Walking On The Chesterfield Canal

Forest Bottom Lock by Stuart Parker

Whilst the Chesterfield Canal is a boater’s paradise the most numerous users are walkers. Here Rod Auton tells us about the upcoming Walking Festival.

When the Chesterfield Canal was constructed in the 1770s, it was used solely for carrying goods. Businessmen in Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire wanted an easier way to move their produce to markets beyond the immediate area.

At that time, the simplest way to carry heavy goods was on the water, which meant on rivers. The nearest river port to Chesterfield was Bawtry on the River Idle. This entailed a long and very difficult journey on roads which were a sea of mud for many months of the year. The goods were carried by packhorses. Given that many of the loads would be bulky and heavy – especially coal and lead – a very large number of animals would be needed. In contrast, a canal boat could carry over twenty tons and could be towed by a single horse.

As the canal began to establish itself, a wider variety of goods was carried. Besides the aforementioned coal and lead, a contemporary list of charges includes: Bags of Hops, Bales of Hemp, Deals of Timber, Hoggsheads of Rotten Stone, Bundles of Deer Skins and Barrels of Gunpowder. Cannonballs made in Chesterfield were in great demand during the Napoleonic Wars; they are still occasionally found when the canal is being dredged.

For a very long time, the carriage of people never seems to have happened, at least not in an organised fashion. It was much later that packet boats started running, for example taking women from Clayworth to Retford market and back. We have some wonderful photos of Sunday School outings from the early 1900s with the Cuckoo boats absolutely packed with children wearing their Sunday Best.

Originally, the towpath was a no-go area. There were fines for people trespassing because the Canal Company wanted to keep it clear for the towing horses. There were fines for leaving gates onto the towpath open. We have a copy of an agreement drawn up in 1896 between the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company (the owners of the canal at that time) and the Derbyshire Chemical Company Limited. It gave permission for their workers to use a gateway onto the towing path in Killamarsh. This stipulated that a fee of one shilling was to be paid each year on 25th December!

As time passed, the towpath came to be used a means of getting from one place to another, but not for recreation. It is only in the last forty years or so that the use of the towpath as a beautiful place to walk and enjoy nature has really grown. This has developed as it has become an increasingly pleasant environment because it has been looked after much better by its owners following lots of lobbying by many organisations including the Chesterfield Canal Trust. In Nottinghamshire and much of South Yorkshire, the owner was British Waterways which became the Canal & River Trust in 2012.

Staveley Outing. c 1900.

Sunday School outing at Bracebridge Lock.

In Derbyshire, the canal was sold off by British Waterways. Lots of houses were built on the route in Killamarsh. Derbyshire County Council bought the first five miles of the canal in 1986 in order to build a road, but the road was not built and the canal has flourished.

The towpath is now firmly established as a wonderful place to ramble. It is officially recognised as the Cuckoo Way by the Ordnance Survey. It varies between wide solid surfaces that are multi-user trails to narrow grass paths. It passes through busy town centres and remote areas where you can not see a house. Parts of it are included in the Trans-Pennine Trail and in the Sustrans National Cycle Network.

Three years ago, the Chesterfield Canal Trust decided to run a Walking Festival based around the canal. The original idea was to have about twenty walks, but it grew to over fifty. The following year, 2019, the Trust held a second Festival which attracted over 700 walkers. The Trust has little doubt that this makes it the biggest Walking Festival based upon a single canal in the country.

Last year’s Festival had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, but this year it is back. There are forty two walks in the 2021 Festival which will run from 11th to 19th September. They cover the full length of the canal from its start in Chesterfield to West Stockwith where it meets the River Trent.

The distances vary from a Bat Walk covering a mile and a half, to twenty miles. The latter is a Restoration Walk which goes from the Lock Keeper pub in Chesterfield to the Lock Keeper pub in Worksop. This will cover the section which lay completely derelict in 1989. Walkers will see the fantastic work that has been done to restore twelve miles, thirty seven locks and eleven bridges, plus two marinas. They will also learn about the plans to restore the remaining eight miles.

Some of the walks just go along delightful sections of countryside and very pretty parts of the canal. Others have a particular theme, for example there is a Nature Walk led by the Canal & River Trust which will cover the SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) east of Drakeholes. Another will explore Clayworth including a visit to the picturesque St. Peter’s Church; the home of the world famous Traquair Murals which are the largest pieces of ecclesiastic artwork in the East of England.

If you are interested in Churches, you can join the Historic Churches walk which will visit four beautiful rural churches and support Nottinghamshire Historic Churches Trust Ride and Stride. If you have no idea what Geocaching is, you will be able to find out whilst walking the towpath from Ranby through Forest Locks.

There will be opportunities to combine a walk with a cruise on one of the Trust’s tripboats in the aptly names Boats & Boots walks, or you can finish a canal walk with the chance of a guided tour of Barrow Hill Engine Shed, Britain’s last surviving working railway roundhouse.

The idea of a walk is being stretched a bit because you can opt to have a go at towing the Trust’s replica Cuckoo boat, Dawn Rose. Even though this weighs ten tons, two people can comfortably pull it. Matt Baker did this when he came to film with Countryfile. This will also give you the opportunity to raise money through sponsorship for your own favourite good cause. The Chesterfield Cycle Campaign is joining in the fun with a chance to join their Cycle in Style ride along the towpath.

All the walks are free except when boats are involved. For full information and to book, go to the Chesterfield Canal Trust website or ring 01246 477569. Brochures will be available in tourist centres. We believe that there is something for everyone.

Rod Auton

Rod is the Publicity Officer for the Chesterfield Canal Trust which is campaigning to complete the restoration of the canal by its 250th Anniversary in 2027. For further information go to www.chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk. All imagery courtesy of The Chesterfield Canal Trust (various photographers).