The Chesterfield Canal Trust Limited is a

waterway society A waterway society is a society, association, charitable trust, club, trust or "Friends" group involved in the restoration, preservation, use and enjoyment of waterways, e.g. a canal, river, navigation or other waterway, and their associated ...

and

charitable The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' or ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

which campaigns for and undertakes various activities related to the Chesterfield Canal, which runs from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England to the River Trent at

West Stockwith West Stockwith is a village within the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 327. it lies on the west bank of the River Trent, north-west of Gainsborough and east of Misterton. West Stockwith ...

History

The forerunner of the Trust was the Chesterfield Canal Society, founded in September 1976, at a time when the canal was derelict above Worksop. The Society worked with the Retford and Worksop Boat Club and the local branch of the

Inland Waterways Association The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations. No ...

to organise a boat rally to celebrate 200 years of the canal in 1977. The event attracted around 150 boats and 21,000 people, and was the first step towards plans to restore Morse Lock, then the head of navigation.''Britain's Restored Canals'', 2nd Ed., (2008), Roger Squires, Landmark Publishing, With progress on the extension of the navigable canal above Worksop being slow, the Society turned its attention to the Chesterfield end of the canal, and completed the restoration of Tapton Lock, which was opened on 29 April 1990 by the Mayor of Chesterfield. Another major step forward occurred in 1995, when Dixon's Lock and Hollingwood Lock were opened, both having been restored by the Society. Dixon's lock was the biggest achievement, as open-cast coal mining had destroyed the original lock completely, but the replacement was surveyed, designed and built by members of the Society.''Chesterfield Canal'', (2006), Christine Richardson and John Lower, Richlow Guides, The Trust was incorporated in 1997, and a year later it took over the assets of the Society. In 2007, a new mobile information display was funded from a grant given to the Trust by the National Grid and AMEC. The money was part of a safe working initiative for workers refurbishing the overhead power lines between Chesterfield and High Marnham power station.

Aims

The Trust has over 1500 members, and its aims include * the promotion of the

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology * ...

and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

of the Chesterfield Canal * campaigning for the construction of the Rother Link which would join the Chesterfield Canal to the

Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways (canals and canalised rivers) in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of and has 27 lock ...

. This was first proposed by the Chesterfield Canal Society in 1995, and would involve the canalisation of of the River Rother from Killamarsh to the River Don at Rotherham.

Trip boats

The Trust operates three 12-seat trip boats, one based at Chesterfield, another at

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfie ...

and the latest one at Kiveton Park. The boats are crewed by volunteer members of the Trust and are named after influential figures in the building of the canal, namely

John Varley John Varley may refer to: * John Varley (canal engineer) (1740–1809), English canal engineer * John Varley (painter) (1778–1842), English painter and astrologer * John Varley (author) (born 1947), American science fiction author * John Silvest ...

(based at Chesterfield), Seth Ellis (after Seth Ellis Stevenson, based at Retford) and

Hugh Henshall Hugh Henshall (1734–1816) was an English civil engineer, noted for his work on canals. He was born in North Staffordshire and was a student of the canal engineer James Brindley, who was also his brother-in-law. Private life Henshall was born t ...

(Kiveton Park). All the boats run public trips along their respective stretches of the canal and are available for private charter. The Hugh Henshall is a 45 ft diesel electric hybrid boat, funded by a grant from Peoples Millions and the

Big Lottery Fund The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes". Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to ...

. The Hugh Henshall and John Varley boats are both accessible by wheelchair users.

Volunteers

In a similar way to the

Waterway Recovery Group The Waterway Recovery Group (WRG), founded in 1970, is the national co-ordinating body for voluntary labour on the inland waterways of the United Kingdom. History The formation of the Waterway Recovery Group was a logical progression from event ...

the trust has a volunteer workforce. This workforce meets most Sundays at various locations along the Canal to carry out repairs, or to work on specific projects. Between 2008 and 2011 they were working on the head of navigation at Mill Green. This has now been opened up to boat traffic as a direct result of the efforts of the volunteers. Tapton Lock Visitor Centre is located on the Chesterfield Canal to the north of Tapton Park.Tapton Lock Visitor Centre - official website
/ref> Chesterfield Canal Trust volunteers run regular boat trips from the visitor centre on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays during the summer months.

References

{{Reflist

External links

BBC News Yorkshire Lincolnshire: Chesterfield Canal Trust campaigning for rejoining two sides of canal, and against a car park and footbridgesDerbyshire Country Council, entry for Chesterfield CanalBritish Waterways Chesterfield Canal User Group, representation by Chesterfield Canal TrustChesterfield Canal Trust websiteChesterfield Canal History Archive
Waterways organisations in England Organisations based in Derbyshire Transport in Derbyshire