Kidsgrove
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kidsgrove | |
  Kidsgrove shown within Staffordshire |
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| Population | 24,112 (2001 census) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Newcastle-under-Lyme |
| Shire county | Staffordshire |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Postcode district | ST7 |
| Dialling code | 01782 |
| Police | Staffordshire |
| Fire | Staffordshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Staffordshire Moorlands |
| List of places: UK • England • Staffordshire | |
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.
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[edit] 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 or an hour on the train. 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 legend regarding a headless ghost that is said to haunt the Harecastle Tunnel. The ghost is said to be that of a young woman who once stuck her head out of a canal barge and had it sliced by the roof of the old harcastle tunnel.She 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.
[edit] 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
Celebrities from Kidsgrove
Rod Hull and Emu and the women who played Grotbags
Dvaid John Arthur rigby Now lives in Kidsgrove.
Terry "the android" Mcvery was spotted in Kidsgrove whilst on the run after the great york feather factory Robbery of 1972.
[edit] Notable people
RJ Mitchell designer of the Spitfire aircraft was born in Butt Lane, Kidsgrove.
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 plaing to get a ransom from her family but her family refused to pay. He claims to have never intended to kill and he claims that she had been accidentally knocked from the ledge in the drainage shaft. A proper search of Bathpool Park was instigated. A televised interview with Ronald Whittle, and public assistance, led to the discovery of Lesley Whittle’s body nearly two months later, on 7th March 1975. She was discovered hanging naked from a rope tied to the end of a metal hawser in the drainage shaft, and post mortem evidence revealed that she had been killed within days of her kidnapping.
[edit] Local Links
Whitehill Online is the local website for the residents of Kidsgrove and surrounding areas.
Whitehill Online
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