2019

SJ9553 : Hazelhurst Bottom Lock near Longsdon in Staffordshire

taken 5 years ago, near to Horse Bridge, Staffordshire, England

Hazelhurst Bottom Lock near Longsdon in Staffordshire
Hazelhurst Bottom Lock near Longsdon in Staffordshire
This is Hazelhurst Bottom Lock (No 10) the third one down in the flight of three.
By 1841 these locks had replaced the staircase which was originally by Hazelhurst Wood about four hundred metres to the south-east. The dilapidated fencing surrounds a lock sidepond which is no longer in use.
The Caldon Canal

The Caldon Branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal was completed in December 1778, and opened in 1779, specifically as a transport facility for the limestone quarries at Cauldon, near Froghall. In 1797 a secondary branch was built from the original Hazelhurst Locks to Leek. By 1811 a further extension from Froghall led to Uttoxeter, a further 13 miles, but only lasted until 1845. By 1849 a railway had been built, some of the track using the former canal bed. This was also the fate of part of the original canal near Endon.
A major rebuild and rerouting process near Endon resulted in the raising of the level, and three locks being replaced by the three chamber staircase at Hazelhurst Wood near Denford by 1800. A further major rebuild near Hazelhurst was completed by 1841. This included abandoning the troublesome staircase, and creating three single new locks on another new cut, which led to a reusing of part of the original 1778 route, which then passed under a new aqueduct to accommodate the Leek Branch. Thus Hazelhurst Junction was relocated. That is an awful lot of expensive rethinking within the short time frame of just 63 years!

Due mainly to railways taking most of the trade, the canal became little used and almost unnavigable by the early 1960s.

The canal was reopened in 1974 following enormous amounts of work instigated by the Caldon Canal Society, its volunteers, and the British Waterways Board. The current seventeen miles from Etruria to Froghall are a particularly attractive canal for cruising, despite the seventeen locks ... well that isn't too many, is it? ;-)

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Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Roger D Kidd and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Canals other tags: Lock Flight of Locks Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Lock Staircase [23] · Longsdon [16] · South-east [16] Title Clusters: · Hazelhurst Bottom Lock near Longsdon in Staffordshire [2] ·
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SJ9553, 239 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Roger D Kidd   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 15 September, 2019   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 12 December, 2019
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 9505 5370 [10m precision]
WGS84: 53:4.8300N 2:4.5208W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 9500 5370
View Direction
EAST (about 90 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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