Catch-Up 9 - Sunday 28th July!
Having explored Hazlehurst Junction a couple of days ago I thought I'd head along the Caldon Canal a couple of miles to the west & closer to Stoke... have to walk all the way to the Potteries at some point!
Warm & pleasant but there had been overnight rain & more was forecast for the afternoon so opted for a shorter jaunt today... at Les' suggestion!
Parked close to the canal & headed past the golf course & uphill across Stanley Moor towards Bagnall
I have to admit that the village of Bagnall only sneaked into this walk because I wanted to approach Stanley Pool from above.... but it's actually quite an interesting place!
Lee Pearson won silver & bronze in addition to his Team Gold &, though he lives in the village, he comes from Cheddleton (Postscripts 5 & 20) wonder how they decide where to do the painting?!
The seat is, I think, a memorial to local tractor driver Russell Grindon who died after an accident in an Aberdeen nightclub
Not sure how Elvis came to be sitting in someone's garden in Bagnall but they do seem to like their scarecrow festivals around here... though he was the only one & he doesn't look home-made!
Stanley Pool - this is what I'd come to see!
The boundary stream between Bagnall & Stanley was dammed in 1783 & the Pool, another feeder reservoir for the Caldon Canal, was completed in 1786
Good to see it in use as a water-sports centre, though it did look a bit breezy out on the waves!
'Travellers Rest', Stanley
Part of a row of mill-workers' cottages built in the 1860s, the pub has retained its original name despite the surrounding 'cottages' looking a bit more upmarket now!
Enjoyed a pint of 'Endeavour Single Hop' here - 4% & very good!
Complicated outflow from Stanley Pool - that water is on its way to the Caldon Canal & 'our' River Churnet!
... and this is the stream that was originally dammed to create the Pool, not far below the outflow
Very attractive but, if some of the low-lying waterlogged land is anything to go by, not quite as well-controlled as it probably once was!
One more fascinating bit of industrial archaeology I wasn't expecting!
This is the former site of Victoria Mill at Stanley Moss, ceramic colours & glaze manufacturer, which supplied the Potteries & closed in 1969
This was one of the rail lines serving the mill while the 'traffic island' in the middle of the canal once supported a swing bridge which connected the mill railway with the main Stoke line.... now it's all just a really interesting picnic area!
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