Caldon Canal ~ Froghall
A landscape photography blog by Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire based landscape photographer Rob Thorley Photography.
I’d enjoyed myself so much with my bit of impromptu photographing along the Caldon canal at Stockton Brook that I thought I’d have another wander and see what transpired. The last few colours of autumn were around, but it was well past peak.
Caldon canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal. It runs from Etruria in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent to Froghall in the beautiful Churnet Valley. The canal is eighteen miles long and has seventeen locks to negotiate. The Caldon canal opened in 1779, and was mainly used to transport limestone, and flint for use in the iron, and pottery industries.
Today I decided I’d have a look at Froghall as there was a very good chance that it would be nice and peaceful. Weather wise the forecast was for the anticyclonic drab weather to have broken overnight and there was a promise of actually seeing the sun.
I parked up by Hetty’s Tea Shop. If you get chance it’s well worth a visit. It does get quite busy, which speaks volumes for the food.
Path around the Froghall tunnel.
After negotiating the path around Froghall tunnel and crossing the road it was a case of wandering. I was pleased to see there was still a reasonable amount of autumn colour around and a few narrow boats to photograph.
The next stop was the remains of the Thomas Bolton's Copper Works. The chimney always catches my eye as I drive past it on the main road. It is very striking as it rises up from the valley floor appearing to be surrounded by trees. The image below was probably my favourite image of the day.
The chimney at Thomas Bolton's Copper Works.
My camera bag was off and on what seemed like every few feet as there were lots of compositions and colours catching my eye. As well as taking stills I was once again practising my videography. Other than seeing a solitary angler, and a couple of walkers it was very quiet.
I got as far as bridge 53 this morning before I ran out of time. I have to admit I hadn’t travelled that far along the canal which was good from a photographic point of view.
Conditions wise I never got the light. For a “sunny” forecast it was still quite overcast. Although it was very calm, so I was able to get some nice reflection shots, which I was pleased with.
I’m definitely going to do some more exploration of the Caldon canal. I’ve really enjoyed photographing it on this and the previous outing, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’m sure the canal won’t be as photogenic once the autumn colour has gone, but that maybe opens up some opportunities to get down the Etruria end, where it’s more industrial.
You can view more images of the Caldon Canal and my gallery of other Staffordshire locations.
