The links and references below all relate to some aspect of the valley, ranging from an in-depth account of the Cheadle coal field to pub opening times and terrible poetry.
This site contains precious little by way of original research and I think, having spent almost no time pouring over original sources, that it's important to acknowledge the people who have.
All the photos on the site are mine but the supporting text includes information gleaned from all over the place.
Development
Churnet Valley Living Landscape Partnership
Potentially £2,000,000 of Heritage Lottery funding:
"Churnet Valley Living Landscape Partnership (CVLLP) is a major project which aims to conserve, enhance and celebrate the special landscape fringing the Peak District in the Staffordshire Moorlands."
"Churnet Valley, lying to the north east of Stoke-on-Trent, has an interesting mixture of rural landscapes and industrial quarries, limekilns, canals and railways.
The scheme aims to improve land management and encourage better transport links so that visitors without access to cars can fully enjoy the 20,000ha area, which includes Weaver Hills and Ipstones Edge.
Local people will learn new heritage skills such as dry stone walling and hedgelaying with the potential for both paid and voluntary job opportunities."
Moneystone Park
Laver Leisure are pushing ahead with proposals for the £50M redevelopment of Moneystone Quarry as Moneystone Park:
"A high quality sustainable leisure resort", focussing on "outdoor activities, wildlife, the environment and the quarry's heritage".
The facilities could include "a cafe, bar, restaurant, visitor centre, indoor activity centre, market square and hotel spa".
Pubs
The Hollybush Inn, Denford
The Hollybush is one of my favourite lunch stops: good bar food and well-kept real ales.
It's next to the canal, exactly ten miles from Etruria junction: the milepost is right outside the front door.
The Boat Inn, Cheddleton
The Boat is another favourite for both food and beer.
As the name suggests, it overlooks the canal at Basford Bridge, but it's also handy for the Churnet Valley Railway at Cheddleton Station.
The Black Lion Inn, Consallforge
The Black Lion is the ultimate summer afternoon sit-down or cozy winter refuge for the weary walker.
It's in a narrow, isolated part of the valley, overlooking the canal, railway and river.
The beer is excellent and, as well as their normal menu, they sometimes have a hog roast going in the garden.
The Railway Inn, Froghall
The Railway reopened in late May 2011, advertising food and B&B accommodation via a new website.
I visited in July for a couple of well-kept pints of Bombardier.
They also had Old Speckled Hen on.
Maps, Images and History
Geograph British Isles
"The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland."
The site has a search facility and, naturally, a map-based interface.
The Churnet Valley is well represented.
The Staffordshire Views Collection
"The Staffordshire Views are a unique series ... commissioned and collected by William Salt, a London banker whose family came from Staffordshire."
Old images of Staffordshire with text and map-based searches, including historic maps dating back to 1775.
Old Maps
As the name suggests, this site is devoted to maps.
Specifically, these are old Ordinance Survey maps, generally from the second half of the 19th century onwards.
A Vision Of Britain Through Time
This site contains various types of information.
It is especially useful, however, for its early-19th-century Ordinance Survey First Series maps, which pre-date the maps available on the Old Maps site.
Bradshaw's 1830 Canal Map on canalmaps.net
This is a map from 1830 including parts of the Caldon, but especially the Uttoxeter Canal, which was mid-way through its short existence at this point.
The road network is also interesting, including the likes of the Blythe Marsh to Spend Lane turnpike, parts of which are, now, no more than a footpath.
Books, Booklets and Other Paper-Based Sources
- Churnet Valley Iron, The Mills & The Mines, Herbert A Chester, Landmark Collector's Library
- The History Of The Cheadle Coalfield, Staffordshire, Herbert A Chester, Landmark Collector's Library
- The Caldon Canal And Tramroads, Including The Uttoxeter And Leek Canals And North Staffordshire Railway, Peter Lead, The Oakwood Press
- The Caldon Canal, Caldon And Uttoxeter Canals Trust
- Canals Of North Staffordshire, R.J.Dean, M & M Baldwin
- The Limestone Quarries of Caldon Low, Basil Jeuda, Churnet Valley Books
- The Land of the Churnet, Alan Gibson, Churnet Valley Books
Other Sources
Information points have been erected at sites around the village of Oakamoor, at Froghall Wharf and elsewhere in the valley. These are excellent resources, featuring old photographs of the sites in their industrial heyday with informative supporting text.
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