Cheddleton and the Caldon Canal

Only 3 of us this week and it was a trip back into Stafforshire to do a walk we intended to do weeks ago but the weather stopped us. We parked at Cheddleton Station and this time we went south to The Black Lion at Consall Forge. When we left Belper the weather was fine but by the time we got to Cheddleton there was a bit of low cloud and after a while we had to put waterproofs on. The walk itself was along a nice flat track beside the canal.

The route along the Caldon Canal

1. The Caldon Canal, opened in 1779, runs 18 miles from Etruria, in Stoke-on-Trent where it leaves the Trent and Mersey Canal at the summit level, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the 69-metre long Froghall Tunnel. Wikipedia

Geoff

The house behind the boat had a coat of arms on the wall.

Coat of arms from the house above.

Park House Wood Lift Bridge, a wooden drawbridge on the Caldon Canal , between Cheddleton and Consall. The Caldon Canal was engineered by James Brindley and opened in 1777 as far as Froghall Wharf.

Feeding his herd

Me on one of the bridges

Time to get the waterproofs on

Its not a couple of tramps kipping under a bridge, this is where we sheltered to have our breakfast.

Consall station, situated on the Churnet Valley Line of the NSR, was opened to both passengers and goods on 3 March 1902. The station was a quiet country station serving the needs of workers involved in the forge and nearby lime kilns. It was however, opened mainly for the small, nearby village. As with many stations in the 1960s, passenger numbers decreased to such an extent that the station was closed in 1965.

Hello Billy

Rob

Ike

The weir at Consall Forge

The Black Lion Inn at Consall Forge.

The Consall  lime kilns have recently been restored with assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund. These kilns date from the early 19th century and coal and limestone was bought along the canal to the kilns. The lime kilns ceased to be in use sometime in the mid to late 19th century.

Cheddleton Station

This was a little over 5 miles along the flat track beside the canal. All the pics (With the exception of Geoff's) were taken on my new pocket compact camera i was trying out. Because it was slightly dull i had it set on 400 ISO and when blown up there is some noise visible. Next outing will be on 100 ISO.
See you next week.

Cheddleton Flint Mill & Churnet Valley Railway.

Geoff's turn this week and unfortunately i missed my alarm and didn't wake until 06:10 and by the time i had got myself organised i saw a red car at the door and that was me rushing even more. It was a miserable morning and when we arrived at the car park of the Churnet Valley Railway it was about 07:20.  It continued to rail so we sat in the car for a while until it stopped. The original plan was to walk to Froghall about 5 miles but we decided to stay relatively close and headed up the Caldon Canal to Cheddleton Flint Mill.

This week's walk was cut short to only 2 miles

Cheddleton Station 

The Caldon Canal

Lock on Caldon Canal

Geoff & Ike

Cheddleton Flint Mill

Lime Kilns

Cheddleton Flint Mill

Cheddleton Flint Mill

This main shaft broke in the 70's and was replaced  at a cost of £35k

Ike Rob & Geoff

The replaced shaft.

Ike, Geoff, Rob & me

Rob sheltering from the rain.This is where we had our breakfast.

Raindrops keep falling on your head ......

Lovely light on the lock

We met this couple on a barge and had a really nice chat.

Geoff snapping a canal mile post

This shows the track between the river Churnet and the Caldon canal

The Churnet Valley Railway sidings

Fishermen on the canal

Someone has fired up the stove for breakfast

Churnet Valley Railway

Geoff & Ike with one of the railway workers

Inside the workshop

Ike getting on board

The stationmaster having a cuppa

This turned out to be a great little walk with loads of interesting stuff to see, probably be back to do our original walk soon, when its not chucking it down.
See you next week.