Canals in Staffordshire
There are more miles of canals in Staffordshire than any other
county in England and although built for an industrial age these sleepy
backwaters are now popular tourist attractions. The canals
around Stoke on Trent were the brainchild of the famous pottery baron
Josiah Wedgwood who commissioned local engineer James Brindley to
create the Trent and Mersey Canal which enabled china clay to be
brought from Cornwall right to his factory door. Equally important, the
finished products could be taken away smoothly, with very few
breakages. Staffordshire's canal network now serves the
growing industry of leisure and tourism, providing great opportunities
to explore the Staffordshire countryside, either by canal boat or a
gentle stroll along the towpath. Canal holidays are increasingly
popular with many holidaymakers choosing Staffordshire as their base,
exploring the waterways of the Midlands. A popular choice is the 'ring'
formed by the Trent and Mersey, the Staffordshire and Worcester and the
Shropshire Union canals. Staffordshire’s Trent and Mersey
Canal links the River Trent near Derby with the Mersey at Runcorn. The
canal’s Harecastle Tunnel at Kidsgrove is an amazing feat of
engineering in the form of a tiny narrow hole through a hillside. In
the first tunnel, 2880 yards long and built in 1766-77, barges had to
be 'legged' through the tunnel by men lying on their backs and pushing
against the roof with their feet to give the boat momentum. The Caldon
Canal joins the Trent and Mersey at Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, and was
built to carry minerals from the uplands of the Peak District to the
Potteries. In recent years, the canal has been restored for pleasure
craft, a magnificent section being through the Churnet Valley. The
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal was built as one of the trunk
routes of the canal age - but is now popular with pleasure boats.
Leaving the Trent & Mersey canal at Great Haywood, and rising over
the Compton Summit before dropping to meet the River Severn at
Stourport, the canal runs for 46 miles through almost entirely rural
surroundings. Cutting through gentle countryside and twisting
around river valleys this famous Staffordshire canal skirts the edge of
suburban Wolverhampton and then crosses the wide open farmland of
Cannock Chase. The Staffs & Worcs, as it is known, is an essential
link between major waterways as well as being an enjoyable cruise in
its own right.
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