Chesterfield Canal

£50,000 was awarded to Rewatering Renishaw Phase 1a project as part of IWA’s Waterways in Progress Grants in 2019. Chesterfield Canal Trust’s Rewatering Renishaw project seeks to transform and extend the derelict channel into a permanent waterspace. The project is part of Phase 1 of the Chesterfield Canal Trust’s ambition to restore the canal to full navigation by 2027, the 250th anniversary of the canal’s original opening.

The complete Phase 1 works will extend the current limit of navigation from the town of Staveley to the village of Renishaw, and include the construction of three new accommodation bridges, four new bridleway bridges, a lock, a railway overbridge, an aqueduct and approximately 5km of new or restored channel.

Staveley Town Basin opened in 2012.  There are slipways at Tapton Lock in Chesterfield and Staveley Town Basin. There is also a craning pad at the basin.

In June 2003, the entire canal from the River Trent to the eastern entrance to the collapsed Norwood Tunnel became navigable when the section between Shireoaks and the tunnel was re-opened.  At the western end of the canal the stretch from Chesterfield to Staveley is also completely restored.

This leaves nine miles to be restored. There are detailed plans for the entire stretch, prepared by the Chesterfield Canal Partnership.