The Staffordshire dialect

On our next field trip to Caverswall we will be expected to talk to some local people and ask various questions about life in a village. Some of these people may have strong local accents which is common in the countryside. The following link is an interview with a local farmer Les Oakes who used to live very near to Caverswall (in Cheadle to be exact). He was a great collector and and created a massive collection of all kinds of memorabilia connected to Staffordshire. Here he is talking about his collection.
http://shar.es/IYp2r

Caverswall Village

When we got to Caverswell Village,we can see many trees.

In the Caverswall Millennium Garden,there are many beautiful flowers in it.This is anemone.Lovely!

Wishing well in the garden.

The Red house.This is the village pub and it is a lovely house.

The pumpkins for Halloween.

There are many pumpkins around the tree and you can also see a 'witch'.

St.Peter's church

a part of the church

East lodge,a part of the church.

Insect house,to encourage insects like bees and wasps to come to the garden and live,which is in Charles'  beautiful garden.

 Charles' beautiful garden.

This is fuchsia,a beautiful flower.

This is heather and it is said to be lucky.

First Impression of Caverswall

Last week, we visited a small British village, called Caverswall, and set in the graceful Staffordshire countryside. We went there by bus which took approximately 15 minutes.

The first impression that Caverswall gave us was green, peaceful and beautiful. I even can smell the fragrance of fresh soil. We visited some local buildings, such as, Caverswall Village Hall, The Red House, Caverswall Castle, St Peters Church and St Filumena’s Catholic Primary School. Caverswall Village Hall, which is beside a broad pastureland, is a big and quiet building. The Red House is a pub, unfortunately, it was not open when we visited. We saw St peters Church and Caverswall Castle, a historic moated castle. We were attracted by its magnificent appearance and next time, if we have a chance to visit inside, we will be very grateful to the owner.

We met Charles Walker who is Lorenzo’s friend and invited us to visit his house and garden. He is an engineer and used to teach at Staffordshire University. In addition, he creates a lot of craftwork using bamboo. In his big garden, we found a small wooden house built in a tree, not very tall, it was a brilliant place for children to play. He told us they often made a campfire to celebrate some things with friends, i can imagine what a wonderful time they had.

It is a really good trip for me, I like the countryside.

My point of view

We walked along the Dams Road for 5 minutes, then we saw Caverswall Millennium Garden on the left side. After we arrived at the Caverswall Square, which has a tree that was covered with the lovely carved Halloween pumpkins, and, what's more, there was the Red House which is a traditional real ale pub situated in there. We went toward St.Peter's church, where the churchyard is used for burials. Near St.Peter's church is St.Filomena's Primary School, where I saw the children between the ages of 4 and 11 walking across the road. Next to the school is Caverswall Castle. It looks ancient and luxurious. In addition, there was a beautiful entrance.

Later, we went to a house of a person who lives here. He said he had a friend who is a generous person and will welcome all of us to visit. Moreover, he thought that it nice for the children to live in this village and play in the garden safely. After we had a few conversations, we walked around his garden, and he showed me a wooden tree house, which was made by him and his children. There was a stair way to get in it, and five people were inside. It was a great experience to spend time inside.

Our short visit to Caverswall village showed an environment of the village which was peaceful and friendly. I am looking forward to interviewing the people who live there next time.

Frida's feedback

Feedback on Caverswall village

     Our team went to Caverswall village last Wednesday, where there is a 13th-century medieval castle. The weather on that day was quite cold and rainy as well, fortunately our teacher had given us a friendly reminder which was to bring an umbrella in a bag. so we are all feeling comfortable to visit all place in Caverswall village.                                                                                                        The first place we went to was the 'Caverswall millennium garden', there were many flowers and plants in the garden which is not a private garden but is open to everyone. All things in there were quite old and made me feel the fascination of ancient European buildings.on our ways we also saw the red house pub and many cute funny pumpkins under the big tree because it is nearly Halloween. Then we went to one of the churches which should be called the church of all saints. There were lots of tombs in the church yard which i thought were real at the beginning. But later i was told that they were real and some important local people were buried under them.Some tombs were different to the others.Lorenzo,who is our teacher told me,you can know the'tomb age'from the tomb because different periods have different tomb shapes.Some of them tomb have already existed hundreds of years which i thought was incredible.             Also we went to an interviewer's home, which is quite a nice house and had a beautiful garden. He said he felt very relaxed and comfortable in this village because you can communicate  with people which is very convenient. In a Small place you can always meet people and people feel closer.such as you can easily remember all your neighbor's names and look after each other which we cannot really do in the city. Moreover he had built a little wooden tree house and that was a amazing thing. He also told me, it had taken 2-3 months to build with other people helping. His children love to play games in the treehouse which makes me envious.                                                                                                           I would like to go there again and find out more interesting things about this little charming village.

Last Wednesday was a very interesting day in my life .because it was my first time to visit a village in the UK because I have visited only the large cities in this country so it was a great experience that will never be forgotten . The difference between the life in a village and the life in a city is clear to me, as the village is very calm and this is reflected as a result in it's people who live in it in the opposite the city is completely different and has its own features crowded , big with massive buildings personally I   prefer living in a village than a city . Although the city has many other advantages which might not be found in the village. However each one of them has it's own advantages that make it amazing    

View of farm and garden

I visited  Caverswall village last Wednesday near Stoke-On-Trent in the UK. This is my first time to visit a  village since I have arrived in the UK, and i felt very happy and quite excited,because i just stayed in the cities and never been to a village.I went there with my classmates and lecturer by taxi. Although, the weather was quite cold and rainy as well, we were very happy with this trip. Fortunately,our lecturer reminded us to bring an umbrella.

Firstly,we visited 'Caverswall millennium garden' there were many flowers and plants in the garden which is not a private garden but is open to the public.

some photos of vallage

On the way we went to the village, we can seen the green grass and  some houses.

some time i can find some horses or cows, but i couldn't take a photo in that time.    

we arrive inthe village

some information on the village notice board

Halloween pumpkins

The "witch" has bumped into a tree!

the church

beautiful grass

Demo Video about that village

Last week we went to Caverswall and I made a short  video to share with everyone. 

The garden and tree-house are very interesting.

Interviewing techniques

Hi Students! The following worksheet shows 12 potential questions to ask the villagers. Read the instructions carefully.

Interviewing techniques

Look at the following questions. Try to stress the word that is highlighted. Think! How can you make the question sound more natural? Try to use intonation (high to low). Ask your teacher for an example and practice with a partner.

1)     Have you ever visited a village in another country? Did you notice any differences or similarities?

2)     What do you do?

3)     What do you think  the advantages and disadvantages of living in a village are?

4)     How long have you lived here and why did you choose to live in Caverswall?

5)     What is the nightlife like here?

6)     Why do you prefer to live in a village?

7)     In your opinion, where is the best place in the village?

8)     Have you a favourite place you like to go to at the weekends?

9)     In your opinion, do many tourists come here?

10) Are there any international restaurants here offering international cuisine?

11) What do you think about the environment here?

12) Does the village offer any social activities and do you ever take part in them?http://soundcloud.com/lorenzo-ball/interviewing-techniques

Field Trip to Caverswall Village

St Peter's Churchyard, Caverswall

On Wednesday October 23rd we travelled to Caverswall village as part of our project “Life in an English Village”. We arrived in two taxi cabs from Stoke on Tent, which dropped us outside the castle on the edge of the village and from there we walked to the village green, passing the village hall and the Millenium garden. (audio)
The rain had stopped and clouds soon gave way to much needed sunshine. The village hall is very near the green, but we had to contend with quite a bit of traffic, which we did not expect. Perhaps it was because there was no regular public transport. In fact it is quite difficult to get to Caverswall without a car or a bicycle.
On arrival at the village green we came across a large tree with a set of stocks, surrounded by bright orange pumpkins with candles inside and with faces cut into them. At this time of year many children celebrate Halloween in Britain, usually by having parties and eating different kinds of sweets and dressing up in unusual and scary costumes. Perhaps the village was organising such a party?
After taking several short films and numerous photos of the buildings we decided to walk towards St Peter’s church. In doing so we passed another church, built almost next to the castle: St Filomena's Roman Catholic Church. I new that the castle was once a Catholic convent with nuns and that this church had been built just over a hundred years ago. I didn't know however that there was a Catholic Primary School, setback, on the other side of the road to St Filomena’s.
St Peter’s church is clearly an older building. The surrounding grave yard is full of old worn headstones, some dating back 200 years. Apparently, members of Admiral Nelson’s family are also buried here. Unfortunately both this  church and the Roman Catholic one were locked, but our next trip will hopefully make up for this. From here we walked to the rear entrance of the castle, located behind St Filomena’s. Here we could walk right up to the castle door, and to do so we had to cross a stone bridge resembling a drawbridge. Below us we could see a moat filled with water.
Time was beginning to fly so I decided to take the group to the other side of the village where Charles, a friend of mine from the university lived. By chance we bumped into him on the way and he gave us a guided tour of his garden, complete with badger set and tree houses!
The weather had started to change for the worse and a cold October wind accompanied us all the way back to Blythe bridge station. We even passed Caverswall crossing with its old station house, now a home. Pity they closed Caverswall station!
So what did you think of your first visit to an English Village?