KIDSGROVE

'Kidsgrove' is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, near the border with Cheshire. It forms part of The Potteries Urban Area in North Staffordshire, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 24,112 (2001 census). The majority of the town is in the 'Kidgsrove ward', whilst the western end is in Ravenscliffe.

Contents

History

Sport

Notable people

History

From the eighteenth century, it grew around coal mining, although the mines have now closed. Clough Hall Mansion in the town, now demolished, was a local theme park. Modern Kidsgrove is very much a commuter town, which has seen house prices rise quite sharply over the last five years. Many people now work in the larger cities such as Manchester and Birmingham - only an hour's drive away.
Thomas Telford designed the Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal near the town. Kidsgrove also marks the southern extremity of the Macclesfield Canal. There is an urban legen regarding a headless ghost that is said to haunt the Harecastle Tunnel. The ghost is said to be that of a young woman who was once murdered by a canal worker and is referred to as the Kidsgrove Boggart.
Kidsgrove was made an urban district from 1904 with the abolition of the Wolstanton Rural District, including the parishes of Kidsgrove and Newchapel. Talke, previously part of the Audley Urban District, was added in 1932. [1]
Kidsgrove is served by Kidsgrove railway station which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on October 9, 1848 as "Harecastle". This station is still open as a junction (now "Kidsgrove"). However, there were two other stations on the closed "loop" line namely "Kidsgrove", opened November 15, 1875 and "Kidsgrove market street halt" opened 1905.

Sport

Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. play in the Northern Premier League First Division.
Staffordshire lads and dads offer local football for children to play in a proper footballing league

Notable people

Bathpool Park, south of the town is where Donald Neilson, the killer known as the Black Panther, took 17-year-old Lesley Whittle after kidnapping her in 1975, and ultimately, where he killed her.
RJ Mitchell designer of the Spitfire was born in Butt Lane Talke/Kidsgrove