Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust

Please check our calendar for waterways-related events on the in the local area. If you have any information about events to add to this listing, please let us know.
Click here to access the calendar

Loving our Landscape!

Heritage Lottery Fund has earmarked £17m to help communities look after their landscapes - including the Staffordshire Moorlands landscape embracing the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals.

On 20 May 2010 the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced 10 earmarked first-round passes totalling £17m made through its Landscape Partnership (LP) programme. The programme helps conserve areas of distinctive landscape character and supports schemes that provide long-term social, economic and environmental benefits for rural areas.

"Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Initiatives - Invitation to Trust members and all interested supporters"

The Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust's Annual General Meeting will take place this coming Thursday, 25th March 2010 at Stoke on Trent Boat Club. The clubhouse will be open from 7.30 pm for the meeting to commence promptly at 8.00 pm.

Trust report restoration of the Churnet Valley waterway is feasible

The Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust has taken delivery of the “Uttoxeter Canal Restoration Outline Feasibility Study.” The study was commissioned by Staffordshire County Council and the Trust to: “determine whether the restoration of the Uttoxeter Canal between the Caldon Canal at Froghall to the north and Uttoxeter Gravel Pits to the south is a feasible project.”

The report, which has taken some six months to compile and runs to over 70 pages, was undertaken by consulting engineers Halcrow Group Ltd. Challenges such as restoring the canal through the villages of Oakamoor and Denstone – where the original line is built over - are explored, with various possible solutions considered. The study also looks at environmental issues along the route and the potential economic impact of restoration. Finally, it estimates the cost of the project.

Halcrow concluded that the restoration is a viable project from an engineering point of view.

“Uttoxeter Canal Restoration Outline Feasibility Study” published

The Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust are proud to present the Outline Feasibility Study in full exclusively on this website.

View the report here.

“Bringing the Uttoxeter Canal back to life - The Next Steps” - major new exhibition at Uttoxeter Heritage Centre

A NEW exhibition about the Uttoxeter Canal and the proposals for its restoration, now on display at Uttoxeter Heritage Centre until 30 January 2010

Trust exhibit at Uttoxeter Good Causes Fair

The Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust display stand will be at the Good Causes Fair at Uttoxeter Town Hall on Saturday July 25th 2009 from 10:00am to 2:30pm

Visit this event and see the Trust's latest news about the Uttoxeter Canal Feasibility Study as well as other good causes in the local area.

Trust exhibit at Leek Show

The Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust display stand will be at the Britannia Leek & District Show on Saturday July 25th 2009

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs visits the Uttoxeter Canal

Nick Herbert MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs travelled to the Uttoxeter Canal to meet members of the Restoration Committee and local County Councillors.

Nick said, “This initiative is an excellent community project and could be the catalyst of a rural regeneration scheme for the north of the Uttoxeter and its surrounding areas. It is this sort of ground based enthusiasm, led by the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust working with their local Councillors that makes things happen and I am very impressed.”

Uttoxeter Canal Feasibility Study Commences

Consulting Engineers, Halcrow Group Limited has been appointed to carry out an outline feasibility study for the possible restoration of the Uttoxeter Canal. The appointment comes following investment from Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust, supported by Staffordshire County Council. The study will investigate how to restore the canal between Froghall and Uttoxeter, which was closed as long ago as 1849 but is still considered restorable by many because of the rural nature of the route.

Councillors Support Uttoxeter Canal

Three Staffordshire County Councillors have clubbed together £1,800 from their ‘local member’s initiative fund’ to support the funding of a feasibility study for the restoration of the Uttoxeter Canal that could be the catalyst of a rural regeneration scheme for the north of the town and its surrounding areas.

Narrow Boat Uttoxeter comes to Town

Information about Narrow Boat "Uttoxeter" now features in the exhibition about the Uttoxter Canal - its restoration and regeneration potential - on display at Uttoxeter Heritage Centre until 31 January 2009.

Uttoxeter Canal receives Grant towards Feasibility Funding

One of Staffordshire’s lost waterways has been given a helping hand by The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) with a grant of £5,000 to the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust (CUCT) towards a feasibility study into the restoration of the Uttoxeter Canal. The study will investigate how to restore the canal between Froghall and Uttoxeter, which although closed as long ago as 1849 is considered restorable by many waterways experts.

"Bringing the Uttoxeter Canal back to life"

An exhibition about the Uttoxeter Canal, its restoration and regeneration potential is now open at Uttoxeter Heritage Centre, Staffordshire and on display until 31 January 2009

Uttoxeter Canal Funding Boost

Parish Councillors invited to discover potential to develop Staffordshire's inland waterways

The Parish Councillors of Alton, Denstone, Farley, Kingsley, Oakamoor, Rocester and Uttoxeter have all been invited to a presentation to learn about the potential for the restoration of the Uttoxeter Canal. The Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust are hosting the evening at Denstone Village Hall on Thursday 20th September, where Chairman of the Trust's Uttoxeter Canal Restoration Committee, Cllr. Mike Maryon, and local historian Mike Beardmore will describe the route of the canal through each of the parishes and the Churnet Valley, along with the Trust's objectives to preserve the line of the Canal, to promote the creation of a walking route along its length of the Uttoxeter Canal and to investigate the feasibility and benefits of restoring the Uttoxeter Canal.

Uttoxeter Canal article

The Uttoxeter Canal is the subject of an article in the latest issue of the East Staffordshire Borough Council newspaper. This council produced monthly newsletter goes out to around 50,000 homes in the borough of East Staffordshire, which includes Uttoxeter and Rocester.
More here.

Uttoxeter Restoration Committee report

Chairman of the Uttoxeter Resoration Committee, Mike Maryon, updated members on progress in June 2007.

Uttoxeter Canal mentioned in House of Commons

During a Westminster debate on Inland Waterways in the West Midlands, local MPs called for the government to offer financial support to the Uttoxeter Restoration Committee.
More here.

Uttoxeter Canal Receives £2,660 Boost From Stafford Boat Club

At a presentation ceremony at the Stafford Boat Club the Uttoxeter Canal Restoration Committee Chairman Mike Maryon received £2,660 pounds from the commodore of the Stafford Boat Club, John Mountfort.

Uttoxeter Canal Receives Visit From British Waterways Regeneration Director

Derek Cochrane the Regeneration Director of British Waterways will be visiting the Uttoxeter Canal sites on the afternoon of Monday 6th November 2006 to meet the Chairman of the Uttoxeter Canal Restoration Committee, Staffordshire County Councillor for Cheadle & Checkley Mike Maryon.
More here.
Press release (Word doc 130k)

Uttoxeter Canal Restoration Committee Formed

Call for more local volunteers and supporters.