The Chesterfield canal, which runs from the river Trent at West Stockwith to Chesterfield is slowly but surely being restored to a working state. The one potential problem being the link between the Norwood Tunnel entrance to the Rother Valley Country Park via the bricked up and disused tunnel. According to the local press it will cost £10 million to reconnect the Norwood Tunnel to Rother Valley (it runs through Tommy Flocktons and the site of the 1992 closed Kiveton Colliery), and there have been several proposals to reclaim the old pit site.

The drained canal and workmen rebuilding the walls of a lock section. (Kiveton and Turnerwood)

The bricked up entrance to the Norwood Tunnel (near Kiveton Park)

Drained canal in 1997, and restored and filled in 1999 (south of Anston)

19th century beer bottles found in the mud dredged from the bridge near the Old Station pub

The old lock keepers cottages, 1983

Derbyshire Dike outlet into canal (from Harthill Ponds)

The Chesterfield Canal, was built in the 1760s to carry lead ore from the peak district to the Trent water system and was a significant waterway when canals were the main bulk transportation systems, before the railways were built in the 1800s. In the 20th century with the coming of road haulage, and the collapse of the 1.5 mile Norwood tunnel circa 1903 (an engineering marvel of the 1770's), the Chesterfield canal ceased to be viable and fell into disuse, although it was the 1950s before the last commercial barge sailed the canal. During the 1990s the Chesterfield Canal was partially renovated with funds from a variety of sources.

1997 - renovation underway at Turnerwood.

Above are the locks after renovation in Feb 2001.

Once the canal ceased to be heavily used after 1905 or so, it became stagnant and heavily silted up (see the drained section near the bridge below). The tunnel canal ran through Tommy Flockton's (if you aren't a local you probably won't know that name, the Ordnance Survey map makers don't, but he was a local farmer circa 1833 who's name lives on!), the old colliery site, under the M1 motorway (which came 200 years later), and out at Norwood near to the present Rother Valley Country Park.

This is a dredged portion of canal with rebuilt banks and moorings for pleasure craft and barges. This bank was previously like a jungle. The bricked up entrance to the Norwood tunnel (over 2,800 yards/2 km long) is shown below. That it was a tunnel probably saved several flights of locks. It ran from Kiveton to Norwood near to the Rother Valleycountry park, through what is now Rother Valley CP, and Killamarsh. Despite half rumours and unfulfilled plans, isn't doesn't look like the entire canal will be made navigable despite the renovation of this section from Worksop to the entrance to the Norwood tunnel. The Kiilamarsh section is totally overgrown to the extent that you'd never know that a canal ever existed. Contrast that with Shireoaks where the canal and its locks has been excellently renovated and is navigable.

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Below, is a shot of a restored section in the summer of 1999, and a similar shot in April 1997 when the canal was drained prior to being dredged. .

When the canal near the Old Station pub was dredged the 100+ year old sludge was dumped on the old colliery slag heap (it makes rich topsoil) and was found to contain lots of old bottles like these! Presumably they were chucked into the canal from the bridge outside the Old Station pub, where they lay for a century of more before being dredged up and dumped.

The beer bottle has written on it 'Hardy and Martin, Kirkby and Stavely, the Rylands 4 Bottlemakers, Barnsley'. The rubber seal around the top of the bottle was intact, as was the spherical glass seal. The small container is possibly for rolling dice. Such moulded glass bottles came into production from the 1850 or so, and according to the BBC Antiques Roadshow have a value of about £5 each circa Nov. 1999.

Below, a picture from 1983 of the 18th century cottages at the other end of the Norwood tunnel. It was lost in a fire in the late 20th century. However, its story started in October 1777 when the Minutes of the Chesterfield Canal company recorded: "That a House be built at the west end of the Tunnel at Norwood for the habitation of a person who must be appointed to inspect the Locks there and see that the boatman waste no more water in passing through the same....and that a stable be also built there for the horses in that are waiting for the boats going through the tunnel...and that Mr Henshall do give Directions for building such house and stable". In 2005 Alan Dobson of Killamarsh emailed to say "The picture of the "lock keepers cottages" taken in 1983 is in fact what was formerly the Boatman Inn kept by my gg grandfather from 1864 until the 1880s (it lost its licence in 1907) and at the time of the photo by my g-Auntie Nellie Cash."

Below: the Derbyshire Dike fills Harthill Ponds whose outflow meanders between Harthill and Kiveton until it flows into the Chesterfield Canal here (close to Kiveton Old Station).

See also the canal at Shireoaks.

Check out the British Waterways webpage from this site's list of links for more details about this and other canals. Thanks to Derek Newbold for the loan of the drained canal photos.