This wooden footbridge crosses the Churnet near Ross Bridge, Whiston.
Cheddleton Station is one of only three original Churnet Valley Stations to have survived demolition in the 1960s and 1970s (the other two being Rushton and Alton). Built in 1849, the station was reputedly designed by Pugin.
For more information on this popular destination please visit the entries for Churnet Valley Railway in our Attractions directory: http://churnet-valley.guide/attractions/churnet-valley-railway-cheddleton
Against the canalised River Churnet stands a bank of four large limekilns, dating from the early 19th Century. They were linked to a plateway built between 1815 and 1819 that ran from the Caldon Canal to north of Caverswall.
Coal was brought in on the plateway from a number of local collieries, whilst lime was carried to Weston Coyney and beyond. By 1840 the line was out of use, although it is unclear precisely when the kilns ceased operation.
Railway Water Columns were once an everyday sight on railway stations up and down the UK, offering a source of water for steam locomotives to ensure they never ran out.
The Churnet Valley Railway's charitable support body the "North Staffordshire Railway Company (1978) Ltd" (NSRC) was able to acquire one of the original North Staffs columns from Hanely Station in Stoke-on-Trent which was located on the former Potteries Loop Line. This was moved to the charity's Cheddleton base where it was placed into store until sufficient funding was gained to re-erect it.
The Caldon Canal opened in 1778 between Froghall and Etruria where it joined the Trent & Mersey Canal. Limestone, coal and materials from the Potteries were carried in narrow boats towed by horses.
When the railway was constructed in the 1840s, in order to provide space for the trackbed in the very narrow section of the valley, it was necessary to divert some sections of the canal between Froghall and Consall Forge. A new canal channel was dug closer to the steep-sided wooded valley and the towpath was also relocated to the side away from the railway.
The 'saltway' on the Staffordshire Way between Alton and Denstone, which forms part of the Staffordshire Way
The course of a trackway shown on Ordnance Survey mapping of 1838 and named as Saltersford Lane. The trackway is suggested to be a salt or packhorse way.
The ‘saltways’ were used to transport salt across the country and are believed to date back to pre-conquest times. Saltersford Lane was thought to have linked Cheadle with Nantwhich, Newcastle and Derby.
We used this picture in our Facebook Friday photo challenge and as Richard Moss said, "Even though everyone now knows where it is. I bet they still can't find it !!! It's well hidden."
It is a listed early 19th century well. The shaft is now filled in.
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A listed mid 19th century house, formerly used as a preparatory school. The house was designed by AWN Pugin for the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury.
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A listed mid 19th century wall and outbuilding which enclose the north and west sides of the Catholic Church of St John the Baptist.
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