some comparisons between Edward and Charles, Prince of Wales. Both princes had mothers as reining monarchs endowed with longevity. Elizabeth 11 became Queen on the death of her father, King George V1, in February 1952. She was only 25 years old. The coronation was held in June 1953. Her remarkable 60 years on the throne, her Diamond Jubilee, was one of the triumphs of 2012. Elizabeth 11 is the second longest reigning monarch. Victoria was Queen from June 1837 to January 1901, a total of 63 years.

To be Heir Apparent, or monarch in waiting, must be one of the most unenviable of roles. When most people are looking forward to retirement, Charles, and Edward before him, cannot take on the role which destiny has assigned them until their latter years, and then not until the death of the parent!

Queen Victoria had a passion for all things Scottish and this was epitomised by her choice of interior design at Balmoral Castle. This is of course where the Royal Family spends their summer holidays. The pursuit of all things Scottish is still a feature of senior Royals and highland dress, with a stout walking stick, is a part of the holiday at Balmoral Castle. Prince William apparently preferred jeans!

Source:Wikipedia Public Domain

Edward VII at Balmoral. Note the Scottish attire. The photograph is thought to have been taken by his wife, Alexandra.

Look at the pictures of the two Heirs Apparent. What do you see in common? The answer is a walking stick, a stylish accessory for the gentry of the day. Edward VII (Albert Edward) was born on 9^th November 1841. He was King on the United Kingdom and all of the British Dominions. He was also Emperor of India from January 22 1901. Edward is thought to have been a champion of human equality and at times derisory of the Government. He undertook a tour of India which lasted an incredible eight months. It was noted that he treated all people equally, with no exclusions on the ground of race, colour or religion.  In an outspoken and unpopular attack of the treatment of Indians by the British officials he wrote “Because a man has a black face and a different religion from our own, there is no reason that he should be treated as a brute.” At the end of the successful tour, the title ‘Empress of India’ was bestowed on Victoria by the British Parliament, thus creating Edward as the future Emperor when he ascended the throne.

His family route was the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and he was the first British monarch from that dynasty. The name, with its Germanic associations, was changed by his son, George V, to the House of Windsor and the name remains in the present day monarchy. During the long reign of his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from affairs of State and became the personification of the fashionable playboy with a taste for the high life; fine wines, food and of course mistresses. Victoria spoke harshly of him “I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder.”He was nothing like her beloved Albert whom she worshipped all her life.

Edward was no ‘dedicated follower of fashion’; rather he established the fashion for the gentry. He it was who made the wearing of tweed, Norfolk jackets and Homburg hats the fashion in men’s wear Outdoors, he was always accompanied by a walking stick, some styles for town and others for the country.

Edward was responsible for some traditions which still are followed today. These include the wearing of a black tie with dinner jackets and leaving the bottom button of a waistcoat unfastened. I think that this was born more from girth than fashion! Walking sticks too became the fashion and there are some fine examples spanning the centuries.

I include at this point an aspect of country life of which I have a loathing. Shooting living creatures in the guise of a ‘sport’, together with fox hunting with dogs. This walking stick shows the head of a Retriever returning the quarry. The fox hunting ban in Britain is still in force and will, I hope, remain so. I am visited by urban foxes every night which solve my food recycling! In common with the majority of the aristocracy and a rural way of life style of the less ‘well bred’, Edward had a passion for hunting. The rooms of Balmoral, with tartan drapes and carpets, adorned with stags heads, bare macabre testimony to the cruelty of a particular form of ‘Scottish’ tradition, so passionately embraced by Victoria. It is a regrettable anomaly that some senior Royals of today, Patrons of Wild Life Conservation, continue to hunt.

Edward did not restrict his guns to Balmoral. His passion led to a bizarre ‘naughtiness’ when resident at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. It seems that he had the clocks altered to run an hour fast to create more time for the morning shoots.  ‘Sandringham Time’, only ceased in 1936 on the express orders of Edward VIII.

People who shoot game birds need a stable platform from which to fire, hence the design of another type of walking stick, the aptly named shooting stick. The handle opens out into a two part canvas or leather seat, mounted on a single leg with a ground spike. The user perches on the seat and supports their body with their legs for greater stability.

Pheasant shooting sticks and walking sticks

Collectors of antiques do include walking sticks. Many are exquisite pieces and demand very high prices. One such walking stick, dating from 1780, is a fine example. The stick itself is built from Bark Malacca with a highly decorative handle in fine German Meissen pottery. Malacca, referred to by makers as the “King of Canes”, is a species of rattan palm, found along the coast of Sumatra. It is an ideal medium for walking sticks; light weight but very strong. This opulent stick is valued at a staggering £9000. The Malacca is of course a factor, but far more so the fine Meissen.

source:Flickr

Meissen began production of fine porcelain in Dresden. (Germany, not Stoke-on-Trent).

The ware can be authenticated by the crossed swords back stamp, patented in 1720.

Alongside‘Meissen’, the name ‘Wedgwood’ is world famous. Josiah Wedgwood was born in 1768 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. In childhood, Wedgwood contracted smallpox which left him with a severely weakened knee. It was this weakness, rendering him unable to use the pedal on a potter’s wheel, which caused him to change direction towards design. He revolutionised the firing process with the invention of the pyrometer, to give accurate temperature readings in the kilns, for which he was recognised by the Royal Society. Being a son of Newcastle-under-Lyme, adjacent to Stoke-on-Trent, I thought that I had a reasonable knowledge of Josiah Wedgwood’s life. However, as in the adage,’one is never too old to learn!’ I did not know that in 1768 his knee problem resulted in the amputation of his right leg. Wedgwood was a perfectionist. It is recorded that he would tour the Etruria factory, closely inspecting the ware for the slightest imperfection. If the quality was not to his standard, he would raise his walking stick and smash the pot in pieces whilst shouting loudly “This will not do for Josiah Wedgwood.”

Modern day walking sticks may lack a little in elegance but they are a functional aid to mobility. Many are available in a telescopic design, and some effort is made to make them decorative for ladies! In common with their Malacca ancestors, the walking sticks are light weight and yet give strong support for those who need assistance when walking. The added advantage is that they can be collapsed and stowed in a shopping bag.

Walking sticks feature in Folklore and Fantasy. Fairies and ‘little people’ are more the stuff of Ireland, but one old tale comes from Wales.

A farmer from Cwmllan was tending his sheep in the hills. He heard a cry for help. Only people cried and he could not remember seeing people on the remote hill. He discovered a young girl. She had fallen and was trapped on a ledge above a rocky cliff. With no thought for his own safety, the famer climbed down and rescued her. A little old man appeared from nowhere, saying that the girl was his daughter, and thanked the farmer profusely for saving her life. The old man rewarded the farmer by insisting that he accepted his most valued possession, his walking stick. Within a moment, both the old man and the girl were gone from sight. It was as if they had never been.

From that day on, the farmer’s life changed and he became rich. His sheep always gave birth to two ewes. No accidents or diseases struck his flock. Sheep stealers were thwarted. Birds of prey never took a lamb. In the worst of winter, sheep buried in snow drifts always survived. In due season, his flock produced the finest wool. It seemed that the old man’s walking stick had brought good fortune indeed.

One night, having brought the sheep off the hill, the famer walked to a nearby village to a cock fight. He set off for home very late. A dreadful storm blew up with high winds and rain in sheets. He had to cross a swollen stream, using the stick to find a safe footing. Somehow the walking stick slipped from his hand and was washed away by the torrent. Exhausted, the farmer finally reached his cottage.

The next morning the storm had abated and the farmer set out to assess any damage and to look for his stick. Nearly all of his sheep had gone, washed away with the stick by the power of the torrent.

The farmer was ruined. His wealth had gone, as it came, with a walking stick.

(Adapted from ‘Welsh Fairy Book’ (1907) W. Jenkyn Thomas)

Fantasy is perfectly adapted to the cinema. Looking at the momentous success of the ‘Harry Potter’ films who could question that?

‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’

The original film, ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, was made in 1971 with Gene Wilder in the star role as Willy Wonka, It was based on the book of the same title, written in 1964, by one of the greatest of children’s fantasy writers, Roald Dahl. It was not a success. A second adaptation, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ was begun in 1991 and first screened in 2005. Willy Wonka played by Johnny Deep. A young boy, Charlie Buckett, wins every child’s dream, a tour of a candy factory. It turns out to be the most wonderful candy factory of all, run by the wildly eccentric Willy Wonka. The sugar corridors are not as sweet as they seem. The story unfolds with fantastical plots and intrigues but Willy and Charlie triumph. The whole design is a colourful extravaganza with every imaginable candy colour and shapes made in incredible ‘Heath Robinson’ machinery.

The musical (chocoholic) fans amongst us will not be surprised to know that a new stage

version of the story will be premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in May 2013. The show is directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes. Music is by Marc Shaiman with choreography by Peter Darling, who choreographed the poignant film ‘Billy Elliot’.

Source:flickr

It seems then that the story of walking sticks is far from being a boring mundane topic. However, as with sweets, I like to save my favourite ‘til last. It is Willy Wonka who created perhaps the most irresistible walking stick of all; a candy stick filled to the handle with confectionary goodies!