Good morning. I've fully completed the Leek Branch of the Caldon Canal.
I've returned back to the junction and today it's time to navigate the rest of the
longer part of their Caldon and straightaway,
there's three locks to do, but so far it looks like they're in my favour,
so it should be quite fast going through.
[Music]
During dry periods, water was often taken from the Caldon Canal to supply the main
Trent & Mersey Canal. To solve this, a reservoir was built at Rudyard and the
Leek Branch was then constructed to feed both canals. However, the water needed to
be high enough to supply the Trent & Mersey. This is why there are three locks
at the junction and why the canal passes under the Leek Branch at Froghall.
The canal quickly passes out into lovely countryside and despite the rain, there
are signs spring is on its way. At the heart of the 20th century, the canal
traffic badly slumped, due to a new railway line being built. With little use
over the next 60 years, the Calden Canal gradually became unnavigable. However,
after considerable effort by the Calden Canal Society, volunteers and the British
Waterways Board, the canal was once again opened in 1974 and has remained a hidden
gem ever since.
At Cheddleton there are two mills, one to grind flint for the pottery industry and
one to grind corn. The neighbouring River Churnet has provided the water to mill
here since the Middle Ages, but the present grand structures date from the
period of the Industrial Revolution.
Make sure you're not standing over the vent holes at the lock here! Just to the
east of Bridge 44 is the preserved Cheddleton Railway Station. Having been
saved from demolition, there's a museum room here detailing the history of the
Churnet Valley Line. Heading towards Oakmeadowford Lift Bridge, which has its
lifting gear again, on the off side. I was very pleased to see it remains in the up
position, as default - Phew!
The quarry that the canal was originally built for is spelt Cauldon which is
different to what the canals name of Caldon. This was due to a spelling
mistake in the original act, which was never corrected.
So this is the end of my
journey down the Caldon Canal. It's been raining all day yesterday and it was
raining the night before and this river isn't a huge river and I've been told
that the levels can rise and and drop quite drastically, very quickly.
[Pheasant squawk]
Thank you very much Mr. Pheasant! Now the river is in flood and it's so high that it's in
the red marker, which indicates that you can't go on any further. So I've turned
around here and I will head back to Stoke. I've thoroughly enjoyed coming on
the Caldon Canal, especially with the fact that it forks and you can go up on
the Leek side which is quite high up, that reminded me a lot of the
Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. And then down here on the rest of the journey,
down in the valley. It went past railway lines, lots and lots of walks around, it
can be quite thin at times, going through and under bridges. I've bumped into many
a wall and my navigation has been tested shall we say, but a really, really pretty
canal. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and it's very peaceful, very quiet and very rural.
You alright down there Mol? You alright? Come on then.
I've still got a number of electrical episodes to come,
as well as my travelling journeys and of course, boat fit out. So if you've
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next time, see you later.