Open Day on the Chesterfield

Published: Monday, 27 March 2017

IT WAS way back in the 60s that the Retford & Worksop Boat Club was formed and tirelessly worked to prevent the closing of the Chesterfield Canal and then making sure it was kept in working condition.

In combination with the Chesterfield Canal Trust it is holding an Open Day on Saturday 1st April at its Clayworth headquarters at Clayworth Common (DN22 9AJ), from 11am to 5pm that will be open to all, without charge.

Eastern section

Here is a chance to those who have not visited the eastern section of the Chesterfield Canal to visit, with the trip boat Seth Ellis in operation all day. There will also be guided walks around the village.

The Club's Real Ale bar will be open and refreshments will be available together with a Barbecue, with the Chesterfield Canal Trust's promotional trailer in attendance, along with its sales gazebo.

Historic boat restoration

Visitors will also be able to see the current state of the restoration of the historic boat Python at the event.will be in attendance and you will be able to see the current state of its restoration. There will be various displays and stalls.

Author Christine Richardson will be present and will speak during the day. Christine is an eminent historian and author who wrote the most authoritative biography of James Brindley, the designer of the Chesterfield Canal, together with other books about the waterway. She has written many other books about the canal.

John Lower

John Lower will be present and will speak during the day. John has fulfilled almost every role in the Trust from Chairman to lock designer and Cuckoo editor. He has written many guidebooks about different canals and countless articles for magazines. He does dozens of talks about the canal every year.

There will be a full history of the Boat Club itself, plus a great deal of canal history including the Reverend Seth Ellis Stevenson, the Retford headmaster who was the prime mover in the plans to get the Canal to come through Worksop and Retford in 1768, instead of across to Bawtry as was intended.