Kempthorne Docklands

Kempthorne Docklands is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, approximately one mile south east of Hanley, Staffordshire. It is located just off the A52 road and is a just a few feet away from the A50.
History
In the area are various bottle kilns and the pottery firm Emma Bridgewater. The proximity to the Cauldon Canal also brought prosperity to the area, as clay was imported to the factory using the waterways system. However pollution forced people out of their homes and left the vicinity to ruin. In the early 1970s the city built hundreds of flats and terraced housing in the area to quash the housing crisis. This mixture of an already deprived and poverty-stricken area, left the docklands in what appeared to be a state of disrepair, and so for the next couple of decades the place was largely abandoned.
In 2005 there were proposals to rebuild the docklands and make them a desirable place to live again. The challenge was to juxtapose the old industrial heritage of the area whilst building new houses for 5,000 people. The process began in 2006 with the local council enforcing imminent domain and demolishing all of the terraced housing. Then the clean-up of the canal was underway with the help of the Canals & Rivers Trust.

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