Locks: Caldon Canal

The Caldon canal links the Trent & Mersey canal at Etruria to its terminus at Froghall.  It is properly known as the Caldon branch of the Trent & Mersey canal, opened in 1779.

The canal runs from the junction with the Trent & Mersey canal at Etruria to its terminus at Froghall which is 17 miles in total. At Hazlehurst the Leek branch runs for 2 1/2 miles to its terminus at Leek.  There are 17 single width (c 7' 6") locks along its length.

The Caldon Canal opened in 1779 to carry Peak District limestone, from the quarries at Cauldon Low, down to the Potteries and the industrial Midlands. A short branch was built 18 years later connceting the Caldon with the town of Leek. Another branch extended the navigation to Uttoxeter but this lasted only until 1845 when it was closed and replaced with a railway line.

Freight traffic deserted the Caldon shortly after the construction of a parallel railway line and the canal became virtually unnavigable by the 1960s. Enthusiasts were justifiably vocal in clamouring for its restoration and it was brought back into use in 1974.

The Uttoxeter Branch still lies derelict apart from the basin and first lock at the junction with the Caldon canal at Froghall. Similarly, the final mile of the Leek Branch is no longer navigable, but plans are now being hatched to restore navigation across a surviving aqueduct further towards the town.

The canal in Stoke hosted one of the last commercial narrowboat runs - albeit a rather unusual one! Narrowboats were used to transport pottery across the water, from one part of a factory to another. At the time, road transport was ruled out as too bumpy, likely to cause the pottery to break. The traffic finished in the 1990s.

Locks 1 & 2 Etruria locks (19' 3")

This is a double staircase lock where two chambers are joined and the middle gates form the top gates of the bottom chamber and the bottom gates of the top chamber.

Lock 3 - Planet lock (3' 10")

Lock 4 - Engine lock (12' 1.5")

Locks 5 - 9 Stockton locks (41' 1")

Lock 5

Lock 5

Lock 6

Lock 7

Lock 8

Lock 8

Lock 9

Lock 9

Locks 10 - 12 Hazlehurst locks (25' 10") 

Lock 10

Lock 10

Lock 10

Lock 10

Lock 11

Lock 11

Lock 11

Lock 11

Lock 12

Lock 12

Lock 12

Locks 13 - 14 Cheddleton locks (16' 1")

Lock 13

Lock 13

Lock 13

Lock 14

Lock 15 - Wood's lock (5' 3")

Lock 16 - Oxmeadowford lock (7' 7")

Lock 17 - Flint Mill lock (9' 4")

This lock has a profile gauge at the exit.  If the boat does not fit through then it means it cannot get through Froghall tunnel.  As the next winding hole is only 55' wide, boats that are longer must reverse back up the lock and turn around at the larger winding hole above the lock as we had to do when we visited.