The Trent and Mersey Canal Company didn't want this canal. The plan to build it came about as a counter to the Commercial Canal: a broad canal proposed in 1796 to run through Uttoxeter and the

Froghall Lock 1

Potteries. This would have hurt trade on the narrow Trent and Mersey, so its owners and their allies used every trick in the book to ensure that it wasn't built. Victory left only one problem: the promise to build a canal of their own that had no prospect of making money.
Various factors, including foot-dragging by the Trent and Mersey Company, delayed the start of construction until 1807. The work was overseen by John Rennie, who also engineered the 1804 Caldon Low Tramroad. Construction proceeded in a leisurely fashion, although the work was completed to a high standard, and the canal was opened in stages between 1808 and 1811. A branch to Hanging Bridge, near Ashbourne, which was part of the original proposal, was never built.

Oakamoor Limekilns

Although the canal was, essentially, a white elephant, it had its users. The main industrial users were the copper works at Oakamoor and Alton and the collieries around Cheadle, which were connected to the canal by the Woodhead tramroad. In addition, limestone from Caldon Low fed limekilns at Oakamoor and Uttoxeter. The rest of the traffic was mostly in domestic or agricultural goods.

Froghall Basin Before Restoration

By the late 1840s, when the North Staffordshire Railway Company took over the Trent and Mersey Company, the canal was still losing money. The railwaymen wanted the route, so the canal had to close; though not, one suspects, before transporting many of the construction materials for its replacement. The official end came on 15th January 1849. The only section of the canal to escape closure was the first lock and basin at Froghall, which stayed in use until around 1930.

Froghall Basin After Restoration

The only section of canal accessible by boat is the first lock and basin at Froghall. These had lain disused since the 1930s until the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust, in conjunction with the Waterways Recovery Group, British Waterways and others, decided to restore it as a first step towards reinstating the canal. After much hard work and a good deal of money, the basin was formally reopened in 2005.

Crumpwood Weir

Elsewhere in the valley, although the railway used the same general route as the canal, it tended to take a more direct line along embankments. The canal, in contrast, stuck closely to the natural contours, so that many isolated sections were left intact.

Seventy Bridge

Some of the surviving sections are on private land and inaccessible, for now. The Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust would like to rectify this by opening up the old towing path. This would improve access to this part of the valley in general, especially to the land between Froghall and Oakamoor. It would also showcase the canal, demonstrating to visitors what might be achieved with restoration.

Many sections, including surviving bridges and locks, are accessible already, albeit with varying degrees of difficulty. Winter and early spring are the best times to visit, when undergrowth is minimal and the bare trees let the light in.