CanalCuttings - Your FREE Online-world British Inland Waterways, Narrowboat, River Cruiser, Canal Boat Magazine, Info Source and Britain's & Narrowboat Holiday Guide.
Around 850 Pages of Information and Features About Canals, Navigable Rivers and Their Usage - We're not just a Narrowboat World Magazine. The website includes River and Inland Waterways information - UK Inland Waterways Press Releases and Articles Invited.

Cargo Carrying Returns To The Chesterfield Canal

Faced with the prospect of having to move a load of fencing panels from West Stockwith to Shireoaks, the Chesterfield Canal Trust looked round for a suitable form of transport and found it close to home.

Using the greenest option available, a volunteer crew took the Trust’s historic Learning Boat, Python, down to West Stockwith. The elderly vessel was loaded up with the fencing panels and made the return trip to Shireoaks the following week.

The fencing panels were loaned to the Trust by British Waterways. They will be used to create a compound at Shireoaks Marina for the building of New Dawn.

New Dawn is a project to build an exact replica of one of the old Cuckoo boats that used to ply the canal. None of the original boats are left, so the Trust obtained the necessary materials a few years ago. Now that the wood has seasoned they are ready to start. The intention is to use the original methods wherever possible.

The Trust is campaigning for the full restoration of the Chesterfield Canal. 11 miles, 36 locks and 11 bridges have already been completed, only a nine mile gap between Kiveton Park and Staveley remains. However it is also committed to seeing the whole canal being used and developed for the benefit of all. The New Dawn and Learning Boat projects are just two of the ways in which the Trust is realising this aim.