Coordinates: 53°03′06″N 2°10′24″W / 53.0516°N 2.1733°W / 53.0516; -2.1733

Smallthorne (population: 4,161 - 2001 Census) is an area in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is in the north-east of the city, near Burslem. Smallthorne borders Bradeley in the north, Norton-in-the-Moors in the east, Sneyd Green in the south, and Burslem in the west.

Although all of Smallthorne falls comfortably within Stoke-on-Trent North parliamentary constituency, for local government purposes it was split between two different electoral wards: Burslem North and East Valley. The part of Smallthorne that falls within East Valley is sometimes referred to as New Ford and has an active Residents Association of the same name. The Burslem North part of Smallthorne also has an active residents association and has chosen to call itself Smallthorne Village Residents Association who Paul Reed is chair of. In 2011 Smallthorne was united and became a single ward, with one Councillor elected (The labour party candidate Matt Wilcox who previously came from the East Valley ward). This was due to the Boundaries Commission mandate to reduce the amount of councilors governing Stoke On Trent.

Laura Lee (born Laura Lee Newton, 9 March 1945, Chicago, Illinois) is an American soul and gospel singer and songwriter, most successful in the 1960s and 1970s and influential for her records which discussed and celebrated women’s experience.

Lee was born in Chicago, but as a child relocated to Detroit with her mother. After a few years, she was adopted by Rev. E. Allan Rundless, who had previously been a member of the Soul Stirrers, and his wife Ernestine, who led a gospel group, The Meditation Singers. Featuring Della Reese, they were the first Detroit gospel group to perform with instrumental backing. The group recorded on the Specialty label in the mid 1950s, appeared on the LP Della Reese Presents The Meditation Singers in 1958, and in the early 1960s recorded for Checker Records.

As Laura Lee Rundless, she replaced Reese in The Meditation Singers in 1956, and over the next few years toured widely around the country. In 1965, as Laura Lee, she launched her secular solo career as an R&B singer in clubs in Detroit, although she also continued to record occasionally with The Meditation Singers. She first recorded solo for Ric-Tic Records in 1966, with "To Win Your Heart".

Lee Simpson is a British actor and comedian best known as a member of the improvisational group The Comedy Store Players.

He has appeared in a number of roles, including the sitcoms Terry and Julian and Drop The Dead Donkey, the films Paper Mask and Nuns On The Run, and played a key role in co-devising and narrating the improvisational radio show The Masterson Inheritance in the years 1993-1995. He was involved in Paul Merton Live At The London Palladium in 1994, along with fellow Comedy Store Players Paul Merton and Richard 'Susan' Vranch. Before becoming involved in improvisation, he was, among other things, a croupier in a casino, a cinema projectionist, and a breakfast DJ.

He did his first performance with The Comedy Store Players in 1989, and became a member of the group in 1990.

Andrew 'Andy' Bennett (born 30 March 1955) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1980s.

Originally from South Adelaide, Bennett was a regular at Hawthorn in the 1980 VFL season but had the rest of his time at the club ruined by injury. After crossing to St Kilda in 1985 he managed to add a further 14 games to his tally and the following season became captain-coach of Tasmanian Football League club Sandy Bay and won the 1986 William Leitch Medal and guided his team to its first Grand Final appearance since 1978 but was unsuccessful.

Bennett stood down from coaching after a poor 1987 season but remained a player with Sandy Bay until retiring in 1991 whereby he took up a position the following year as a boundary-rider for ABC Television's TFL broadcasts before he returned to coaching in 1993, taking up the senior coaching position with North Hobart for two seasons, guiding them to a Preliminary Final in his first season followed by a disappointing 1994 season whereby he retired as coach at season's end.