JCB Lakeside Club, Rocester

The original building, which now forms part of the Club premises, was built as a canal warehouse. The canal was called the Caldon Canal as it originally ran from Etruria to the limestone quarries at Cauldon Lowe. In the late 18th Century plans were made to extend the canal from Cauldon Lowe to Uttoxeter to carry coal for the Cheadle and Kingsley Moor collieries and brass and copper for the Oakamoor and Alton factories. The extension to Uttoxeter was opened on 3rd September 1811, four years before Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. The opening day was made a public holiday with the first boats travelling along the canal to Rocester and beyond. The life of the canal was fairly short-lived as on 7th August 1848 the Churnet Valley railway line was opened having replaced the canal and followed much of the course of the canal from Uttoxeter to Rocester. Rocester Railway Station 1865 Rocester Railway Station 1865 The canal warehouse at Rocester, which was a three-storey building, became a part of the Rocester railway station. The station was opened in April 1849 and the Ashbourne branch line was opened in 1852. The Churnet Valley line and Ashbourne branch became part of the Beeching closure plan in 1963 with the Ashbourne line closing to passenger service in 1954 and goods and freight closed in 1965. The line finally closed in January 1965. The station wharf was purchased by JCB with the building being used as a storage facility. The JCB sailing club used a section of the building to store their boats during the 1970's and the JCB groundsman and football teams used other parts of the building. The ground floor was filled in and the surrounding ground levelled to raised to first floor level.