North Staffs Railway - Trentham, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The Trent and Mersey canal was completed in 1777 and connected the river Mersey to the river Trent.

The sign is a tall metal structure with silhouette cut outs of various objects which can be found along the canal. There is also a panel with information about the North Staffordshire Railway.

North Staffs Railway

It is at this point that the Trentham Park branch of the North Staffordshire Railway would have crossed the Trent and Mersey Canal as it split from the main Stoke-on-Trent to Stafford line at Hem Heath Colliery. Today, evidence of the branch still exists in the form of the adjacent dismantled railway bridge.

The North Staffordshire Railway or "Knotty" as it was known opened in 1848. Stoke-on-Trent was the centre of operations for the railway. On 21 August 1907 the Trentham Park Branch of the North Staffs Railway was authorised. It opened for goods and passengers on 1 April 1910. It was the last of the Knotty's branches to be built and characteristic of many of the Knotty's local branches being quite short in length.

The branch was built within the expanding suburb of Trentham with one stop. Hanford Halt between Trentham on the main line and Trentham Park, home to Trntham Hall. However road travel was becoming increasingly popular as the preferred mode of local transport, which led to a fall in demand and the closure of Hanford Halt in April 1913.

Trentham Park, renamed Trentham Gardens in 1946, was an 800 acre deer park and the most popular destination in the Potteries. regular rail excursions ran there until October 1957.

Type of Historic Marker: stand alone metal board Historical Marker Issuing Authority: City of Stoke-on-Trent Give your Rating: Age/Event Date: Not listed Related Website: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   03/26/2019 Poole/Freeman visited it