Chesterfield Canal stretch through Renishaw finally getting £400k makeover

[Alan de Enfield]

Chesterfield Canal stretch through Renishaw finally getting £400k makeover - Derbyshire Live (derbytelegraph.co.uk)

 

C&RT to provide £200,000 for the canal 'makeover'.

 

A one-mile section of a derelict Derbyshire canal is to be restored at a cost of more than £400,000, nearly a decade after failed council plans stopped. Derbyshire County Council says that the planned restoration of the one-mile Renishaw section of the 46-mile Chesterfield Canal will have “considerable” benefits for the public and the environment.

It would stretch from Hague Lane, south of Renishaw, opposite the River Rother, loop around the north of Renishaw, round the pumping station, to Spinkhill Lane, near the Sitwell Arms Hotel. Completing this section would make the entire Chesterfield Canal navigable and connect its southern end in Derbyshire to the national canal network, via the River Trent.

The canal, which was completed in 1777, runs west to east between the River Rother at Chesterfield in Derbyshire and the River Trent at West Stockwith in Nottinghamshire. Chesterfield Canal Trust is the main driver of the restoration scheme, aiming to restore nine miles of the route from the Staveley Town Basin in Derbyshire to Kiveton Park in South Yorkshire by 2027.

 

Read more: Chesterfield bypass scheme to cost another £36 million because of inflation and costs of materials

 

A council report says the Renishaw section is owned by the county council. Council officers say restoring the canal “would provide a catalyst for social and economic regeneration, offering benefit to many disadvantaged communities, creating new income to effectively maintain the canal, and enable civil society led canal management models to be advanced”.

It details that restoring just one mile of the canal in Renishaw will cost £433,000, of which £233,000 of which will come from the council and £200,000 from the canal trust. The council hopes to have the Renishaw section restored between April this year and June 2024.

 

It details that other parts of the nine-mile route cost several million pounds apiece, including £5 million for a half-mile section from Hague Farm in Renishaw to the River Doe Lea, and £6.7 million for the River Doe Lea to the Eckington Road Staveley Basin. The current Renishaw section of the canal was constructed in 2009 close to the former alignment of the route and is landlocked, but much of the required infrastructure remains in place, such as the channel, banking and walls.

Council plans to restore the Renishaw section were carried out between 2009 and 2014, but officers detail that “unfortunately, the channel works were unsuccessful as the channel lining failed to hold water”. Officers write: “The specific cause of this has not been ascertained but is thought to be due to the unstable ground conditions of the site, because of its industrial use since the canal closed, and the clay liner used to create the re-formed channel not having a strong and impermeable geosynthetic clay line.”

The council writes that it will have to pump water into the restored canal section, either from the River Rother or Smithy Pond, on an ongoing basis to keep it full. It says the canal trust will be responsible for dredging the canal and clearing graffiti, as well as clearing trees and vegetation, while the council will ensure the A6135 over the site will remain stable, along with the footbridge, overspill weir, brickwork and gabion walling.

[David Mack]

31 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Completing this section would make the entire Chesterfield Canal navigable and connect its southern end in Derbyshire to the national canal network, via the River Trent.

Unfortunately that bit is incorrect. There is still some 9 miles of the canal to be reopened to reconnect the isolated section west of Norwood Tunnel with the restored and naviagble canal from there to the Trent.

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Unfortunately that bit is incorrect. There is still some 9 miles of the canal to be reopened to reconnect the isolated section west of Norwood Tunnel with the restored and naviagble canal from there to the Trent.

 

I thought that was the case but don't know the canal well enough so assumed I was wrong.

 

Should C&RT be really spending £200k on just another mile of canal that'll still 'go nowhere' ?

There are many more things requiring expenditure that would benefit a larger number of boaters.

[noddyboater]

52 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Should C&RT be really spending £200k on just another mile of canal that'll still 'go nowhere' ?

There are many more things requiring expenditure that would benefit a larger number of boaters.

Like dredging the rest of the navigable length for instance? 

[Rob-M]

58 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I thought that was the case but don't know the canal well enough so assumed I was wrong.

 

Should C&RT be really spending £200k on just another mile of canal that'll still 'go nowhere' ?

There are many more things requiring expenditure that would benefit a larger number of boaters.

Did you make the CRT bit up or are you certain the canal trust referred to in the article is Canal and River Trust and not Chesterfield Canal Trust ..?

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Did you make the CRT bit up or are you certain the canal trust referred to in the article is Canal and River Trust and not Chesterfield Canal Trust ..?

 

I assumed that when they went onto explain that the 'trust' would be taking on responsibility for the dredging and vegetation control that it was refering to C&RT.

I could be mistaken, in which case, apologies for jumping to the wrong conclusion.

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Chesterfield Canal Trust is the main driver of the restoration scheme, aiming to restore nine miles of the route from the Staveley Town Basin in Derbyshire to Kiveton Park in South Yorkshire by 2027.

 

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It details that restoring just one mile of the canal in Renishaw will cost £433,000, of which £233,000 of which will come from the council and £200,000 from the canal trust.

 

Since the only reference to a canal trust in the article is the Chesterfield Canal Trust, and since this is the section of the canal owned by Derbyshire County Council (as staed in the article), not CRT, I would have thought it was pretty obvious that the £200k is money raised by the Chesterfield Canal Trust.

[PD1964]

 

5 hours ago, noddyboater said:

Like dredging the rest of the navigable length for instance? 

The bit in the article that says the Trust will be responsible for dredging and graffiti removal made me laugh.

  Obviously CCT and not CaRT as they don’t do it now on their waterways as you hint at, never mind doing it on a council owned one.

 Looks like this section will be taking a big slice of future CCT donations with the dredging and graffiti removal.  
 

6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The canal, which was completed in 1777, runs west to east between the River Rother at Chesterfield in Derbyshire and the River Trent at West Stockwith in Nottinghamshire. Chesterfield Canal Trust is the main driver of the restoration scheme, aiming to restore nine miles of the route from the Staveley Town Basin in Derbyshire to Kiveton Park in South Yorkshire by 2027.

And Pigs will fly 🐷🐷

Edited March 15, 2023 by PD1964

[matty40s]

31 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

 

 Looks like this section will be taking a big slice of future CCT donations with the dredging and graffiti removal.  
 

And Pigs will fly 🐷🐷

You look at what they have achieved already,  do a google maps sat view, and you might alter your stance. 

The Stroudwater was in the same place less than 10 years ago, and should be reconnected within 2.

Buy a brick, I am sure someone will be along shortly to offer some for sale.

 

[Chris Lowe]

Making a new through connection at Norwood tunnel is going to be the hardest & most expensive bit I would imagine, but not impossible.

[Athy]

This is excellent news, well done C.C.T. A mile is a big stride forwards in canal restoration terms.

I hadn't heard the name "Renishaw" for many years, but its mention reminded me of when my Dad used to play golf there and I, still a junior school boy, was enlisted to carry his golf bag around the course - none of yer softy golf carts or buggies back then. The supreme boredom of the experience put me off golf for life, for which I am truly thankful.

[PD1964]

11 hours ago, matty40s said:

You look at what they have achieved already,  do a google maps sat view, and you might alter your stance. 

The Stroudwater was in the same place less than 10 years ago, and should be reconnected within 2.

Buy a brick, I am sure someone will be along shortly to offer some for sale.

 

Not by 2027, the Norwood tunnel problem will take the time, locks, boat lift, how’s it going to work?  That will be the interesting bit.

[Chris Lowe]

5 hours ago, PD1964 said:

Not by 2027, the Norwood tunnel problem will take the time, locks, boat lift, how’s it going to work?  That will be the interesting bit.

New locks, and deviation route over the top and use of part of the tunnel was the preferred option when I spoke to the CCT Chairman.