CanalCuttings - Your FREE online-world British Inland Waterways, Narrowboat, River Cruiser, Canal Boat Magazine, Info Source and Britain's & Narrowboat Holiday Guide.

Over 450 Pages of Information and Features about canals and their usage - We're not just a Narrowboat Magazine. The website includes River and Inland Waterways information.

The Chesterfield Canal Festival 2009

On Saturday 23rd May, the Mayor of Rotherham, Cllr. Shaukat Ali, opened The 2009 Chesterfield Canal Festival.

Cllr. Shaukat Ali made a short speech, as did John Nuttall from British Waterways, Robin Stonebridge the Chair of The Chesterfield Canal Trust, John Edmonds the Chair of The Inland Waterways Advisory Council and Clive Henderson the Chair of The Inland Waterways Association. All five speakers expressed their support for the complete restoration of the Chesterfield Canal.

Over the last decade huge strides have been made restoring thirty one locks and over five miles of the canal between Worksop and Kiveton Park. A further five miles and five locks have been restored at the Chesterfield end of the canal. A huge development based around a new canal basin is under construction in Chesterfield. The aim now is to complete the missing nine miles between Staveley and Kiveton Park. This includes an alternative to the old Norwood Tunnel that collapsed over a century ago. Work is progressing on several sites such as Staveley and Renishaw and studies and plans exist for the rest.

The eventual aim is to create a link with the South Yorkshire Navigation at Rotherham by canalising the River Rother. This would create a Three Counties Ring to rival the many cruising rings on the other side of the Pennines and in the West Midlands.

The Festival incorporated the Inland Waterways Association National Campaign Rally and was hosted by the Chesterfield Canal Trust and Chesterfield Canal Partnership with the support of the Inlands Waterways Association, British Waterways, the Land Reclamation Trust and the local community.