We meet at the Red Bull Hotel, Church Lawton, near Kidsgrove. It has a large car park and, as you can see from the photo below, it is alongside lock 43 of our canal. The full address is Congleton Road South, Church Lawton, ST7 3AJ Telephone: (01782) 782600 . See their own website for more details.
See our Diary of Events for meetings and events in the near future. For past events see our archive pages Reports of Talks, Reports of Socials and Reports of AGMs.
2025-26 Season
Talks are usually 7:45 for 8 pm start. but please check our Diary of Events for the start time for all events before attending.
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The Peak Forest canal |
October 17th The talk will look at the photographic record of the Peak Forest Canal, its structures and trade during the period 1900 to the 1950’s when it carried limestone coal and textiles. |
Dave Kitching |
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Canal Films |
November 21st An Alan Chetwyn film evening with a trip from the Oxford Canal to Worcester via the River Avon in 2002 followed by a trip on the Droitwich Canal in 2014. |
Alan Chetwyn |
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December 5th Our Christmas meal at Red Bull |
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The canals of the eastern United States |
January 16th 2026 An illustrated talk on the canals of the Eastern USA from the early days to the present, from the early narrow canals to the major seaways of today. The main focus will be on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, the Erie Canal and the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal |
Peter Gurney |
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The history and restoration of the Caldon canal |
February 2oth 2026 A 1981 John Cunningham documentary “Mr James Brindley. He made things happen – he made thoughts corporeal, he made things work. The only man I recall busier than myself in a physical way. Run ragged with demands on his time and skills to advance and maintain the explosion that was to pepper our towns with machinery, cut our countryside through with channels to feed our great manufactories with fuel and materials and take our products every which way to our cities and ports and so to the world. I knew him well for less than a decade – but look what he achieved and, even more, set in motion, in that time. This Age and Country are indebted for works that will be the most lasting Monuments to his Fame, and show to future Ages how much good may be done by one single Genius when happily employed upon works beneficial to Mankind.” JOSIAH WEDGWOOD |
Ray Johnson (Staffordshire film archive) |
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City of lakes and rivers (Waterways in and around Berlin) |
March 20th 2026 Following a brief introduction to the early, largely natural river navigations that served Berlin from its founding in the 13th century, this talk traces the development of the canals and river navigations around Berlin, from the early canals of the 17th century, through the peak of expansion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to final completion of the Mittellandkanal in 2003, following re-unification of Germany. Having set the scene, we then take a tour along the present-day waterway system, starting with the complex network of waterways within the city, then looking at the links to the Baltic, the Elbe and the Rhein and upstream to the unique waterways of the Spreewald. We will see ports and palaces, locks, lakes and a lido, old and new boat lifts and many other points of interest in and around this fascinating city. |
John Pomfret |
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The Shrewsbury & Newport canals |
April 17th 2026 The presentation will cover the progress we have made on the restoration of the Shrewsbury & Newport canals over the 5 work sites along their 25-mile length. It will focus on Wappenshall Wharf where we have just opened the cafe there after 8 years of work. |
Bernie Jones |