Audley Rural

The Minnie Pit disaster was a coal mining accident that took place on 12 January 1918 in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys died. The disaster, which was caused by an explosion due to firedamp, is the worst ever recorded in the North Staffordshire Coalfield. An official investigation never established what caused the ignition of flammable gases in the pit.

Halmerend railway station (sometimes referred to as Halmer End) is a disused railway station in Staffordshire, England. The station was situated on the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) Audley branch line. The Audley line ran from a junction on the Stoke to Crewe line near Alsager to a junction between Keele and Madeley Road on the Stoke to Market Drayton Line Like many of the lines opened by the NSR the Audley line was built primarily to carry mineral traffic. The line opened in 1870 but passenger services were not introduced until 1880, partially a wait caused by the need to build a junction from the Audley line that would allow trains to run directly towards Stoke rather than having to reverse at the junction which was how the line was originally constructed.The decision to introduce passenger trains over the line led to the opening of a station to serve the mining village of Halmer End in June 1880. By 1923 the station had a good passenger service, for a small country station, with six services a day in each direction from Stoke on Trent, three terminating at Halmerend and the others continuing to Harecastle.Good as the passenger service was the rise in bus services led to a decline in the revenue raised from passengers and in 1931 the London, Midland and Scottish Railway withdrew all passenger services on the Audley line from 27 April 1931.Freight traffic too had been diminished by the economic depression towards the end of the 1920s and many of the local collieries closed as they became worked out or uneconomic to maintain and the line was reduced to a single line in 1933 although freight services continued until complete closure of the line through Halmerend in June 1962.

Sir Thomas Boughey Academy (formerly Sir Thomas Boughey High School) is a co-educational secondary school located in Halmer End (near Newcastle-under-Lyme) in Staffordshire, England. Its current headteacher is Mrs J. Hingley. The school is named after Sir Thomas Boughey of the Boughey baronets who donated land for the establishment of the school. The school can trace its origins to 1849.Today it is an academy administered by the Windsor Academy Trust. The school offers GCSEs as programmes of study for pupils. The school was rated GOOD in the 2022 OFSTED inspection

Halmer End is a small village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, neighbouring the small hamlet of Alsagers Bank and the larger village of Audley. Population details as taken in the 2011 census can be found under Audley Rural. The village is on the B5367. Historically, the village was dominated by the Coal Mining Industry, and several large coal mines were in operation in the vicinity of the village in the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the village is remembered as being the site of the worst mining disaster in the history of the North Staffordshire Coalfield when, in 1918, 156 men and boys were killed in the Minnie Pit Disaster. Nowadays, the village remains semi-rural and residential with a school, convenience store and a Chinese takeaway.

Newcastle-under-Lyme is a constituency in northern Staffordshire created in 1354 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Aaron Bell of the Conservative Party. It was the last to be co-represented by a member of the Conservative Party when it was dual-member, before the 1885 general election which followed the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 coupled with the Reform Act 1884. In 1919 the local MP, Josiah Wedgwood, shifted his allegiance from the Liberal Party — the Lloyd George Coalition Liberals allying with the Conservatives — to the Labour Party and the seat elected the Labour candidate who has stood at each election for the next hundred years, a total of 29 elections in succession. Labour came close to losing the seat in 1969, 1986, 2015 and 2017, and eventually lost the seat in 2019. Its 2017 general election result was the fifth-closest result, a winning margin of 30 votes. In 2019, it was subsequently won by the Conservatives for the first time since its creation, by over 7,000 votes. Newcastle-under-Lyme is one of twelve Staffordshire seats won (held or gained) by a Conservative candidate in 2019 out of a total of twelve covering the county.

Audley is a large village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Audley Rural, in the Newcastle-under-Lyme district, in Staffordshire, England. It is the centre of Audley Rural parish, approximately four miles (6 km) north west of Newcastle-under-Lyme and 3 miles (5 km) from Alsager near the Staffordshire-Cheshire border. Audley is located on the B5500, the former A52 road. Just south of the A500, the village is approximately five minutes from the M6 motorway. The first mention of Audley is in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was called Aldidelege, when the lands were held by a Saxon called Gamel. At this time, the area was very sparsely populated, and because of its distance from the major towns of Stafford and Chester there was little outside contact. There was a medieval castle at Audley Castle Hill during the late 13th century; only a low earthwork remains of the former motte. Excavations have yielded some stonework.

Miles Green is a village in the civil parish of Audley Rural, in the Newcastle-under-Lyme district, in the county of Staffordshire, England and is about 5 miles (8 km) north west of Stoke-on-Trent. In 2021 it had a population of 865.

Audley Urban District is a former administrative unit in Staffordshire created by the Local Government Act 1894. It contained the civil parish of Audley. In 1932 it was abolished, being absorbed into the Newcastle-under-Lyme Municipal Borough, Newcastle-under-Lyme Rural District and Kidsgrove Urban District.: 36 

Halmerend was a ward of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in Staffordshire, England. The ward covered the villages of Alsagers Bank, Balterley, Betley, Halmer End, Scot Hay and Wrinehill, and in 2011 had a population of 3,764. When it was abolished in 2018 the western part, containing Balterley, Betley and Wrinehill, became part of the new ward of Madeley & Betley; the eastern part, containing Alsagers Bank, Halmer End and Scot Hay, was combined with Audley and Bignall End to form Audley ward.

Alsagers Bank is a village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire. Population details at the 2011 census can be found under Audley Rural. It has a pub, The Gresley Arms, St John's Church (Church of England), a primary school, and a football club. There is a regular bus service through the village between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Audley. The village bears no relationship to Alsager in Cheshire and its name is a derivation from the Alsager family who lived in the area.

Leycett railway station is a disused railway station in Staffordshire, England. The station was situated on the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) Audley branch line. The Audley line ran from a junction on the Stoke to Crewe line near Alsager to a junction between Keele and Madeley Road on the Stoke to Market Drayton Line Like many of the lines opened by the NSR the Audley line was built primarily to carry mineral traffic. The line opened in 1870 but passenger services were not introduced until 1880, partially a wait caused by the need to build a junction from the Audley line that would allow trains to run directly towards Stoke rather than having to reverse at the junction which was how the line was originally constructed.The decision to introduce passenger trains over the line led to the opening of a station to serve the mining village of Leycett in June 1880. By 1923 the station was served six services a day in each direction from Stoke on Trent, three terminating at Halmerend and the others continuing to Harecastle.The rise in local bus services led to a decline in the revenue raised from passengers and in 1931 the London, Midland and Scottish Railway withdrew all passenger services on the Audley line from 27 April 1931.Freight traffic too had been diminished by the economic depression towards the end of the 1920s and many of the local collieries closed as they became worked out or uneconomic to maintain and the line was reduced to a single line in 1933 although freight services continued until complete closure of the line between Audley and Keele in June 1962.

Scot Hay is a hamlet located outside the town of Newcastle-under-lyme, Staffordshire, England. It is located near Keele University and also the villages of Silverdale and Keele The village cricket team rejoined the weekend Stone and District League in 2016 after an absence of ten years.