Froghall
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Froghall is a village situated approximately ten miles to the east of Stoke-on-Trent and two miles north of Cheadle in Staffordshire, England. Population details as taken at the 2011 Census can be found under
Kingsley Kingsley may refer to: People * Kingsley (given name) * Kingsley (surname) Places Australia * Kingsley, Western Australia Canada * Rural Municipality of Kingsley No. 124, Saskatchewan England * Kingsley, Cheshire * Kingsley, Hampshire *Kingsley ...
. Froghall sits in the Churnet Valley, a beautiful and relatively unspoilt part of Staffordshire. There are some excellent and challenging walks in the area, many of which encompass the area's historic development by the
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
,
ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...
,
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
and
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
industries.


Industry around Froghall

For a relatively small village there has been a lot of historic development in and around Froghall by Industry over the last few hundred years. The main feature of the village is the historic copper factory of Thomas Bolton and sons, now called Bolton Copper. A lot of the factory stood derelict before being demolished in 2011. However, a last minute intervention saved an original chimney which is still standing. A £10m shortfall in a pension scheme, an explosion and the loss of a main customer which accounted for 70 per cent of the order book led to the downfall of Thomas Bolton. Attempts to find a buyer for the 200-year-old copperworks in Staffordshire were unsuccessful resulting in redundancy of the majority of the 105 workers. Despite a strong level of interest shown in the Froghall business as a going concern, no deal was forthcoming and the factory was closed. The Thomas Bolton Copperworks at Froghall (and the closed works in the nearby village of
Oakamoor Oakamoor is a small village in north Staffordshire, England. Although it is now a rural area, it has an industrial past which drew on the natural resources of the Churnet valley. Iron was smelted from medieval times. Copper and lumber were also ...
) are famous for the world's first
transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
s, which were manufactured and rolled at the plants. During the Second World War the factories made wiring components for
Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
fighter planes. The copper works are the Staffordshire Moorlands' last link to the historic copper-mining industry that was centered on the nearby Manifold Valley and its famous Ecton Copper Mines. The limestone industry was also significant in Froghall. At the nearby Froghall Wharf,
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
was loaded onto canal narrow boats or burnt in
lime kilns A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take pl ...
and then transported to the Potteries or further afield. The
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
was mined in the huge
quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
at Caldon Low and then loaded onto an inclined tramway to Froghall. Four tramways were built and parts of them are still traceable in the landscape including various bridges and inclines. The final tramway, built by James Trubshaw was the most significant and involved the most engineering. Trubshaw's tunnel near Windy Harbour is an excellent relic of this fourth route. The canal basin at Froghall Wharf is now a pleasant spot for pleasure craft and walkers, with the huge dormant lime kilns dominating the area. As mentioned above, the
Caldon Canal Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the Froghall Tunnel. History The first plans by the proprietors of the ...
has played a large part in the development of industry around Froghall. The basin at Froghall Wharf was originally the terminus of the
Caldon Canal Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the Froghall Tunnel. History The first plans by the proprietors of the ...
, and a separate branch then ran to
Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...
. The Uttoxeter Canal was opened to traffic in 1811 and after years of heavy losses was closed in 1849. The branch was then mostly filled in and a railway was built over most of the canal bed.


Transport

Froghall was formerly served by
Kingsley and Froghall railway station Kingsley and Froghall is a former railway station of the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) that is now preserved on the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire, England. History Kingsley and Froghall station, situated on the Churnet Valley Li ...
, on the
North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was based ...
's Churnet Valley Line from
North Rode North Rode is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the population of the entire civil parish was 178. History North Rode was ...
to
Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...
via Leek. The line closed to passenger trains in the 1960s and completely closed to freight in 1988 with the transfer of the sand traffic from nearby
Oakamoor Oakamoor is a small village in north Staffordshire, England. Although it is now a rural area, it has an industrial past which drew on the natural resources of the Churnet valley. Iron was smelted from medieval times. Copper and lumber were also ...
to road haulage. Passenger trains returned to Froghall in the 1990s after preservation of the line by the
Churnet Valley Railway The Churnet Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway in the Staffordshire Moorlands of Staffordshire, England. It operates on part of the former Churnet Valley Line.which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway. ...
. At the present time, Kingsley and Froghall is the terminus of the railway. The A52, which links Stoke-on-Trent with
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
, passes through Froghall. This historic road was used years ago to transport
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
mined in Cheadle to Ashbourne, and until recently many older residents would refer to the road as the "Old Coal Road."


References


External links

{{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Lime kilns in the United Kingdom