Chesterfield Canal - Restoration

Restoration

In 1961, the entire length of the canal was proposed for official abandonment, but protests made meant that under the Transport Act 1968 it was classified as a cruiseway between the Trent and Worksop, while the rest was classified as remainder. Restoration efforts began in the 1970s, with the Chesterfield Canal Society formed in 1976, focussing initially on the route east from Norwood Tunnel to Worksop, which presented relatively few physical obstacles to being restored to navigation.

However, in practice progress was slow, and attention turned to the section west of Norwood Tunnel, where much more damage had been done to the canal bed, with it being filled in and built over in many places. However, the last five miles (8 km) of the canal, from Chesterfield to Staveley, were in good condition, and restoration began in 1987, with Tapton lock being re-opened in 1990. Derbyshire County Council acquired the section of canal between Chesterfield and Staveley and secured several large grants to begin major restoration works. Over a ten year period, four more locks and three new bridges were built, with the five-mile (8 km) section from Chesterfield being reopened to navigation in 2002, though still isolated from other waterways. A breach in the canal in early 2007 forced temporary closure of all but the top pound of the canal above Tapton Lock. The County Council are currently restoring a further section of canal at Staveley and building a new canal marina, the Staveley Town Basin which will be rewatered late 2011.

East of Norwood, Derelict Land Grants were obtained by Rotherham and Nottinghamshire councils in 1995, and restoration between Norwood and Worksop began in earnest. In 2003, the Worksop to Norwood Tunnel stretch of the canal was reopened, with 30 restored locks, one new lock and three new bridges.

The most difficult part of the restoration project, linking the two re-opened sections, remains, with 10 miles (16 km) of canal to be restored or rebuilt, including the length of the tunnel. A significant diversion will be needed around the village of Killamarsh, where a housing estate has been built on the line of the canal. The middle section of the tunnel was lost to coal mining, and as part of the reclamation of the derelict mining area, the canal will be rebuilt in the open air, probably at a higher level with locks at each end. The eastern end of the tunnel will be retained; no firm decision has been made on the western end of the tunnel, which could be reused, or the new higher summit level extended to the west.

As a side note, in 1978 a maintenance team was dredging the bottom of the canal to remove rubbish. Later that day, they were told that a large whirlpool had formed and the canal was quickly losing water. It turned out, one of the first things removed from the canal was a large plug that had been installed to allow the canal to drain in an emergency.