We thought that considering that the internet can be viewed by anyone in the world, we should really do our little bit to explain to people where Kidsgrove really is in the UK and the world and produce some facts and figures on the town which should be useful to locals and visitors alike.

If you have any additonal information that you would like to share here, then please feel free to get in contact with us.

About 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.

Kidsgrove has a population of 24,112.

History

From the 18th century, Kidsgrove grew around coal mining, although the pits 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 in the first decade of the 21st century. Many people now work in the larger cities such as Manchester and Birmingham. 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".

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.