13th July 2010
A group of volunteers has been building a wall in Staveley this week. They are members of the Waterway Recovery Group. They have given up a week of their holidays to help the Chesterfield Canal Trust’s regular Work Party in the restoration of the Chesterfield Canal.
Five miles of the canal has already been restored from Chesterfield to Mill Green at Staveley. Construction work on the new Staveley Town Basin is about to begin. The wall will be one side of the length of canal which will join these two sections together.
The volunteers are building the wall on a concrete base pad that was laid by Derbyshire County Council, who own this stretch of the canal. They have been instrumental in the implementation of the whole project, which is recognised as an excellent example of Partnership working. The Council provides the engineering oversight and came up with the money for the reprofiling of the canal and the materials for the wall. The Chesterfield Canal Trust, in conjunction with the Waterway Recovery Group, provides the volunteer labour. Thus the goal of both organisations – a fully restored canal with all the social and economic benefits that it will bring – becomes closer.
We must also thank Staveley Town Council for their unwavering support. They housed the volunteers in the Stables Complex at Staveley Hall and provided access to the kitchen. Rather than charge for the use of these facilities, the Council asked that the accommodation costs be put towards the budget for building materials. Furthermore, Staveley Healthy Living Centre offered free showers to the volunteeers.
The Waterway Recovery Group has been going for forty years. Its volunteers have been involved in canal restoration throughout the country. They give up their spare time to bring derelict stretches of canal back to life, indeed they even pay for the privilege of going on work camps.
The Chesterfield Canal Trust is campaigning for the complete restoration of the Chesterfield Canal, which runs for 46 miles from the River Trent into the heart of Chesterfield. The first 26 miles to Worksop have always been in use. Eleven of the remaining twenty miles have already been restored. There are detailed plans and studies for how to close the nine mile gap between Staveley and Kiveton Park.
Robin Stonebridge, the Chair of the Trust, said “We are determined to complete the restoration of our beautiful canal and we are extremely grateful to the Waterway Recovery Group volunteers for the magnificent work that they are doing to help us.”
The view from the new bridge at Hall Lane. Mill Green is a couple of hundred metres further on.