until the arrival of American servicemen in 1944. They occupied over 100 temporary buildings and Nissen Huts. General Patton visited during this period. Some prisoners of war were held locally during the war and after the war it became a camp for Polish servicemen and displaced persons. University College of North Staffordshire In 1948, with accumulated gambling debts amassed by the late Ralph Sneyd and high tax duties, the estate (including village outlets) was sold off by remaining relatives to Stoke-on-Trent Corporation. The land was earmarked for the development of the new University College of North Staffordshire, which was founded in 1949, opened in 1950 and received its royal charter as Keele University in 1962. In the village, a collection of buildings, collectively known as the Hawthorns, named after a 19th-century medieval farmhouse were erected and became home to students. The first students took up residence in Hawthorns House in 1957 and the expanded residential complex was discontinued in 2017. The Sneyd Arms remains popular with the student community. Keele is featured on the UK 'Here and Now' edition of the board game Monopoly, released in September 2007, It takes the place of Fleet Street in the traditional version. Notable people Walter Sneyd (1752–1829) of Keele Hall, MP for Castle Rising in 1784–1790 Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (1861–1929) lived in Keele Hall between 1900 and 1909. Major General William Donovan Stamer CB, CBE, DSO, MC (1895 in Keele – 1963) a British Army officer in the North Staffordshire Regiment Transport Keele is served by a bus service between Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Nantwich via Crewe and also is served by a bus service to Stoke-on-Trent via Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Stone. Keele was also served by Keele railway station which was on the former Stoke-Market Drayton Line from 1870 to 1956, although the line remained in use for freight traffic until 1998 when the line was closed to Silverdale Colliery and the track was removed up Pipe Gate railway station to north Silverdale railway station. The tracks remain in place but heavily overgrown and for potential future use if the line ever reopened. See also Listed buildings in Keele Gallery References External links Keele University Website Villages in Staffordshire Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme