Since 1989, over 12 miles of the canal have been restored along with 37 locks and 11 bridges; 2 new marinas have been built.

In Derbyshire, much of the canal had been sold to a variety of different owners in the 1970s. Thirty houses had been built on the canal line in Killamarsh. Most significantly, the five mile section between Chesterfield and Staveley passed into the hands of Derbyshire County Council in 1987.

This Derbyshire section was still in water as the owner had a duty to supply water via the canal to Staveley Works. The council’s motive in purchasing the canal was more to buy land for the proposed Staveley-Brimington bypass than with any motive connected with canal restoration. The canal was also under threat from a number of proposed opencast mining schemes. The bypass proposals intended to block the canal in five places and a 1983 council decision stated: “the additional cost of restoring the Chesterfield Canal to a navigable waterway cannot be justified and is therefore not promoted”. The Chesterfield Canal Society published “A Future for Chesterfield’s Canal” in 1985, trying to make the best of what would be left after the bypass, but fortunately finance for the road was not forthcoming and the document was superfluous.

After testing the strength of public feeling, the Society soon changed tack, and began a long campaign to ensure that if the bypass was built, it would accommodate navigation on a restored Chesterfield Canal. In 1988, the Society organised the first seminar on the future of the Chesterfield Canal at Worksop Town Hall, calling together for the first time, representatives of all the local authorities, statutory and non-statutory bodies, land owners, voluntary groups, MPs and all involved with the canal in any way. It was a significant event, and over one hundred delegates left the seminar with a new vision of what opportunities a restored Chesterfield Canal offered, and how it might be achieved.

Massive public support harnessed by the society resulted in a 14,000 signature petition being handed to Derbyshire County Council, opposing blocking of the canal by the proposed Staveley-Brimington bypass. The council gave permission for the Society to restore Tapton Lock in Chesterfield, a Grade ll listed structure. This was a carefully chosen project, as the lock was clearly visible from passing traffic on the A61 and easily accessible by local people. In eighteen months, Society volunteers emptied the chamber of nine feet depth of mud and debris, the structure was repaired and new lock gates fitted. The reopening took place on April 29th, 1990 and resulted in the Society winning Derbyshire County Council’s Greenwatch award of £1000 together with the Inland Waterways Association’s Christopher Power Prize for the restoration organisation which had made the most progress toward their aims in that year. Perhaps most significantly, the restoration of Tapton Lock and the enthusiasm of the volunteer workforce demonstrated that the Society was serious and that restoration was possible and also desirable.

Restoration work continued on a number of fronts in the Chesterfield area: On May 3rd 1992, the Society launched the purpose-built trip boat John Varley at Tapton Lock and reopened Hollingwood Lock on June 20th 1993. Following a second seminar held in Worksop, the impetus was irreversible: Derbyshire County Council acknowledged the manifest benefits to the local community of a fully restored canal and declared that the final highway design of the Staveley – Brimington bypass would not prejudice future restoration to full navigational standard. The canal was saved.

Meanwhile, Derbyshire County Council successfully obtained a Derelict Land Grant for restoration of the canal from Chesterfield to Tapton Lock, completed in 1994. In the same year it published its Recreational Strategy for the canal, and the four councils to the west of the tunnel all became signatories to the Strategy for the Protection and Restoration of the Chesterfield Canal.

Succeeding years brought a string of successes for the Canal Society in Derbyshire. 1994 saw the reopening of Bluebank Lock. 1995, the opening of a completely new Dixon’s Lock, designed by the Society to replace the original which had been lost to opencasting. Funding for both these came from British Coal and from an EMROP/RECHAR European Coal Community Grant bid for by the Society.

In 1997, the Society completed restoration of Wheeldon Mill Lock, the last in Derbyshire, and a magnificent achievement for its Work Party, all of whom were, and still are, volunteers. Thanks must also be expressed to the magnificent support received from the Waterway Recovery Group.

A second grant awarded to Derbyshire County Council completed restoration between Chesterfield and Staveley, leaving only one road and two bridleway blockages to be removed before through navigation on this five mile section could commence.

The new Station Road and Newbridge Lane bridges at Brimington were opened in June 2000. Finally, Bilby Lane Bridge was rebuilt and opened on 29th May 2002. This received a £5,000 grant from the IWA Restoration Grants Fund and a grant from the European Regional Development Fund and the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme. Land for the abutments was donated by Saint-Gobain Pipelines.

Navigation was now possible from Chesterfield through to Mill Green. There followed a triumphant IWA National Trailboat Rally held at Tapton Lock.

In 2004, a 100 yard stretch under and beyond Mill Green Bridge was opened. This had been cleared and a supporting washwall had been built by the Trust’s volunteer Work Party.

In 2005, Chesterfield Borough Council was persuaded that it should not erect a DIY warehouse in a prime position between the A61 and the River Rother that had been vacated by Arnold Laver and Trebor. This included the site of the second terminal canal basin. Instead, the site was to be used for housing and small businesses, with shops and cafés round a new terminal basin in almost exactly the same position as the last.

This was adopted and the Waterside scheme was born. This has been beset by problems, not least the recession of 2008. However, it is finally getting off the ground with planning permission granted for the first houses.

A grant from Community Assets was obtained to restore and extend the hopelessly dilapidated Hollingwood Lock House and the present Hollingwood Hub opened in 2011, proving to be a much cherished asset to the local community, towpath users and the Chesterfield Canal Trust, whose home it has become. Click here for the story.

An isolated 500 yard section was opened at Renishaw in 2009, where a new housing development had replaced the old ironworks. This included a footbridge and a children’s play area. Sadly it fell into disrepair because there was no feed to maintain the water level.

In 2012, the new Staveley Town Basin was opened. This was principally funded by English Partnerships and was overseen by the Markham Vale (MEGZ) project. Previously the Staveley Northern Loop Road had been completed round the site, giving three new bridges, including Hall Lane Bridge which had previously been a culvert.

The link back to Mill Green was supported by a 600 yard washwall that the Trust’s Work Party had built over the course of several years. Click here to see the full story.

In 2014, the new Constitution Hill Bridge was opened at our Festival. The abutments had been built by volunteers. Click here to see the full story.

At the National Trailboat Festival in 2016, the new Staveley Town Lock, built by Trust volunteers, with occasional help from the Waterway Recovery Group, was opened. In 2018, Hartington Harbour, again a volunteer project, was opened at that summer’s Festival. Click here to see the full story.

In 2019, everything changed with the appointment of George Rogers, the Trust’s Development Manager (and first ever employee). Click here for the story.