The Boot Camp

The Boot Camp

May 2016

During a recent BUPA medical the doctor patiently explained that although I am healthy I am not very fit,and this could be corrected by some concerted time in the gym. I politely heard him out and then explained just how tedious I find gyms and how and attempts to get fitter will just have to be achieved without recourse to treadmill hell. Or put another way, I have vowed never to darken the doors of such an establishment again.

The Boot Camp

So here I am in St Lucia staying at a resort called The Body Holiday surrounded by very fit looking types resplendent in lashings of lycra. Hey, there are even a bunch of then that run up and down the beach at 7.00am dragging car tyres behind them - madness!

This resort's USB is its health dimension and its strap line is "give us your body for a week and we will give you back your mind". 

So, given my above position what on earth are we doing here? Well, it's a friends 60th birthday this week and we are here, with their family, to celebrate. The resort, at its core, is a really nice all inclusive Caribbean beach hotel but with an added range if activities, therapies and healthy food to appeal to the body conscious brigade. As our hosts children and their partners are all hyper active this place offers wall to wall activities which goes down a storm.

The rest of the guests come to pay a visit

As you can imagine, you don't find me taking part on the Boot Camp schedule, or just about any other schedule now I come to think about it. Apart from the food stops (all very healthy) my personal schedule tends to include a couple of hours out on a cameraman,  whizzing out in the trade winds beyond the bay and a daily visit to the therapy centre where I indulge in a new found but massively sedentary pleasure of a full body massage.

"Our gang"

Of course, in addition to the regime of fitness and well being there are a number of "interesting" alternative therapies. Perhaps the finest was the Dosha Consultation which starts with a bizzare questionnaire which, among other things, asks if I am A. tall, B. short, or C. sometime tall and short! Based on the questionnaire I have three aspects of my life considered and action is suggested to bring them into balance. When have I ever been balanced? The questionnaire is followed by a consultation where the remedies (which all need to be paid for) are laid out. You would really be proud of me - I smiled, nodded.... and refrained from saying the word "bollocks" till we were a good 10 paces outside the door.

Sunset starts

Of course, the real medicine of this place is its laid back vibe and it is never more potent than at sunset when you can site at the main bar watching the sun set in a blaze of golden glory. Last night the resort were doing work on the beach with some JCBs and persuaded 80% of the guests to have a sunset cruise. In the event we stayed behind giving maybe 50 of us the run of the site and we witnessed possibly the finest sunset I have seen.

Going down in a blaze of glory

Windies Calling

Returning to St Lucia

May 2016

Life is a bit turbulent at present, with Helen being unwell. She has undergone major surgery and has just about recovered only to be facing the unpleasant reality of a course of chemotherapy for the rest of the summer.

Sunset from our balcony

However, like a tropical storm, a window of calm has emerged and we find ourselves back on the island of St Lucia, this time on the northern tip having been invited to join some of our oldest and dearest friends celebrate their 60th birthdays. It was either St Lucia or Crick - not a tough choice when it came down to it.

The beach at sunset

And so Wednesday evening saw us travelling down to the Hilton at Gatwick with Dave and Pat and the inevitable restless nights sleep following what was supposed to be a quick drink in the hotel bar. Alarms were set to 5.45 and we were on our way to South Terminal by 6.15am. Our hosts have been incredibly generous and decided we should travel Premium Economy rather than cattle class which is our more natural habitat, and this means we have our own baggage drop off and more crucially the use of a departure lounge with comfortable seats, papers and free breakfast.

 Ariel views of St Lucia

In the event our plane was a good hour and a half late so in good Hobbit tradition we settled in and enjoyed first and second breakfasts, but stopped short of alcohol which seemed a bit excessive before 9.00am. Premium Economy comes with wide leather seats and extra legroom but its he little details which gave me the most satisfaction, things like being served wine in real glass glasses and eating my meals with metal cutlery.

The obligatory selfie on take off

No matter how you package up the travelling process, eight hours in a plane is still a tedious process but its so much more tolerable with modern technology offering huge choices of entertainment. As with my extensive business travel (which I am not missing one teensy weensy bit) I dive into a little world of my own and grind down the hours. This time I had my eye on three films so set off with the new version of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The book was written in about 1850 and whilst I have tried to read it a couple of times given the Captain Ahab link, I have never succeeded. The film was therefore something of a godsend and offered a cracking couple of hours of seaborne escapism. A epic tale of the sea and one mans battle against both the elements and the unwanted attentions of a singular Great White Whale.

 Travelling companions over St Lucia

Next I moved on the the Revenant, an odd tale of perseverance and survival in Canada probably set in a very similar period as  Moby Dick. It was grim watching as a man stripped of all he loves and left for dead by people who should be friends manages to survive against all the odds. He staggers from the wilderness only to hunt down those who betrayed him and gain a measure of vengeance - but I fear the film was devoid of any happiness but taken as a combo they certainly passed the time.

Our first sunset

I did try and make a start on the latest Star Wars film but I guess i was just too weary or not in the mood because I fell asleep twice in the opening 30 minutes so gave up and retreated to Bob Dylan on my I-Pod and a book.

Before and after the helicopter transfer

Our arrival in St Lucia came with another first. My very first helicopter ride which whisked the four of us two thirds of the way to the resort. The time saving was good but to be honest it was the experience and the panoramas of places we saw when we were here two years ago which was wonderful. As luck would have it I found myself in the perfect seat, the one at the front on the side which offered the best photo opportunities as we soared over the reservoir, rain forests and finally into the northern airport, landing on the end of the runway.

And so we arrived in mid afternoon and settled into our sea view room before venturing out to find the other six members of our party, who were lounging on the floating rings in the shallows drinking rum cocktails and Piton beer in a balmy 32C. 

Its a long journey and by the time we completed our main course it was 2.00 am UK time and we just hit a wall, staggering to our room and some much needed sleep in air conditioned luxury.

Nutbrook Canal's outlying Reservoirs

Coppice Lake, Osborne's Pond and Mapperley Reservoir

Outlying Reservoirs of the Nutbrook Canal

May 2016

Before we leave the review of the Nutbrook Canal with all its water challenges it seemed appropriate to take a look at the additional reservoirs built to supplement and feed into the "Old Reservoir" at Shipley. 

Shipley used to be long and thin but has widened and shortened with the mining subsidence and reduced water levels behind the ancient earth dam, so its hard to say if its capacity is more or less than it used to be. A bit less I suspect, but not much.

Reservoir 2 - Coppice Lake

To add capacity to Shipley the canal builders looked upstream along the course of the Nut, building what is now Coppice Lake behind another high earth dam and creating a very attractive lake fringed by woodland. The attractiveness of the area attracted the wealthy who built big houses here, now used as a school and a business head office. Its all private land so I could only snatch a single image from the driveway.

Next up the valley there is the larger, but probably shallower, Osborne's Pond with a road across the Dam and fishing stages built around its periphery. 

Reservoir 3 - Osborne's Pond

There are a few smaller ponds dotted about the place but effectively we are almost up to the watershed here, so the catchment area to feed the lakes is very modest. When full they hold a lot of water but I suspect that they take a long time to replenish from empty.

Lastly I drove around the edge of the watershed to access Mapperley Reservoir, the second largest water source for the canal, built in a valley to the west. This reservoir was built on Mundy's land in 1821 but was not an immediate success. No sooner was it filled than it was drained to add six yards of solid earth along its length to add strength and re-puddled to improve water retention. If left to its own devices the water would drain down to join the canal above Lock 12, but due to its altitude it was possible to divert its course around the hillside and feed it directly into Paul's Arm and so provide water to the head of navigation.

 Mapperley Reservoir

Mapperley Reservoir dam

Taken together these two main reservoirs contained enough water for 3,600 locks supplemented by a further 900 locks in the colliery ponds. Due to the extensive mining in the water sources suffered from significant leakage reducing the volumes available for navigation.

The canal soldiered on in the face of increasing railway competition and improved assess to the Erewash Canal the other side of the hill and was finally closed to traffic in 1895, expect for the last few locks at Stanton.

Is this a candidate for restoration?

When I returned from this expedition my brother in law asked if it was a canal ripe for restoration (he is a town planner so interested in these things) and my immediate response was "no, its a dead duck. Its got little water, goes nowhere in particular, has three dropped road bridges and is terminally blocked by the old Stanton Ironworks". 

But as I have been writing up this account I have reconsidered this position. The closure of the Stanton Ironworks offers a window of opportunity to install a canal across the site and with the original plan for 5,000 houses reduced to 1,900 why not install a liner water park across its centre? The track is there and a ready water supply exists to the north.

Then there is the small problem of the dropped bridges. There are are only three roads crossing the valley and the frequency of the locks mean it would be relatively simple to deepen a preceding pound to provide headroom with the reconstructed lock moved upstream in each case. As it happens the locks immediately downstream from the crossings are all lost or in ruins so reconstruction would be needed in any case.

And then there is the opencast area above Lock 9. This area contained four wide locks which were each about 6ft deep. There are no obstacles to creating a new channel over the open land, most of which is completely abandoned and building a terminus in the area beside Paul's Arm and the park Visitor Centre would be simple. As funds would no doubt be tight this last section beyond Mapperley Brook (above Lock 9) could be build to narrow dimensions with the climb achieved via two deep (12ft) locks.

So if the engineering is practical why would we want to do it? Well, the Nutbrook Valley has taken a beating over the last 250 years and is only now settling back into a more natural state. The theme park experiment failed and the area is now fast becoming popular with cyslists, runners and walkers all supported by a good network of paths built by Derbyshire County Council. I get the feeling that the Council is trying to release the potential of the valley both for housing and recreation. The problem is trying to make it all hang together as a cohesive whole.

The future of the area is almost undoubtedly in the recreational sector and what better way of joining it all up than to reinstate the silvery ribbon of water at its core. The towpath can successfully double up as a cycle way, extending what is already available in the area and offering a route from the new development area at its foot to the recreational area at its head, four miles to the north.

Water could potentially be an issue but I wouldn't expect huge volumes of boat traffic on what is a heavily locked route (13 locks in 4.5 miles). But there would be little activity in the winter months and during the summer how many boats navigate the adjoining Erewash?.  In addition the canal is now lined with lakes left by opencast mining which represent a massive additional watersource. The real benefit would be for the people beside the canal, with a smattering of boats would just offer added character and interest. I can see the valley evolving into a very pleasant public open space and a tourist attraction in its own understated way.

So I leave the much derided Nutbrook Valley all misty eyed and sentimental. Its a pleasant is somewhat bruised corner of the country which deserves a new, greener, lease of life. Whilst challenging to navigate boaters would find it both pretty and remote, with a truly massive country park and lake as a destination at the far end.

Given the Derbyshire County Council involvement in the valley any redevelopment would have to be led / supported by them but in the meantime, who is going to Chair the NCRS?

Nutbrook Canal - Shipley Reservoir

Nutbrook Canal - Shipley Reservoir and Paul's Arm

May 2016

Whilst we have reached the end of the line for the Nutbrook Canal its far from the end of the story. 

Shipley Reservoir dam

The Nutbrook was built is a relatively dry valley with a very limited catchment area for its water. The canal therefore started with its main reservoir at Shipley in the grounds of Shipley Hall, home of the Miller Mundy Family since the mid 1700's and a core promoter and backer for the waterway.

Shipley Hall 

Shipley Reservoir 2016

The valley in front the hall offered the only realistic site for a reservoir, and so a dam was built flooding the coach road and necessitating the construction of a bridge on the dam for access. This long sinuous lake must have represented a lovely water feature when full, but possibly offered a less aesthetic appearance when drained during the dry summer months!

Shipley Reservoir and associated canal

Today's lake bears little resemblance to the old reservoir with the upper end dried out on account of the reduced water levels (down about 6 feet) and widened to the east and the west due to mining subsidence. For many years the hall stood on a pillar of undisturbed coal but eventually one owned decided not to live there, the coal was excavated and predictably the hall suffered subsidence and was eventually demolished before 1940.

Its site remains on the west bank of today's lake but all traces have been erased by opencast mining and its later use as a theme park. Do you remember those signs to the American Adventure? This theme park opened in 1987 operated somewhat unexpectedly by Derbyshire County Council and initially was one of the country's premier tourist attractions before declining popularity saw it shut its gates in 2007.

The site is till owned by Derbyshire County Council and called Shipley Lakeside but essentially with the removal of all the theme park structures it has been left to its own devises with just the ghostly framework of the road system indicating a previous life.

Paul's Arm 2016

Whist the shape of the lake has evolved, the dam remains more or less as built with one of the bridges to Paul's Arm to the south still recognisible from the old Victorian photos, as does the rail link from the Woodside Mine at the northern end of the lake. Its winding gear and engine shed clinging on is the face of all the odds.

Remains of Woodside colliery

Colliery rail link to the canal then and now

Its strange how the oldest relics last the longest. Paul's Arm was an integral part of the reservoir as it accepted additional water from Mapperley Reservoir to the south and housed the sluice control to let water out into the adjacent canal basin.

Paul's Arm as it was - with the right hand arches of the bridge today

Canal feeder channel from Paul's Arm

Looking at this vast sheet of water its hard to see why the canal struggled to offer even nine lock fulls a day. However, I visited after a period of heavy rain and even them the flow down the valley was very small. The reservoirs may be big but there just wasn't enough coming in  from the small watershed to satisfy demand.

Nutbrook Canal - Pewt Golf Course to Mapperley Brook

Nutbrook Canal - Pewt Golf Course to Mapperley Brook

May 2016

The route north from Moor's bridge is aided by national cycleway 67, but I wouldn't suggest you bring your bike. On this occasion I was travelling with my NBF (New Best Friend) otherwise known as my Apple i-phone and I made full use of its GPS capability, draining out the battery in a single afternoon.

The thing is that whilst the cycleway closely follows the line of the canal, its not on the towing path which lies in the trees maybe 50 feet to the west. I had carefully transposed the canal route to a modern map using the Library of Scotland's excellent side by side map facility, the 1850 map faithfully tracing the route on its modern equivalent. This knowledge, coupled to the precision of the location finder on my phone gave me good warning of when I need to dive off the broad road (which the Good Book tells us leads to destruction) and onto the narrow route (which of course leads to salvation). 

This policy stood me in good stead when searching for the remains of Lock 8 (Pewit Lock), which I knew was located somewhere parallel to a large lake. The GPS suggested somewhere close to the southern end so into the undergrowth I bashed and nearly fell over the stone lock coping of the flooded lock. 

Pewit Lock (8)

I pressed on in search of Lock 9 Limekiln Lock following the line of a canal brimming with water. This led to a railway bridge which at first glace had two arches both of which were too narrow for a wide beam boat. However, this bridge was altered long after the canal was closed and closer inspection revealed the insertion of new brickwork. Remove the brickwork and you have a perfectly sized bridge hole.

Just beyond the bridge I climbed a narrow path finding myself on the edge of Limekiln Lock and uncannily standing in just the same place as Peter Stevenson was photographed back in 1966 (when I was five). 

Limekiln Lock (9) 1966 and 2016

The chamber is just as he saw it complete with gate recesses, groves for paddle gear, hinge stones and even wooden sealing strips. It may have been my imagination but I think that there are even metal remnants from the gate peeping out of the mud.

More of Limekiln Lock

North from Lock 9 the canal bed is pretty dry and reed filled to Hallam Wharf, site of a short arm linked to the local pits by a tramway. Just beyond the canal the Nutbrook also makes its first appearance, fed by mine water pumped from Woodside Pit in Shipley and subsequently filtered in settlement ponds which are on the line of the canal and cover lock 12 (Topside Nutbrook Lock) higher up the valley. This filtration system is to stop polluted water bubbling out of the Woodside mineshaft and polluting the ecology of the valley.

Iron Oxide from mine water

But we are jumping ahead. Just beyond Hallam Wharf the Mapperley Brook enters the canal and then there is the site of Mapperley Lock (Lock 10). The masonry has gone but the sound of water gushing over the descent is clearly audible in the undergrowth at the edge of the open country.

Site of the arm to Hallam Wharf

Nutbrook Canal above Limekiln Lock

From here we enter a large area of opencast mining which has obliterated the channel and all built structures. Lock 10 (Nutbrook Lock was just a few hundred yard further out on the opencast site whilst Topside Nutbrook lies beneath the settlement lagoons (see Google Earth for details). From there the canal made a beeline for the foot of the Shipley Dam passing under Parkers Bridge and through Top Lock (13) before entering the twin arms alongside Paul's Arm of the reservoir.

Overlooking Top Lock, terminus basin, collieries and old gasworks site.

Sadly you will have to take my word for the final three quarter of a mile which has departed this world leaving only a map entry to mark its passing.