Staffordshire is a county in the West Midlands of England, and is bordered by Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. The south-western fringes of the county blur into the ever-expanding conurbation of the West Midlands and Birmingham; during the many changes in county boundaries and administration in the latter years of the 20th century, Staffordshire changed quite markedly – Wolverhampton and Walsall, for example, are now only included in Staffordshire for ceremonial purposes, but otherwise fall in the West Midlands county.

While some of Staffordshire is somewhat built up, particularly towards Birmingham and in the larger towns and cities such as Stoke-on-Trent, much of the county has a low population density and is rural and unspoilt in character. Some parts of Staffordshire are rather picturesque: Cannock Chase area of outstanding natural beauty in the south and the Staffordshire Moorland in the north are particularly pleasant places and are popular with ramblers, while parts of the National Forest and the beautiful Peak District National Park also protrude into the county’s boundaries.

Yet, for all of Staffordshire’s undoubted natural beauty, it is its historic industries that are most immediately associated with the county. Staffordshire’s geological structure is particularly rich in coal and iron ore deposits; consequently, during the Industrial Revolution, the towns and villages of the area experienced dramatic growth as mechanisation took hold and demand for greater workforces grew. The arrival of the railways and the building of waterways such as the Shropshire Union Canal and the Trent and Mersey Canal accelerated the industrialisation still further.

Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme rose to worldwide prominence in the making of pottery and glass, and the conurbation to this day is still known as The Potteries. As with many of the UK’s industrial areas, Staffordshire’s fortunes waned, and many of the county’s traditional industries are sadly no more. However, leisure and tourism have gone some way towards replacing these industries; in addition to the popular areas of outstanding natural beauty, Staffordshire also boasts one of the UK’s most frequently visited tourist attractions – Alton Towers theme park.