Harecastle Tunnel

Harecastle Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Staffordshire between Kidsgrove and Tunstall. The tunnel, which is 1.6 mi (2.6 km) long, was once one of the longest in the country. Its industrial purpose was for the transport of coal to the kilns in the Staffordshire Potteries. The canal runs under the 195 m (640 ft) Harecastle Hill near Goldenhill, the highest district in Stoke-on-Trent. Although described singularly as a tunnel, Harecastle is actually two separate but parallel tunnels built almost 50 years apart. The first was constructed by James Brindley in the late 18th century and the second larger tunnel was designed by Thomas Telford, and opened in the late 1820s. Only the Telford tunnel remains navigable after a partial collapse closed the Brindley tunnel shortly before the First World War. As the Telford tunnel is only wide enough for a single boat, canal traffic is managed by sending alternating northbound and southbound groups of boats through the tunnel. Ventilation is provided by large electric fans at the south portal.

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Ravenscliffe (ward)

Ravenscliffe is an area of Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England, lying south of the town centre and west of Sandyford. The name Ravenscliffe was used for a ward in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, which covered part of Kidsgrove along with the area of Acres Nook; in 2011 the ward had a population of 4007. As of 2023, the area is part of Kidsgrove & Ravenscliffe ward.

Bathpool Park

Bathpool Park is a public park in a rural area between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove, Staffordshire (near the border with Cheshire). The park became notorious in 1975 as the location for the murder of Lesley Whittle. Whittle's body was found hanging from a steel wire at the bottom of a shaft in the park. She fell or was pushed by a killer known as the Black Panther, Donald Neilson. Neilson was sentenced to life for Whittle's and four other murders, eventually dying as a prisoner in December 2011. In 1977, a feature film about Whittle's murder, entitled The Black Panther, was released. Parts of the film were shot on location in Bathpool Park. Bathpool Park is owned and managed by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

Harecastle railway tunnel

The Harecastle railway tunnels are three consecutive tunnels on the North Staffordshire Railway at Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England. Opened to traffic in 1848, two years after being authorised, the tunnels carried the North Staffordshire Railway line between Kidsgrove and Tunstall. The older Harecastle Canal Tunnels ran so close that vibrations from the trains allegedly affected their integrity. The Middle and South tunnels have been disused since the realignment of the railway in 1965 as their limited size made them unsuitable to install overhead electrification apparatus. In 2013 it was announced that the disused tunnels, which have continued to be maintained, would be sold to a public body.

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Goldenhill

Goldenhill is an area on the northern edge of Stoke-on-Trent, in the Stoke-on-Trent district, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, England. It is centred along the High Street, part of the A50 road that runs from south-east to north-west. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Tunstall and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of Kidsgrove. Its altitude is 700 feet (210 m), the highest point in Stoke-on-Trent.

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