A Staffordshire Moorlands heritage railway is working to repair track until the end of November after flooding damaged a stretch of track.
 
The Caldon Canal was breached following heavy rain between Friday, 25 Oct 2019, and Saturday, 26 Oct 2019, affecting around 100 feet of track on the Churnet Valley Railway (CVR), some of which has been left suspended in mid-air.
 

Flooded track - Date? Dave Gibson.

The flooding led to the cancellation of the railway's planned Super Power Saturday event, which was the first of a series of planned fundraisers aiming to raise £1 million to reconnect the railway to Leek.
 
Following a meeting with morning, the CVR said regular trains would not be running until Saturday, 30 Nov 2019, with the railway planning to run its Christmas Santa and Steam event on schedule.
 
The annual event runs from November 30 and throughout the first week of December, with a number of dates also scheduled later in the month in the run-up to Christmas Day.
 
A CVR spokeswoman said, "The Operations Director updated that the mitigation put in by the heritage railway following a similar incident back in 2000, has helped reduce the damage on this occasion and avoided more extensive loss of track. The proposed repairs will not only reinstate the railway but will also strengthen and improve the drainage. The railway, supported by its charity, The North Staffordshire Railway Company (1978) Ltd., and heavily reliant on the time of its 100+ volunteers is seeking assistance by way of financial support to cover the cost of the repairs. The amount has not been confirmed at this early stage. The public wishing to make donations can do so on the website. Similar incidents at other heritage railways has resulted in an amendment to insurance cover across the movement, resulting in the removal of financial protection for such wet perils. Repairs are due to be underway in the next week and it is estimated the work will be completed in approximately seven days."
 

Flooded track beside Froghall Station - Date? Dave Gibson.

Gregory Wilson, Operations Director at the CVR said, "Our priority primarily was with people's safety and assessing what damage has been caused. Early assessment indicates repairs will take approximately a week. This of course, is great news following what's happened as we can confirm there will be no disruption to our Santa and Steam event."
 
A number of roads across the Staffordshire Moorlands were also closed due to flooding throughout Friday and Saturday, with a series of Environment Agency flood warnings put in place on various stretches of the River Churnet and Endon Brook in Denford.
 
Low-lying areas around the River Churnet, including Westwood Golf Course in Leek, and Cheddleton industrial estate, were also hit by flooding.
 
Meanwhile, in Oakamoor, firefighters were called to rescue a man from the roof of his car after he became stranded in flood water.
 
As of writing at 17:20 on Monday, 28 Oct 2019, only one flood warning remains in force in the Staffordshire Moorlands, for the River Churnet at Alton.
 
Tom Burnett.