Froghall

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Froghall
population = <100
os_grid_reference = SK024472
latitude= 53.022
longitude= -1.965
shire_district= Staffordshire Moorlands
shire_county = Staffordshire
region= West Midlands
post_town =
postcode_district= ST10
postcode_area= ST
dial_code = 01538
constituency_westminster = Staffordshire Moorlands

Froghall is a village situated approximately ten miles to the east of Stoke-on-Trent and two miles north of Cheadle in Staffordshire, England. 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, ironstone,copper and limestone industries.

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 now stands derelict (demolition in progress) but a substantial portion is still in use for the production of rotor bars and extruded section.The Thomas Bolton Copperworks at Froghall (and the closed works in the nearby village of Oakamoor) are famous for the world's first transatlantic telegraph cables, which were manufactured and rolled at the plants.During the Second World War the factories made wiring components for Spitfire 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.

Transport

Froghall was formerly served by Kingsley and Froghall railway station, on the North Staffordshire Railway's Churnet Valley Line from North Rode to Uttoxeter via Leek. Despite the gradual closure of this line in the 1960s and 1970s [cite web|url = http://cvr-extra.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/1849-1970.htm|title = The Churnet Valley Line 1849-1970|accessdate=2007-06-17] , passenger trains returned to Froghall in the 1990s after preservation of the line by the Churnet Valley Railway. At the present time, Kingsley and Froghall is the terminus of the railway.

Froghall is the southern terminus of the Caldon Canal. The canal previously ran from Etruria to Uttoxeter (with the section from Froghall to Uttoxeter sometimes known as the Uttoxeter Canal), but does not now extend beyond Froghall.

The A52, which links Stoke-on-Trent with Derby, passes through Froghall.

References