Uttoxeter Online Magazine

An extract from chapter thirteen of Alan Gibson's book - The Land of the Churnet -  £9.95 from our online bookshop. Contact our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for details.

Our journey along the Churnet has taken us a few score miles and through more than 2000 years of history. The many water mills have finished. The closest we can get to the yesterday's technology is the mill of James Brindley in Leek and the twin-wheel flint mill at Cheddleton. Our river worked hard for a living. It powered at least sixteen mills. Corn grinding, flint grinding, colour and dye making, saw pits, wool fulling, forges, smelting and cotton mills.

It may have taken 2000 years for us to arrive but it will not take long for us to get back to Leek. We are going by train and if we hurry we can just catch the 11.15am from Uttoxeter. The journey will take about one and three-quarter hours. If you are thinking that is a long time, remember we have quite a few stations to stop at. From Uttoxeter to Spath and Stramshall, then to Rocester and on to Denstone. From Denstone to Alton, Oakamoor, Kingsley and Froghall, Consall Forge, Cheddleton, Leekbrook and finally, Leek.

While we are travelling we can give some thought to the construction of this wonderful little railway. The forming of the railway was not without controversy. The 1840s heralded a decade of railway mania. Landowners and businessmen alike competed for a piece of the action and several routes were proposed for north and east Staffordshire area. In each and every case a vested interest influenced the decisions of both the government and the investor. The fact that the canal would feel the pinch was not lost on its owners, who fought and later joined the inevitable change.

The carrying capacity and the speed of railways, plus the addition of passenger traffic, gave them an enormous advantage. Just as the canal had replaced the packhorse and the cart, the railways were set to replace the canal. The Caldon Canal Co. accepted the inevitable and promptly joined forces with the railway pioneers. Part of the Caldon canal between Froghall and Uttoxeter was filled in to accommodate the route of the proposed railway from Macclesfield to Uttoxeter, one of several in the area which were intended to link Manchester with Derby, Stafford and Buxton and join the national network.

After a false start, the North Staffordshire Railway, which included the Potteries and the Churnet Valley line, finally made its entrance in 1845/46. The Churnet Valley line was opened on 13th July 1849 and ran from North Rode near Macclesfield to Uttoxeter. Four tunnels were required ……….