Kidsgrove

Kidsgrove is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, near the Cheshire border. It is part of the Potteries Urban Area, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 24,112 (2001 census), decreasing to 23,756 at the 2011 Census.[1] Most of the town is in the Kidsgrove ward, whilst the western part is in Ravenscliffe.

Kidsgrove

Victoria Hall
Kidsgrove
Location within Staffordshire
Population23,756 (2011 census)
OS grid referenceSJ835545
District
  • Newcastle-under-Lyme
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSTOKE-ON-TRENT
Postcode districtST7
Dialling code01782
PoliceStaffordshire
FireStaffordshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament

History

From the 18th century, Kidsgrove grew around coal mining, although the pits have now closed. Clough Hall Mansion in the town is now demolished.

The engineer James Brindley cut the first Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal near the town; Thomas Telford cut the second. Kidsgrove also marks the southern extremity of the Macclesfield Canal. There is a 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 was murdered inside the tunnel. She is referred to as the "Kidsgrove Boggart".

Reginald Mitchell was born in Butt Lane, Kidsgrove who was the designer of the Spitfire plane.

Kidsgrove was made an urban district in 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.

Kidsgrove is served by Kidsgrove railway station which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on 9 October 1848 as Harecastle, later becoming Kidsgrove Central. This railway station is still open as a junction (now Kidsgrove). However, there were two other stations on the closed loop line namely Kidsgrove Liverpool Road, opened 15 November 1875 and Market Street Halt, opened 1 July 1909.

In 1975, kidnapping victim Lesley Whittle was kept in Bathpool Park, south of Kidsgrove, in an air ventilation shaft from a disused coal mine. She was kept in the shaft for several weeks, with a noose around her neck, and was hanged. Donald Neilson, the killer known as the "Black Panther," was later convicted of murdering her after repeated delays in getting the ransom.

The town has a library, post office, health centre (just outside of the main town), bank and supermarket (Tesco and Aldi). Market Street has a Home Bargins, smaller shops and many fast food restaurants. Schools include The King's Church of England School, Kidsgrove Secondary School known more locally as Maryhill High School, Kidsgrove Primary School known more locally as Maryhill Primary School, St John’s Catholic School and others.

The town used to house the English Electric Site on West Avenue, Nelson Industrial Estate. Over the years it went through various name changes, GEC, CEGELEC, Alstom, Converteam before finally GE.

GE closed the Kidsgrove site in 2016[2] and the last remaining original building has since been demolished, leaving only the recently erected warehouse which is now under use of another company.

Transport

The First Potteries Bus Route numbers 7/7A, 3 and 4A buses each have terminuses in Kidsgrove, and the railway connects Kidsgrove railway station with Crewe, Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent. The Trent and Mersey Canal runs through the town. Kidsgrove is also home to a portion of the A50 road and is very close to the A50 and the A500.

Sport

Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. play in the Northern Premier League Division One South.

Kidsgrove has a rugby club and a cricket club

Notable people

Kidsgrove Scouts

Kidsgrove is home to the 1st Kidsgrove Scout Group in the district of Potteries North and were established in 1910. The Group is located on The Avenue at their Headquarters at Burke Hall.

1st Kidsgrove Scouts has a drum corps known as the Kidsgrove Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps who are 16-time British Champions on the Marching Performing Arts UK circuits (DCUK and WGUK). They are currently the reigning British Drum Corps Champions having won on 21 September 2019 which is their 8th DCUK Open Class Title. As well as this the corps are 3-time DCE European Championships having recently won the 2019 European Championship title in Holland on 28 September.

The corps has also undertaken 4 USA Tours to the DCA World Championships in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2017. In 2020 they will be returning to the States to perform at the Drum Corps International World Championships held at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Local governance

Kidsgrove is situated in North West Staffordshire on the Cheshire border and is part of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The Wards of Kidsgrove, Butt Lane, Ravenscliffe and Kidsgrove are in the Stoke-on-Trent North Parliamentary Constituency represented by Jonathan Gullis and Newchapel Ward is in the Staffordshire Moorlands Parliamentary Constituency, whose M.P. is Karen Bradley.

Kidsgrove has a Town Council of twenty four members. Kidsgrove Town Council was created in 1974 when Kidsgrove Urban District Council became part of Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council as part of the Local Government Act 1972. Kidsgrove has a mayor who is elected by the Town Council every 12 months. This position is mainly a civic role, and the Mayor acts as an ambassador for Kidsgrove.

Rotary Club of Kidsgrove
Kidsgrove Rotary with their second trophy of the year for winning the Rotary 1210 District Darts competition 2011

Founded on 15 January 1969 and presented with its charter on 2 July the same year, the Rotary Club of Kidsgrove (RCK) has been active within the community whether fundraising, volunteering or helping out local projects for over 40 years. The club is also part of District 1210 within Rotary International in Britain and Ireland.

Originally meeting in the Masonic Hall and Institute in the town, the group now gets together at the Bleeding Wolf, Scholar Green.

During November RCK hold a bonfire night and fireworks at Clough Hall Park and during December they can be seen on the streets of Kidsgrove with their Santa float, collecting for local good causes.

In April 2012 RCK were also announced as the Rotary International in Britain and Ireland winners of the Club Online Presence Award. This was the first time the award has been presented and recognises the achievements the group have made through their website and a variety of social media avenues in the year.

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See also

References
  1. "Town population 2011". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-37497113
  3. 11v11.com retrieved December 2017
  4. RJ Mitchell, A life in aviation retrieved December 2017
  5. IMDb Database retrieved December 2017
  6. "Ken Higgs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  7. SoccerBase Database retrieved December 2017
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