The objectives of the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust are to restore, preserve, maintain in good order and improve the existing Caldon Canal and all the former arms of the canal including the branch known as the Uttoxeter Canal (to which the Caldon Canal is currently the only link) - for the use and benefit of the public. Previously known as the Caldon Canal Society, the organisation was formed by enthusiasts in 1963 in response to notices closing the canal after traffic had declined in the 1950s. Volunteers began the restoration works and in 1974 the Caldon Canal was reopened, the Society having been instrumental in bringing about a partnership agreement between Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and British Waterways Board. This spirit continues today, with our new title reflecting our extended aims.
The Trust's objectives with respect to the Uttoxeter Canal are:
- To preserve the line of the Uttoxeter Canal and maintain in good order the structures and lengths of canal that still exist;
- To promote the creation of a walking route along the length of the Uttoxeter Canal utilising as much of the original towpath as possible;
- To investigate the feasibility of restoring to navigation some or all of the Uttoxeter Canal.
Through achievement of these goals CUCT hope to protect from destruction and development the line of the former Uttoxeter Canal – and also that of the North Staffordshire Railway that was subsequently built along part of the waterway. By preserving these routes throughout the Churnet Valley the restoration of both a railway and waterway in the former ‘double track’ corridor may be fully examined - in order to create safe, sustainable ways for all to access, use and explore the valley’s many stunning destinations: Cheddleton, Consall, Froghall, Oakamoor, Alton, Crumpwood, Denstone and Rocester.