Renishaw canal restoration on DVD

Published: Monday, 14 December 2009

A DVD of the Chesterfield Canal restoration at Renishaw has just been released by Compress Media.

The DVD tells the story of the transformation of the canal landscape around the area of Renishaw, and includes some remarkable aerial shots that were caught by a remote controlled helicopter.

The two photographs admirably show the 'before' and 'after' of the Chesterfield Canal at Renishaw.

Entitled The Reinstatement of Chesterfield Canal—Renishaw, It includes interviews with the Chesterfield Canal Development Manager, Geraint Coles, and the Chair of Chesterfield Canal Trust, Robin Stonebridge, and has general information about the canal system.

Compress Media is a Sheffield based company that are gaining a reputation as chroniclers of the ups and downs of local industry. The company had chronicled the work being carried out at Renishaw over a long period.

This was an area that had been dreadfully scarred by the pollution from an ironworks and a coal mine. The canal had been virtually untraceable for decades, much of it buried under spoil heaps. The industry closed down in the 1980s. However a remarkable clean-up and restoration has seen a brand new housing estate built.

Consolidated and restored

In the last couple of years, the line of the canal has been cleared of trees and undergrowth, dug out, consolidated and restored. A new bridge has been installed. A small playground has been built. There is a plan to build a super childrens' play area with dipping and fishing ponds. This is currently the subject of several funding bids.

Rod Auton of the Chesterfield Canal Trust tells us the DVD will be available from 15th December from the company's website www.compressmedia.com or from Amazon, priced at £9.99. It will soon be available from the Trust.

11 miles and 36 locks restored

The Chesterfield Canal runs from Chesterfield to the  Trent via Worksop and Retford. In 1989 it was in a sorry state with only 26 miles at the eastern end navigable. Since then 11 miles of canal and 36 locks have been restored.

Besides the section at Renishaw, another half mile at Staveley was rebuilt in 2009. A new canal basin is the centrepiece of the £310 million Chesterfield Waterside development. There are detailed plans to restore the remaining nine miles which is the subject of the Chesterfield Canal Trust's Closing the Gap campaign.