Mum and I had a wander on the Caldon Canal from Etruria Junction to Emma Bridgewater Factory in May 2022.

The Caldon Canal is 18 miles long and runs from Etruria, Stoke on Trent, to Froghall, near Uttoxeter. The canal also branches off to Leek, a town in Staffordshire. It originally was one of the branches of the Mersey Canal Company, at the time, and formed part of the said canal. Opened in 1779 and despite not being officially closed, the usage of the canal declined in the 20th Century and subsequent restoration took place. In 1974, the main line to Froghall was completed and the Leek branch soon after.

We started on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Festival Park in Etruria, and we walked to towards the junction where the Caldon Canal begins. There we continued on until we reached the Bridgewater Factory Shop. It is a pleasant place to stop and have a drink, admire the grounds’ gardens and buy some earthenware.

The two miles or so stretch on the canal is calm and green with the canal running through Hanley Park and its cast iron bridges. This was enhanced by the sunny and warm weather we had that day. We walked back from the Bridgewater Factory shop to the park. The park is nice and spacious though lacking in facilities. The Pavilion, the main building at the park, was empty and there probably was a café in there but closed a long time ago. It is a pity as the Pavilion is a beautiful building and the current state sadly resemble the emptiness and its lifeless ambiance.

It was a pleasant walk along a small stretch of the Caldon Canal and we plan to explore more of this interesting waterway on a future trip.
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The photographs in this article are of multiple exposure using the Snapseed App on my mobile device and the App enables double exposure of photographs and the use of filtering.

By Dawn Smallwood
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