Restoration
The Peak Forest Canal was one of the first canals surveyed by the newly formed IWPS. At its southern end, the canal splits into two. The line to Whaley Bridge was originally a branch, and the line to Bugsworth Basin was the main line, although this designation has now been reversed. The name of the village has been changed to Buxworth, which is supposedly more desirable, although the basin retains the original spelling. The Bugsworth line was last used for commercial traffic in 1922, and was abandoned in 1925. Since 1968, the main aims of the IWPS have been the restoration and operation of Bugsworth Basin. The society became a non-profit limited company in 1982, and the rift with the Inland Waterways Association, which resulted in the formation of the society in 1958, was resolved in 1995, when the society re-affiliated to the IWA.
On 14 September 1968, the IWPS received permission from British Waterways to commence restoration of Bugsworth Basin. In 1970, the IWPS was awarded a Bronze Plaque under the Countryside Awards Scheme of the European Conservation Year. On 6 September 1975, the Entrance Basin was re-watered and boats passed into it for the first time in more than 30 years. However, the canal was found to be leaking and it had to be drained shortly afterwards.
On 18 April 1982, the Entrance Basin was re-watered again to admit boats but the canal was found to be still leaking and it had to be drained once more. In November 1998, a greater area of Bugsworth Basin was re-watered and boats entered again. In April 1999 there was a celebration of the return of boats but once again the canal was found to be leaking and it had to be drained.
Following an extensive geological survey of the ground, which included the drilling of core sample for analysis, DewPitchmastic commenced work on sealing the canal in December 2003. In addition to this work, GallifordTry, the omnibus contractor for British Waterways, cleared and then sealed part of the Entrance Canal, to make it watertight, as it was also leaking. The latter work was completed just in time for the Official Opening of Bugsworth Basin on Easter Saturday 2005.
Following this successful opening of Bugsworth Basin, the IWPS is still working with British Waterways and others to secure the long-term future of Bugsworth Basin. The IWPS is supported by British Waterways, High Peak Borough Council Derbyshire County Council, the Inland Waterways Association, English Heritage, English Nature, the Waterways Trust, the East Midlands Development Agency, Awards for All, and the Countryside Agency.
Read more about this topic: Inland Waterways Protection Society
Famous quotes containing the word restoration:
“Men who are occupied in the restoration of health to other men, by the joint exertion of skill and humanity, are above all the great of the earth. They even partake of divinity, since to preserve and renew is almost as noble as to create.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“The 1990s, after the reign of terror of academic vandalism, will be a decade of restoration: restoration of meaning, value, beauty, pleasure, and emotion to art and restoration of art to its audience.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“I claim that in losing the spinning wheel we lost our left lung. We are, therefore, suffering from galloping consumption. The restoration of the wheel arrests the progress of the fell disease.”
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948)