New Chesterfield Canal footbridge

THE deck of Constitution Hill Bridge was fitted this month over the Chesterfield Canal just below Morrison's at Mill Green in Staveley.

The deck was built by Beaver Bridges of Shrewsbury, and designed and paid for by Derbyshire County Council, which owns and maintains the canal in the area.

Volunteers

The bridge abutments however were built by the Volunteer Work Party of the Chesterfield Canal Trust, with help from the Waterway Recovery Group.

The bridge is not yet open to the public because there are some minor finishings to be fitted, such as the handrails. There will be a formal opening ceremony at the Chesterfield Canal Festival on 28th June. The picture below shows Derbyshire County Council Engineer, Selwyn Jones, and Chesterfield Volunteer Work Party members.

Flurry of activity

This is the latest step in the restoration of the canal, which has seen a flurry of activity recently.

Wing walls are being built for the tail-bridge at Staveley Town Lock, the section of canal at Renishaw is being cleared out, the leak is being plugged and it will soon be refilled with water.

On top of all this, the first houses are being built at the £310 million Waterside project in Chesterfield, with a start on the next 300 houses and the first canal works being expected this summer.

Grateful

Chesterfield Canal Trust Publicity Officer, Rod Auton, explained:

"All this activity demonstrates that it is just a matter of time before our beautiful canal is fully restored. We know that we have massive public support. We are very grateful to Derbyshire County Council and to the Waterway Recovery Group, but above all we salute the incredible work done year after year by our Volunteer Work Party."