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This is Staffordshire --
ASK virtually anyone in North Staffordshire who is old enough to remember the premiership of Margaret Thatcher and the one thing they will agree on is she changed the face of Britain.
But her legacy remains as deeply divisive today as it did when she waved a tearful goodbye to Downing Street in 1990 after 11 years as prime minister.
Stone MP Bill Cash, a friend and political ally of Baroness Thatcher, said he was 'deeply shocked' at her death at the age of 87.
And he called her one of the 'greatest statesmen' in living memory, who brought Britain back onto the world stage and transformed it into an engine of enterprise.
Yet others have blamed the former Conservative prime minister for the demise of North Staffordshire's traditional industries and the loss of thousands of jobs.
Their views were crystallised by the miners' strike of 1984/5, which pitted family against family and worker against worker.
By a strange quirk of fate, George Cairns, pictured below, entered local politics on the same day that the Iron Lady swept to power nationally in 1979.
He was elected to Newcastle Borough Council, where he still serves as a Labour councillor for Silverdale.
Now aged 65, the former Silverdale Colliery worker said: "I'm sure a lot of people in North Staffordshire will say Margaret Thatcher was a strong prime minister. I would say she was a strong prime minister as well.
"But the way she went about it harmed the working classes and those working industries. Steel, the mines, the lot – they are all gone.
"There were 244,800 miners in Britain in 1984. Today, we have only three pits in the whole country."
Mr Cairns spent 12 months as a striking miner, a period he described as 'sheer hell'.
The industrial action was sparked by job losses and pit closures. But led by Arthur Scargill, from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), it went ahead without a national ballot.
It was seen as a watershed moment in breaking the power of trade unions, who many people felt had held the country to ransom through years of strife during the 1970s.
Mr Cairns said: "When Mrs Thatcher went on to privatise the pits, the private landlords made money out of the easy coal. But within a few years, they shut the pits.
"Mrs Thatcher privatised everything in this country.
"Look at it today – energy bills are sky high."
Mick Salih, a former leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, also served as a miner and was based at Wolstanton Colliery at the time of the strike. As he was involved in safety inspections of the mines, he continued to work through the industrial action.
But the 64-year-old, from Norton, said: "I had a lot of sympathy for the NUM. It was a really hard time for families in Stoke-on-Trent, not just during the strike, but after it.
"I speak to people who were miners who still haven't found another job to this day. Once the pits went, the city went down bank. Unfortunately, I can only remember Margaret Thatcher for the bad things she did for Stoke-on-Trent."
Yet others today highlighted success stories like Festival Park, which grew out of the National Garden Festival of 1986, as proof the Thatcher era also brought prosperity.
Six years earlier, in the summer of 1980, she had paid an official visit to North Staffordshire as prime minister.
It included a tour of Royal Doulton's Minton factory in Stoke, where she told workers: "We can always sell quality. Exports are keeping up well."
As she chatted to staff, Mrs Thatcher even tried her hand at gilding. "You can offer me a job now," she smiled.
In 1987, she also toured the JCB headquarters, in Rocester, although her visit was kept a closely guarded secret until the last minute amid tight security.
The prime minister then joined fun seekers at Alton Towers, where she was invited to test the Grand Canyon rapids. And she rounded off her trip by visiting Wedgwood and enjoying tea in the visitors' shop there.
Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB, can still recall meeting her that day.
Paying tribute to her today, he said: "Margaret Thatcher will be remembered for many things, not least for being Britain's first woman prime minister. Above all else, she had the courage of her convictions. She led from the front and ensured Britain enjoyed the respect it deserves overseas."
As a mark of respect for Baroness Thatcher, flags at JCB's factories were lowered yesterday and will also fly at half mast on the day of her funeral.
Staffordshire Moorlands Conservative MP Karen Bradley also paid tribute to her today.
She said: "I met her on four or five occasions after being selected as a candidate for the Moorlands. She talked about what she could remember of visiting the constituency.
"She also gave advice on campaigning. She said you had to get out and meet people because that's the only way you'll find out what people are concerned about.
"You knew when you met her that you were with someone great. There was this aura about her.
"I think her greatest legacy is the way the world is today. It was shaped during the 1980s.
"Owning your own home and starting a business are all things that she made possible. She believed in aspiration and that people, not the Government, know best."
Stone MP Bill Cash added: "She was a great statesman. She led us to victory in the Falklands and played a part in the end of the Cold War. She was right on Europe as well. She changed the face of British politics.
"It's impossible to forget that, before the victory in 1979, we had rubbish piling up in the streets, people couldn't bury the dead, and we had had the Winter of Discontent. By the mid-1980s, we had an enterprise economy."
Mr Cash remained a friend of Baroness Thatcher up until her death.
"She came to stay at my home many times," he said. "She was very human and down-to-earth. She had formidable intelligence, authority and judgement."
Ross Irving, president of Stoke-on-Trent Conservative Association, also recalled seeing Baroness Thatcher's steely determination.
The former city council leader said: "I had been at the Conservative Party conference when the Brighton bomb went off. I had just left about an hour before, but could hear the explosions from my B&B.
"Margaret Thatcher nearly died herself. But she was at the conference at 9am the following morning. She'd never considered cancelling it.
"If anybody deserved the title of Iron Lady, it was her. What you saw was also what you got with her. Today is a very sad day. I knew she had not been in good health for some time, but it's still a shock to hear of her death."
Mr Irving acknowledged that the miners' strike had sharply divided opinion of her in North Staffordshire. But he added: "With the possible exception of Churchill, I think she was one of the most outstanding political leaders of the 20th century.
"It's certainly the end of an era."
Stoke-on-Trent city councillor Abi Brown said: "It is really sad to hear about the death of someone who was not only one of the greatest leaders of our country but was also one of the first female leaders in the western world."
Cheshire East councillor Brian Silvester said: Margaret Thatcher was one of our greatest prime ministers. She was a great believer in liberty and freedom.
"Britain is going through a difficult period now and we could do with someone of the stature of Margaret Thatcher to take us through it."
Jeremy Lefroy, Conservative MP for Stafford, said: " Although she was known as the Iron Lady, I knew some people who had been fortunate to know her and they said she was a kind person.
"On both sides of the divide, there's a lot of respect for her in that she made Britain economically strong again."
Paul Farrelly, MP for Newcastle, said: "Perhaps her most lasting achievements were not here, but in the wide world. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Ronald Reagan against Soviet repression in Eastern Europe.
"Her resolution – and mighty risk-taking – in recapturing the Falkland Islands also led to the Argentinian people bringing down a bloody dictatorship in South America." Reported by This is 7 hours ago.
Clik here to view.
This is Staffordshire --ASK virtually anyone in North Staffordshire who is old enough to remember the premiership of Margaret Thatcher and the one thing they will agree on is she changed the face of Britain.
But her legacy remains as deeply divisive today as it did when she waved a tearful goodbye to Downing Street in 1990 after 11 years as prime minister.
Stone MP Bill Cash, a friend and political ally of Baroness Thatcher, said he was 'deeply shocked' at her death at the age of 87.
And he called her one of the 'greatest statesmen' in living memory, who brought Britain back onto the world stage and transformed it into an engine of enterprise.
Yet others have blamed the former Conservative prime minister for the demise of North Staffordshire's traditional industries and the loss of thousands of jobs.
Their views were crystallised by the miners' strike of 1984/5, which pitted family against family and worker against worker.
By a strange quirk of fate, George Cairns, pictured below, entered local politics on the same day that the Iron Lady swept to power nationally in 1979.
He was elected to Newcastle Borough Council, where he still serves as a Labour councillor for Silverdale.
Now aged 65, the former Silverdale Colliery worker said: "I'm sure a lot of people in North Staffordshire will say Margaret Thatcher was a strong prime minister. I would say she was a strong prime minister as well.
"But the way she went about it harmed the working classes and those working industries. Steel, the mines, the lot – they are all gone.
"There were 244,800 miners in Britain in 1984. Today, we have only three pits in the whole country."
Mr Cairns spent 12 months as a striking miner, a period he described as 'sheer hell'.
The industrial action was sparked by job losses and pit closures. But led by Arthur Scargill, from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), it went ahead without a national ballot.
It was seen as a watershed moment in breaking the power of trade unions, who many people felt had held the country to ransom through years of strife during the 1970s.
Mr Cairns said: "When Mrs Thatcher went on to privatise the pits, the private landlords made money out of the easy coal. But within a few years, they shut the pits.
"Mrs Thatcher privatised everything in this country.
"Look at it today – energy bills are sky high."
Mick Salih, a former leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, also served as a miner and was based at Wolstanton Colliery at the time of the strike. As he was involved in safety inspections of the mines, he continued to work through the industrial action.
But the 64-year-old, from Norton, said: "I had a lot of sympathy for the NUM. It was a really hard time for families in Stoke-on-Trent, not just during the strike, but after it.
"I speak to people who were miners who still haven't found another job to this day. Once the pits went, the city went down bank. Unfortunately, I can only remember Margaret Thatcher for the bad things she did for Stoke-on-Trent."
Yet others today highlighted success stories like Festival Park, which grew out of the National Garden Festival of 1986, as proof the Thatcher era also brought prosperity.
Six years earlier, in the summer of 1980, she had paid an official visit to North Staffordshire as prime minister.
It included a tour of Royal Doulton's Minton factory in Stoke, where she told workers: "We can always sell quality. Exports are keeping up well."
As she chatted to staff, Mrs Thatcher even tried her hand at gilding. "You can offer me a job now," she smiled.
In 1987, she also toured the JCB headquarters, in Rocester, although her visit was kept a closely guarded secret until the last minute amid tight security.
The prime minister then joined fun seekers at Alton Towers, where she was invited to test the Grand Canyon rapids. And she rounded off her trip by visiting Wedgwood and enjoying tea in the visitors' shop there.
Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB, can still recall meeting her that day.
Paying tribute to her today, he said: "Margaret Thatcher will be remembered for many things, not least for being Britain's first woman prime minister. Above all else, she had the courage of her convictions. She led from the front and ensured Britain enjoyed the respect it deserves overseas."
As a mark of respect for Baroness Thatcher, flags at JCB's factories were lowered yesterday and will also fly at half mast on the day of her funeral.
Staffordshire Moorlands Conservative MP Karen Bradley also paid tribute to her today.
She said: "I met her on four or five occasions after being selected as a candidate for the Moorlands. She talked about what she could remember of visiting the constituency.
"She also gave advice on campaigning. She said you had to get out and meet people because that's the only way you'll find out what people are concerned about.
"You knew when you met her that you were with someone great. There was this aura about her.
"I think her greatest legacy is the way the world is today. It was shaped during the 1980s.
"Owning your own home and starting a business are all things that she made possible. She believed in aspiration and that people, not the Government, know best."
Stone MP Bill Cash added: "She was a great statesman. She led us to victory in the Falklands and played a part in the end of the Cold War. She was right on Europe as well. She changed the face of British politics.
"It's impossible to forget that, before the victory in 1979, we had rubbish piling up in the streets, people couldn't bury the dead, and we had had the Winter of Discontent. By the mid-1980s, we had an enterprise economy."
Mr Cash remained a friend of Baroness Thatcher up until her death.
"She came to stay at my home many times," he said. "She was very human and down-to-earth. She had formidable intelligence, authority and judgement."
Ross Irving, president of Stoke-on-Trent Conservative Association, also recalled seeing Baroness Thatcher's steely determination.
The former city council leader said: "I had been at the Conservative Party conference when the Brighton bomb went off. I had just left about an hour before, but could hear the explosions from my B&B.
"Margaret Thatcher nearly died herself. But she was at the conference at 9am the following morning. She'd never considered cancelling it.
"If anybody deserved the title of Iron Lady, it was her. What you saw was also what you got with her. Today is a very sad day. I knew she had not been in good health for some time, but it's still a shock to hear of her death."
Mr Irving acknowledged that the miners' strike had sharply divided opinion of her in North Staffordshire. But he added: "With the possible exception of Churchill, I think she was one of the most outstanding political leaders of the 20th century.
"It's certainly the end of an era."
Stoke-on-Trent city councillor Abi Brown said: "It is really sad to hear about the death of someone who was not only one of the greatest leaders of our country but was also one of the first female leaders in the western world."
Cheshire East councillor Brian Silvester said: Margaret Thatcher was one of our greatest prime ministers. She was a great believer in liberty and freedom.
"Britain is going through a difficult period now and we could do with someone of the stature of Margaret Thatcher to take us through it."
Jeremy Lefroy, Conservative MP for Stafford, said: " Although she was known as the Iron Lady, I knew some people who had been fortunate to know her and they said she was a kind person.
"On both sides of the divide, there's a lot of respect for her in that she made Britain economically strong again."
Paul Farrelly, MP for Newcastle, said: "Perhaps her most lasting achievements were not here, but in the wide world. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Ronald Reagan against Soviet repression in Eastern Europe.
"Her resolution – and mighty risk-taking – in recapturing the Falkland Islands also led to the Argentinian people bringing down a bloody dictatorship in South America." Reported by This is 7 hours ago.