Catch-Up 8 - Friday 26th July!
Out on my own today & set out to explore the Leek branch of the Caldon Canal which once linked the town to the Potteries & gave its industries access to the Trent & Mersey &, thus, European & World Markets
Had wanted to park in Ladderedge Country Park where Leek Canal Basin used to be (it's under an industrial estate & a supermarket now) but I was in the van & there's a height restriction on parking!
Ended up at Deep Hayes (Postscript 5) where I knew the van would be fine.... & that meant I'd be finishing very close to the fine 'Hollybush Inn' at Denford! (also Postscript 5!)
Fine place to live! Overlooking the Churnet Valley, garden sloping to (almost!) your very own waterway & a couple of speed boats moored for your personal use!
Caldon Canal at Deep Hayes - between Cheddleton & Longsdon
Those are the outskirts of Leek at the top of the hill
In the foreground is what I take to be an old holding-area for boats wishing to pass through the single-carriageway Leek Tunnel!
And here is the southern portal of Leek Tunnel
Completed in 1798, it was never actually closed to navigation, it just fell into disuse & became impassable!
Re-opened in April 1985
Holding & winding area from above the tunnel
Followed the canal as far as I could, almost to a dead end but not quite, there's a feeder canal which runs through Ladderedge Country Park from Rudyard Reservoir, or Lake as you will soon see it poetically called!
Crossed the main road & found a second, tiny car-park with no height restriction.... could have been useful!
Frightening maze of footpaths to explore, unsurprisingly they all leave the car-park in the same direction!
Knew where I was going - uphill & through the woods to Longsdon!
The 'Wheel Inn' on the main road at Longsdon was opened c.1850 as the 'Waterworks Inn' - hardly surprising with all the canal, reservoir, feeder & river activities!
A pint of 'Take Courage' Best Bitter here - good!
Was aiming for this odd 3-pronged stone monument on the hill in front of Stonelowe Hall
It appears on OS maps but I can find no reference to it anywhere
Hoping for some kind of plaque.... but there were only sheep!
Finally reached 'the point' of this whole walk!
Hazlehurst Junction!
This is where the Leek branch takes off from the Caldon Canal
How old is this sign?
The canal beyond Froghall, through Oakamoor to Uttoxeter, was filled-in at the end of the 1840s!
(Postscript 15)
Hazlehurst Junction - fascinating spot!
Perversely, the Leek branch shoots off to the right here even though Leek is situated to the left of the valley & the canal... but that gave the canal-builders an opportunity to construct an aqueduct a little further along to get their Leek-bound vessels going, geographically, in the right direction!
And here is that aqueduct, built in 1841 - very impressive it is, too!
And the aqueduct from its upper level!
Self-indulgent?
Actually, no! It enabled the main Caldon branch to continue through to its end with only a couple more locks while retaining the height of the Leek branch meant that tunnel only had to be 130 yards long - clever stuff!
And so... 'The Hollybush Inn' at Denford: had this really been the whole point all along?!
No comments:
Post a Comment