University of Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent

Having planned only 3 days in Nottingham, we regrettably had to move on to Stoke-on-Trent for the workshop. We had to switch train in Derby (which is pronounced “Darby” and not “Durby”). We stayed at the North Stafford Hotel, directly (and I do mean directly) opposite the train station. The front desk service was questionable but the location was ideal. The university was less than a ten minute walk.

The University was rebuilt the prior year with a ₤30.000.000 budget. All equipment was state of the art and drool-worthy. Not only does the university have a drug license, they have a gun license and even a small ballistics room. All the teachers were enthusiastic and extremely nice. There were a few intern-students from our school, who were also extremely helpful. We went to the Crime House the next morning. Decked out in SOCO suits, we tackled our fictional crime. We photographed, sampled and measured every inch of the bathroom, which was the scene of our crime.

In the evening we had a team meal at the Rose of Kashmir, an Indian restaurant on Liverpool Road. I’m not really one for spicy foods though… After one bite of something, my taste buds died a speedy and horrible death. At least they had an all you can eat dessert buffet table.

On our third day in Stoke-on-Trent, which also happened to be HALLOWEEN, we were allowed to examine the evidence we found in the Crime House. We had to do a short presentation in English about what we thought had happened at our crime scene, after which we were given certificates.

One last night in Stoke-on-Trent was spent as by first having dinner at the White Star Pub with the additional company of Denise and another Tessa (with our Halloween disguises!) With full bellies, we then proceeded to the Crime Scene House to pretend to break in (Apparently there have been people stupid enough to really try this). We took a late night walk through the park on the way back to our hotel and spent our last night at the Stafford.