Just to complete the thread.
Alton Towers is superb, especially if you plump for the platinum fast track passes and you don't have to queue for anything, unless you want to sit in the front row of the coasters when you have to wait a bit. Pricy though, but if just there for 1 day then well worth it.
Stoke on trent though, well that's a different story. It's a shithole. Absolute shithole. At 4pm on friday when we walked down the town, it was mostly closed. Struggled to find a good restaurant to eat in, but managed to find a reasonable pub, "The Unicorn" on Picadilly. Friendly crowd, 3 rotating casks, enough for 2 nights. Found a better restaurant on the second night, "Shaffers" on Snow Hill, decent Indian.
But I wouldn't be rushing back to Stoke on Trent anytime in the next 80 or 100 years...
