Caldon Canal north of Milton, Stoke-on-Trent

Image: © Roger D Kidd Taken: 31 Jul 2015

The Caldon Branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal was created, and opened in 1779, specifically as a transport facility for the limestone quarries at Cauldon, near Froghall. In 1797 a secondary branch was built from Hazlehurst Locks to Leek. By 1811 a further extension from Froghall led to Uttoxeter, a further 13 miles, but only lasted until 1845. By 1849 a railway had been built, some of the track using the former canal bed. Due mainly to railways taking most of the trade, the canal became little used and almost unnavigable by the early 1960s. The canal was reopened in 1974 following enormous amounts of work instigated by the Caldon Canal Society, its volunteers, and the British Waterways Board. The current seventeen miles from Etruria to Froghall are a particularly attractive canal for cruising, despite the seventeen locks.

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