New licensees Shaun and Vicki Moore of the Star Inn have honoured the town’s connections to the WW2 Spitfire the Star of Stone.
The Star Inn gave its name to the Town’s own Spitfire which it funded during WW2. The funding meetings are thought to have taken place there. The Inn sign carries a picture of the Spitfire, which is the only external public display of the plane in the whole town.
Stone’s own artist, Charles O’Neill, painted a beautiful picture of the Spitfire, a copy was presented to the Star Inn for prominent display. In 2018 the Star of Stone Spitfire Group was formed to Celebrate the Funding of the Spitfire by the Town, and to Commemorate the sad death of our Norwegian pilot, Flt Lt Karl Jacobsen, who was killed in action on 19th June 1942.
Unfortunately, the Spitfire group went on to find that the picture was in an obscured location, and the Citation Scroll had been relegated to the gent’s toilet. The group persuaded the landlord to relocate the location but none of the places found were really satisfactory.
Enter new licensees Shaun & Vicki, who offered to give the picture a prime display position in the Bottom Bar, with its own picture light above, and an excellent space for the Scroll alongside. And not only will the picture and scroll be on display, but The Bottom Bar has now been renamed The Spitfire Bar, so the Star of Stone Spitfire has undoubtedly gone up in the World!
The Spitfire Group offered to mark the occasion by holding an Official Unveiling Ceremony for the Picture, followed by a Celebration Lunch. The Group now has in excess of 60 Associate Members, each of whom had made a personal contribution to the success of the Project. The space available in the Inn limited the numbers to 24, so members were chosen to afford the highest group representation. Covid fallout brought this number down to 15.
Vicki herself performed the Unveiling Ceremony herself, ably assisted by Shaun. The Principal Guest was Philip Leason, Chairman of the Royal British Legion Branch, which is a strong supporter of the Spitfire Project. Another VIP guest Craig Chesters of the Crown Wharf Theatre, which the Spitfire Group is now supporting as strongly as possible.
Our new President, Julian Mitchell, and First Lady, Julia, were able to make their first Official Engagement. Julian is the great-nephew of Staffordshire’s R J Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, who was born in Kidsgrove.
The Spitfire Group has decided to Sponsor four seats in the Crown Wharf Theatre, so if you really want to fly high you can sit it the pilot’s seat when you attend their shows! The Group has now been formally stood down, but will continue as the Star of Stone Spitfire Group Volunteer Reserve.
