Cargo for the Chesterfield Canal

Published: Friday, 24 September 2010

CARGO carrying has returned to the Chesterfield Canal, brought about as the best way to move fencing panels for the Chesterfield Canal Trust.

Faced with the prospect of having to move a load of fencing panels from West Stockwith to Shireoaks, theĀ  Trust looked round for a suitable form of transport and found it close to home.

Using the greenest option available, a volunteer crew took the Trust's historic Learning Boat, Python, down to West Stockwith. The elderly vessel was loaded up with the fencing panels and made the return trip to Shireoaks the following week. The photograph shows the boat leaving West Stockwith loaded with the fencing panels.

Build exact replica

The fencing panels were loaned to the Trust by British Waterways. They will be used to create a compound at Shireoaks Marina for the building of New Dawn. This is a project to build an exact replica of one of the old Cuckoo boats that used to ply the canal. None of the original boats are left, so the Trust obtained the necessary materials a few years ago. Now that the wood has seasoned its members are ready to start. The intention is to use the original methods wherever possible.

The Trust is of course campaigning for the full restoration of the Chesterfield Canal. 11 miles, 36 locks and 11 bridges have already been completed, only a nine mile gap between Kiveton Park and Staveley remains. However it is also committed to seeing the whole canal being used and developed for the benefit of all. The New Dawn and Learning Boat projects are just two of the ways in which the Trust is realising this aim.