The 60 metre wheel cost 6 million pounds to construct and put in place and it will be there for a year. It will offer panoramic views of the Italian Gardens and surrounding countryside and the owners of the Trentham Estate hope it will give an extra boost to their visitor figures. It certainly wouldn't have given many views at all on the day we visited as it was grey and misty with a constant, dampening, drizzle of rain. The Stoke City football club is its main sponsor and therefore it has been christened The Potters' Wheel.
It has 42 pods and will carry 336 people on the rides which last about 13 minutes. There weren't many takers on such a grey day and most of the pods were empty but it's new and people need to realise it is there. I hope it will be a great success in the spring and summer, but given the economic downturn and the way people are struggling, I wonder.
