Foxley, Ford Green and four shafts.

 We had a quiet night at Etruria and were up a little earlier than has been normal on this cruise.

We were moored close to the first locks on the Caldon Canal so Helen walked up and started to set the locks whilst I readied the boat. To the right of the lock, Planet Lock,  and our moorings, Stafforshire's first hospital was built. It quickly need to expand and it was not considered the best place by then so it was moved elsewhere. The land was sold to the gas works company.

As can be seen in the first photo it is a staircase lock, the only one in Staffordshire apparently! Not only that but the top lock is much deeper than the bottom lock. This has been caused by subsidence over the years, so much so that there is an overflow in the bottom lock to take care of the excess. Mind you as the Caldon is a feeder for the Trent and Mersey (like the Llangollen is to the Shropshire) so water is always going over the overflow anyway, so don't feel too bad. You can see how much the lock has sunk by the addition of concrete above the original coping stones.

Above the lock the cut is pretty narrow with stone sides. They have managed to install steel ladders that stand proud of the wall that have to be watched for if trying to avoid other boats.

Hanley Park looks a lovely space, and there were loads of families out and about. It opened in 1897 on 63 acres of derelict land. It is actually not in Hanley, but Shelton, and is a fine example of a Victorian park and has been refurbished in 2015 with over £4 million of Lottery money.

We had help up Planet Lock from Rob the Lock who is available for help in all forms from Great Haywood, Caldon Canal and Heartbreak Hill. Laundry, help with steering, locking and blacking given.  Google him if you need a hand. There was no lock here originaly but the canal company gave up heightening the banks to cope with subsidence and just put a new lock in in 1909.

On out first foray up the Caldon there were vast swathes of derelict and bulldozed lands with little pockets that contained the off bottle kiln and other buildings. It is tantalizing to see them poking out above the walls that run along much of the tow path.

This looks industrial, but just through the bridge there are loads of new houses that have filled the old vacant land. I expect that every bottle kiln in the region has been Listed to prevent their loss. Some we have seen need work quickly I think.

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A lot of the bridges that are original have their numbers carved in them like this one. Interestingly their numbers are still the right ones today. The Caldon Canal opened in 1778.

Hrelen enjoyed taking pictures of a heron that seemed to be wiser than the usual one as instead of seeing us coming and flying off ahead to just repeat the process, this one flew to just ahead of us and watched as our bow and stern wave disturbed the fish and then pounced. Once we were passed he flew to just ahead of us again. We have seen terns do this but herons normally don't seem to mastered the technique generally. Where the concrete wall is on the bend just before Milton was where the Foxley Branch Canal set off to Iron Works owned by Robert Heath, a distance of about three quarters of a mile.

We went out the other side of Milton as the canal was pretty narrow at the moorings so moored up before Engine Lock. After lunch we went on a walk back down the tow path to Milton and then off at Bridge 18 and then went through the village to get to the Whitfield Valley Greenway. On the way we found this under the old railway. I'm pretty sure this is part of the old Foxley Branch. The greenway was the bed of the old railway that is now paved and a cycle route.

Holden Lane Pool lies next to the route and has plenty of wildlife about, enough to draw several photographers with all their gear out.

This looks even more like a canal routs as we walk up the railway line by the side of it.

Just across the road from where the Foxley Branch ended at the iron works is this half timbered house that was built in 1624. It is run by a charitable trust and is normally open to the public. The rooms are furnished in the style of a 17th century yeoman farmers house.

Over the road the Whitfield Valley Reserve continues gently up the valley. It seems that it was the Biddulph Branch Line. I am no steam buff, but the track seems pretty steep to me for hauling traffic up and down. At the southern end of the Nature Reserve was mainly old pasture and pools etc, but up at the north end was a coal mine. This hill are the remains of the waste heap.

At the topof the nature reserve is the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery. It was the Whitfield mine in 1830, but changed to the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery in 1891. By 1862 it had four shafts. A fifth was devastated by an explosion in 1881. By 1937 it was a jewel in the crown as it employed over 4000 and was the first mine to produce over 1 million tons of saleable coal. It connected with Wolstanton Mine underground and soon after, in 1977, was closed. Two years later it became a museum with underground tours. By 1986 the underground trips finished and a 'fake' experience was provided until the museum closed in 1986! It should have been the end of the colliery altogether but it had been made a Scheduled Ancient Monument as it was the most complete coal mine left in the country! It is now run by a charity trust that really have their hands full stopping it falling down I should think. It is mind boggling to me to think of the activity and action going on above and below ground at its height, and now it is so quiet. You can see the head gear of at least four shafts above.

We walked through the village of Ball Green, a mining village and down into the Head of Trent Valley that carries the juvenile Trent and the canal feeder from Knypersley Reservoir.

We got back to the canal at Engine Lock and walked the tow path the short distance back to the boat. You can judge for your self whether Macy the Cat was pleased to see us back or not.

The walk was 5.7 miles on gently gradients and well made paths. It would be a short walk to get to Ford Green Hall to have a look, and if, like me you like an industrial landscape etc the walk up to the colliery was well worth it. The residents of the area are very lucky to have such a large area of open country that has made up cycle paths as well as been able to go 'off piste' too. There are lakes and streams, and trees that should keep kids busy for the school holidays. It would in my youth, but who knows these days.