Rough Close

Rough Close is one of Stoke's most well known ghost towns, located at the northern end of the Trentham Desert, at the southern tit of Stoke. Originally built as a township for African slaves to live in, the area boomed in the late 19th Century after a local boy, little Timmy Dribbles, reportedly found some glitter rocks on the outskirts of town.

The town was mined extensively to hunt for more glitter, and the residents turned the town into what was then a futuristic vision of what a town should be, containing many buildings that were firsts for Stoke, including bath houses, gay bars, swingers clubs and a bowling green.

Rough Close, yesterday

Sadly, what glitter there was exhausted quickly, leading to much of the population leaving and the town falling into disrepair. The last residents finally left in 1944. 

Stoke City Council made an attempt to bring people back to the town in 1963 by building a poison factory and a hotel, but this ended badly when the factory poisoned the local water supply. Since then, the town has been used as a site for bomb and nuclear weapon testing by RAF Trentham.