Restoration feature It’s been the site of one of the trial Canal Camps of 2021 - and it’s set to be one Derby and Sandiacre Canal
Where are we at now? Currently the
Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust owns 6 sections totalling approx. 9 Km and has rebuilt 2 of the original bridges. of the canal started in 1993, when the The Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust was At Sandiacre, we have started to excavate the lock chamber of the rubbish used as formed, 200 years after the original Act of infill. This section of the Derby Canal, unforNavigation was granted. The sections of the canal given to Derbyshire County Council tunately, from the Erewash Canal to Longmoor Lane in Sandiacre has been dehave now been returned to the DSCT, along with some sections in Derby owned by Derby clared an Industrial Landfill Site with all sorts of waste deposited. Trial samples showed City Council. We are also working with the that the toxic levels were low, but the local owners of various sections of canal purcouncil insisted that a high fence was put chased from the original canal company to return them to our ownership for restoration. round the site which the locals do not like. We are in discussion with Severn Trent to The fully restored Derby Canal will redirect a sewer pipe that crosses the lock stretch for 20 Km (12.5 miles) from the lower wing wall and bridge base. Once the junction at Sandiacre on the Erewash Canal pipe is moved, hopefully in 2022, we will be to Spondon, just outside the east side of able to complete the dig out of the chamber Derby, a new section from Spondon to and start to rebuild the damaged wall. FuWilmorton by Pride Park and then south passing through Shelton Lock and Chellaston ture WRG Canal Camp?? The section from the Erewash Canal at to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Sandiacre to the M1 in Long Eaton, that the Swarkestone. On the existing canal line, Trust owns is filled in with the original except for a small section, the full width of hedges in place and a footpath down the the canal has been maintained along with centre. This is where our ‘extreme’ gardening the hedges. work parties start with hedge and path maintenance. The next section that the Trust owns is from Hopwell Road to Derby Road in Draycott. This section is currently being dug out to create a 1.1Km section of restored canal. Phase 1 of the dig out by Derby Road has been completed. When the canal was in-filled, no one took into consideration the surface water on the fields or the brooks which fed into the original canal. So when it rained the railway, at a lower level, flooded. In the late 1990’s a ditch was dug in the in-filled canal to Section of canal being restored at Draycott prevent the flooding but Pictures by DSCT
The restoration story: The restoration
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