Cromford Canal Cruising Cuide - Day Three

Day three - Pinxton Wharf to Cromford

14 miles 0 locks

Whilst the the locks are behind you the drama of this route is set to increase. Its an early start to get you back to Ironville and round the Codnor Reservoir and then on the final mile to the eastern portal of the restored Butterley Tunnel. This tunnel is low and narrow and operates a one way system - west in the mornings and east in the afternoon. This tunnel collapsed in 1900 and remained unpassable for over a century before a third of its length was rebored and lined with concrete sleeve at a cost of £5m.

You will emerge form the tunnel blinking into the afternoon sun, and almost immediately find yourself looking down into the Amber valley. Initially the canal hugs the southern bank of the valley, rising higher and higer with the road and railway falling away below. Finally, just as the canal shelf becomes improbably narrow and steep, it takes a sharp right at Sawmills and leaps across to the northern side over the new aqueduct. You are now well into Derbyshire, and the nature of the villages has changed. The canal works its way through Bull Bridge following a route which is close to it's original but then carving a detour round a large industrial site before rejoining the original canal at Ambergate.

The canal is now narrow and shallow, similar to the  wastern end of the Llangollen, and also prone to slippages which have plagued the canal since its construction. This is extreme contouring which is all the more amazing when you remember that the canal was built with a summit pound of 14 miles in such hilly country. The canal perches on the eastern side of the Amber Valley, with the River Derwent carving its majestic turns along the valley floor. This final run is along a wood lined route, with good moorings available beside the Derwent Hotel at Whatstandwell. 

From here its is just four more miles to the terminus at Cromford, but not before the dramatic crossing of the Derwent on William Jessop's Wigwell aqueduct. If you are in luck, the pumping engine will be in operation, lifting 4 tons of water every twenty seconds, just as it has for the last  years. Cromford Wharf is your final destination, with attractive moorings available which provide an excellent springboard for the Derbyshire attractions in the vicinity, including Matlock Bath.

This is a lovely spot and you can expect hot competition for a mooting near Arkwrights Mill. Spend a few days here and enjoy the sights and sounds for which Derbyshire is rightly famed.

Cromford Canal Cruising Guide - Day Two

Day two - Langley Mill to Pinxton Wharf

7 miles and 7 locks

It is generally recognised that the last couple of miles into Langley Mill providesa taster of what lies beyond. Langley Mill marks the end of the Erewash Canal and the start of the Cromford Cana,l which will carry you the next 16 miles deep into the hills of Derbyshire.

 Langley Mill moorings

Langley Mill is a watershed in your trip, with your passage under the busy A610 tranforming what was a largely industrial canal route into one of rural tranquility and abundant wildlife. Biu don't be misled by what you see today. You are now entering the old coal mining area, ravaged by rampant subsidence and opencast mines which obliterated the next couple of miles of canal . The canal you travel on is all new. As you glide across the open meadows and shallow lakes, remember that this used to be a hive of industry and where there are now Coots and Cormorants there used to be coal cacophony.

Sart of the Ironville flight

Having crossed the Erewash on a small aqueduct the canal follows its original path to the flight of seven locks which lift you up to the model village of Ironville, built by the Butterley Company, then owners of the canal. Some boaters choose to moor alongside the expansive Codnor Reservoir but most decide to press on up the three mile lockless Pinxton Arm.

Pinxton Wharf

This interesting detour is not to be missed, skirting beneath the tower of Ironville Church before crossing the site of the reinstated Somtherfly opencast mine and then into the tranquility of Pinxton Wharf. There is nowhere quite like this location, with moored boats lined up on an autumnal evening, smoke curling from their  chimneys as their owners swap watery tales in the welcoming embrace of the Boat Inn.

Cromford Canal Cruising Guide 2020

Cromford Canal Cruising Guide
 February 2010

Having explored the full length of the Cromford and Erewash canals in some detail, I thought it would be a good idea to pull back and reflect on the the big picture, a sort of a round up review.

With cruiseway status already conferred on the little travelled Erewash and restoration plans progressing on the Cromford, how better to review this contrasting pair of waterways than by the publication of a virtual cruising guide. Set aside the troubles of 2010 and leaf through the new canal guide, published in time for the new 2020 boating season. 

Cromford and Erewash  Canal Cruising Guide

Welcome to the 2020 cruising guide to the Cromford and Erewash Canals.

After the exciting reopening ceremonies of 2019, the canals are now ready and waiting for their first full season of visitors. A cruise to the terminus at Cromford Wharf offers a varied boating experience which can be achieved in three days if you are on a strict timetable, but the beauty of the area means that most visitors are likely take it at a more leisurely pace, savouring what has justifiably been described as the "Llangollen of the east".

We hope you share our delight in this unique network of restored canals on the Nottinghamshire / Derbyshire border.


Day One - Trent Lock to Langley Mill
12 miles and 15 locks

Most visitors take an overnight stop at Trent Lock, where the River Trent, the Trent and Mersey Canal, The River Soar and the Erewash canal combine. This is one of the great inland waterway crossroads and is blessed by an excellent pub, The Steamboat, plus a Tea Rooms  and BW services, which are few and far between in these parts. This spot is very popular with non boaters, so you can expect  to attract quite an audience as you leave the Trent behind.

 Sandiacre mills

After a few miles of level cruising the Erewash Canal starts it's relentless climb, rising through Sandiacre and Ilkeston via 15 broad locks. This lower section of the canal is mainly industrial and urban, but it is not without interest. The old cotton mills of Sandiacre have been sympathetically restored and converted into housing, adding a spectacular backdrop to the waterway. This canal used to be known for its rubbish, but with the arrival if more boats has restored local pride in this once great waterway which, in its day, delivered riches beyond the wildest dreams of it's investors. This ribbon of water gave access to the rich coalfields in the north and was the dot.com enterprise of its day.

Cotmanhay nr Shipley Lock

Most boaters press on beyond Shipley Lock where the urban gives way to countryside, mooring amid quiet fields and small farms. But for those in need of refreshment there is always the Great Northern Inn at Langley Mill which offers locally brewed Kimberley Ales and food at very reasonable prices. Limited mooring is available at the Junction with the Nottingham Canal (currently being restored) but these is plenty of quiet towpath mooring below Langley Lock.

Langley Lock pre 1900

Look out for the old toll house bedside Langley Mill Lock, a rare surviving relic of the canal in it's heyday.

Cromford Canal Walk, Erewash Meadows and Aldercar Flash

A circular walk including Langley Mill and Brinsley Flashes

Erewash Valley

February 2010

The arial shots of this final length of the Cromford Canal down to Langley Mill fail to do it justice.

Before I dive in with a description of a very pleasant circular walk above Langley Mill, you need to understand a little of the area's history. The foundations of the region lie in it's geology, which in this case is known as the Riddings Anticline out of which no less than 20 coal seams appeared on the surface.

The course of the Cromford Canal

The extraction of coal therefore shaped what you see today, initially in the form of underground mines which collapsed causing the flashes, of which Brinsley is the largest. The southern end nearest Langley Mill was then subjected to open cast mining in the 1980's, and subsequently refilled as an urban refuse site with the infill then covered by the busy A610 we see today. 

Looking north under the A610 - the future path of the Cromford Canal

The resulting valley floor is therefore significantly lower than in the days of the canal and when the river is in flood the water can stretch form one side to the other, ponded bach by the A610 embankment. This wetland is a haven for birds and the whole area has been given over to the Wildlife Trust. Over the years the Trust has worked on the flashes, widening and deepening them so that now over 200 species of bird visit each and every year.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the canal and wildlife lobby groups are in conflict, but the line of the canal has been carefully preserved, particularly in the north of the reserve, with fences marking it's boundaries as far as Boat Lane. Between Boat Lane and the A610 the impact of the opencast mining is greatest, and it is here that the canal crosses from the western side to the east. I suspect that achieving this crossing will be the most challenging aspect of the restoration effort, necessitating a longish embankment which could impede the drainage of an already flood prone area.

Map of the Nature Reserve

Through all this the River Erewash follows it's meandering course, and if you search diligently it is still possible to find the abutments which carried the canal aqueduct. The name Erewash is a derivation of the older Irre - wandering, wisce - wet meadows, ie "wandering boggy meadows" I think that this has a rather nice ring to it and suggets that the area has always been wet and muddy.

There are few clues on the ground about the route followed by the southern section of  the canal, but maps show us that it then clung to the eastern bank before passing under Stoney Lane Bridge, now a mere hump in the road, and then on into Langley Mill passing under a predecessor of todays A610 bridge.

 Stoneyford Bridge - as it was

We walked along the canal path to Boat Lane before crossing the valley on an old steel mining bridge, and then skirted the eastern fields to reach Stoney Lane. This route can be very muddy and is best tackled in dry periods or after a hard frost. From Stoney Lane we struggled along a narrow track beside the A610 and found the river bridge which can be walked under unless the river is in spate. There is then a small path along the southern side of the road till you reach Pear Tree Farm, where a bridge gives access to the path along western valley side, next to the railway lline. 

Erewash Meadows Nature Reserve

This circular route offers fine views over the various lakes and marshes. If you like bird watching this is a great place to visit. Just imagine the pleasure of mooring your boat beside these nature reserves and watching the thousands of migratory birds come and go right in front of your windows. It will be Slimbridge all over again.

Cromford Canal below Ironville

The continuing walk along the Cromford Canal

Ironville and Erewash Meadows

February 2010

We left the Cromford Canal mid way down the flight of which Ironville stands at the head.

Abandoned lock keepers cottage, Ironville

With the last lock chamber comes an abandoned lock keepers house, now reduced to a skeletal shell surrounded in rusting scaffold and with a chimney emerging from an non existant roof.

At the bottom of the locks there is what appears to be a winding hole, but a closer inspection reveals a lock width side arm with a bridge over the entrance. As the river backs onto this short stub I can only conclude that this was a dry dock / overflow which could be drained into the river. I may be wrong, but the signs certainly point in that direction.

View from the dry dock, Cromford Canal

There conclusion of the locks marks the end of the well maintained path which then circles back into the village through the playing fields. However, the towpath continues, narrower and wetter, but most certainly passable either on foot or on a bike. The canal is maintained at full depth along this section, cascading over a 12" waterfall mid way along, presumably installed to take account of subsidence in the area.

Erewash Meadow Nature Reserve

Eventually this attractive stretch comes to an end, passing under what was a substantial railway bridge and emerging into - nothing. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, the canal line vanishes under what is now referred to as Erewash Meadows nature reserve. The truth will almost certainly involve the old enemy, the coal mines. From here on the walley is pock marked with flashes, shallow lakes caused by the land subsiding into the old collapsing mines beneath.

Tilly in a reflective mood

But all is not lost, the actual line of the canal is clearly marked out with fences on either side, just waiting for the excavators to come along and dig out the ditch. More of that in a future post.

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Cromford Canal Walk, Ironville

Ironville Locks

Cromford Canal

February 2010

It's been a year since I started to walk the line of the Cromford Canal with Tilly. Her school is nearby and walking lengths makes a very agreeable focus for our days out. I can't believe that we undertook our first canal walk along the restored northern section from Cromford when the frost was on the ground last winter and here we are, twelve months later, finally finishing the last section in similar conditions.

Codnor Reservoir Ironville

Our last outing took us to Pinxton and the Smotherfly opencast mine, so today we drove to Ironville and parked up beside the picturesque Codnor Reservoir.

Whereas my BCN canal hunts call for copious amounts of research and an super abundance of imagination, this last (or maybe it would be more appropriate to call it the first) section offers a huge amout to see. Were Tom Cruise and the cast of Top Gun to visit the area on a photography trip, I am certain that they would refer to it as a "target rich environment". No sooner have you left the reservoir behind (the canal actually took a path along the southern shore) than you are in among a dense grouping of locks, dropping the canal sharply to the Erewash Valley.

Potteries Lock

The first thing one notices about these locks is that they are wide beam, which is in contrast to the later sections to Cromford and Pinxton which were constructed to the narrow seven ft width. But it's not just the width of the locks that come as a surprise, it's the state of them. Sure the gates and paddle gear is all gone, but the chambers are all intact and virtually ready for reinstatement. The stream coming out of the reservoir above cascades down the canal bed and through the chambers, most of which are guarded by wooden rails. 

Lock at Ironville

This length is accompanied by a well maintained footpath and the locks are all resplendent with evocative name signs like Boat Dock Lock and Potteries Lock. The signing dosn't end with the locks, even the bridges bear "BW lookalikes" with white numbers etched onto black plastic plaques. The amazing thing is that these sign are still in place in spite of a steady traffic of local young people who seek out the privacy of the canal bank in the manner observed in most town and cities.

So, the canal tumbles it's way down the hillside, lock chamber followed by  reed filled deep pounds in such repitition that I lost count of the number of locks in the flight, at least  six or seven I would guess.

Smotherfly section of the Pinxton Arm

Smotherfly section of the Pinxton Arm

Cromford Canal

Decenber 2009

Maybe it's fitting the the last post of 2009 covers the last section of the Pinxton Arm, and the section which has been completely obliterated by open cast mining.

Panorama of Smotherfy opencast mine looking south

An old year is behind us but we stand on the brink of something new, a future which is uncertain but not without hope. The same could be said for this ravaged length of canal whose line is irrecoverably lost, but which has scope for rebirth in a new format.

With the deep shaft mines played out, the area was subjected to the final ignominity of having all it's overburden scraped away, and the last remnants of coal torn out in the brutal opencast fashion. This geological rape included the loss of the canal, collateral damage which was seen as insignificant at the time.

Central section of the new canal channel

However, a substantial drainage channel was built across the site at more or less the level of the old canal, and planning permission has been granted for it's retention as a navigable canal linking the watered section bat Pinxton Wharf with the infilled but intact section between Smotherfly and Ironville.

In inspection of the site reveals few clues about the original line of the canal, which may have wound round the northern periphery of the mining area, or more likely, cut a path right across the middle. Either way, the old channel is no more and the future of this canal is to be found in the form of the diverted River Erewash, and thank God for it's presence, and for the willingness of the local authority to preserve it as part of the restoration work.

That just leaves the locked section between Ironville and Langley Mills. How hard can it be!

Boat Inn, Pinxton

Boat Inn at Pinxton

Cromford Canal

December 2009

Our visit to Pinxton was supposed to include a pub meal, and I had considered sampling the culinary delights of the Boat Inn, an old boating pub which stands a couple of hundred yards down the canal.

Library pictures on Wikepedia revealed a very run down looking pub which didnt' look too exciting, and contingency plans were therefore laid in case it wasn't up to scratch. In the event the Boat Inn was both worse and better than we expected.

Worse, in that the old building has been demolished and now exists only in the form of a large pile of rubble.

Old Boat Inn at Pinxton

Better, in that a whole new pub has been built on the site.

The snag is that the pub isn't finished and stands as an empty shell, with progress seemingly stalled. It will be a lovely spot when it is complete, but I have to wonder about it's location. If you know where to find it, it would be great but I fear that there is insufficient local trade to support it and it is too remote to bring custom in from elsewhere.

New Boat Inn at Pinxton

Now, if the canal were restored, which is far more than an outside possibility, the place would make a delightful interim destination pending full restoration of the whole Cromford Canal up the Amber Valley. The section of canal in front the pub is still in water, and it is easy to visualise a line of boats moored up against the old stone edging, smoke curling from their chimneys whilst the boaters socialise in the warmth of the nearby canalside inn.

Canal at Pinxton

In the meantime we had to look elsewhere for our lunch!

Pinxton Wharf - Cromford Canal

Pinxton Wharf

Cromford Canal

December 2009

Pinxton is an interesting little place in Derbyshire, located at the far end of the Pinxton Arm of the Cromford Canal, which is itself an abandoned extension of the little used Erewash Canal. That is a long winded way of saying that the place has a canal heritage, but it is currently well off the beaten boating track.

Regular readers will know that I have a longstanding interest in the lost canals of Nottinghanshire and Derbyshire, and the proximity of Tilly's boarding school makes on the ground exploration both possible and the basis of a good day out in the fresh air.

I last visited the start of the Pinxton Arm in the autumn, but managed to lose the line of the canal as it entered the Smotherfly opencast mine. This called for a return visit but expediency demanded that the exploration of the northern mile and a half be started at Pinxton Wharf end.

PInxton, it seems, was little more than a hamlet which scratched away a bit of surface drift mining before the canal arrived. The construction of the waterway transformed the place, which exploded in size, fuelled by extensive coal deposits and spawning a substantial pottery industry. Even today the southern half of the village is given over to large industrial sites, which dwarf the place.

The impact of the canal cannot be overstated, as evidenced by the residual road system. Instead of a high street Pinxton has Wharf Road and its centre which leads, unsurprisingly, to Pinxton Wharf.

I had fully expected a weeded up but of boggy bit of ground, surrounded by a stand of trees. The reality was quite different. Pinxton has taken the Wharf to its heart, with a well dredged pool complete with a path round its perimiter and an ample supply of fish to attact fishermen to its numerous jetties.

We found the place to be very pretty, on a clear winters day with blue skies overhead. The scene was enhanced by a pure white swan gliding over its oily smooth surface, and half a dozen fishermen attempting to catch the substantial pike which inhabit its murky depths.

Cromford Canal Walk, Pinxton Arm

Cromford Canal Walk, Pinxton Arm

Codnor Reservoir to Smotherfly

Sunday 4th October 2009

The Pinxton Arm is an obscure 1794 branch of what would have once been described as the Cromford Canal mainline, not that either canal has carried any waterborne traffic for decades.

The arm strikes off to the east of Codnor Reservoir, through the village of Ironville before reaching the Pinxton about three miles to the north east, running on the same contour as the rest of the Cromford Canal summit pound.

Pinxton canal bed approaching Smotherfly

After a rather spectacular sandstone bridge at the junction, the canal burrows its way behind the dam wall and then under a footbridge before sneaking into the back end of Ironville, complete with a 'de-humped' bridge by the church and a further low flat topped railway bridge. Whilst the canal bed has been completely filled in, it's route remains obvious and the bridges are intact. In fact, they are all pre sprayed with graffiti so all you need is a JCB and a drop of water and us boaters would feel right at home!

Ironville church and 'de-humped' bridge

This section of canal bed to the east of Ironville has been converted into the Pinxton Canal Path, a well maintained route through the trees whose early autumn colours were quite beautiful at the time of our visit. Before long this path brings you to the busy road at Pye Bridge, where the bridge and it's cast iron balustrades are intact, but obscured by undergrowth. By this time the formal canal path runs out, but you can continue on to the double arched railway bridge after which the canal track completely and utterly disappears. When I say disappears, I don't mean it becomes difficult to discern. I mean that it's course was removed in the 1990's when the Somertherfly open cast mine eradicated the canal and dropped the surface level by 30 feet or so.

Woodland walk on the Pinxford Canal Path

We clambered across to the abandoned workings and climbed the ridge of mine tailings, trying to work out exactly where the canal bed re-emerges on the far side. It's not obvious, but its path lies across the valley to the north east. Sadly, we could find no way of reaching it but determined to explore the final section next time we visit, starting at the Pinxton Wharf end.

Abandoned railway bridge at Ironville

The interesting thing about the Pinxton Arm is that it provides a good interim objective for the restoration project. Rather than tackle the two big road embankments and the Butterley Tunnel straight after the restoration of the locks above Langley Mill, the plan is to reopen the Pinxton Arm which, Smotherfly apart, has no significant obstructions. As as for Smotherfly, the site included a channel for the diverted River Erewash which could easily be adapted to carry the canal, and there is no shortage of spoil with which to construct the necessary embankments. The Friends of Cromford Canal have been hard at work and secured planning permission to include the canal line in 2008.

A notable feature of this canal track is the total absence of water, there isn't even a trace of boggyness. However, I suspect that the River Erewash can be channelled in to supplement the supply from Butterley Tunnel, pending the eventual reconnection with the abundantly supplied section at Cromford.

Cromford Canal Walk - Butterley to Ironville

Cromford Canal Walk - Butterley to Ironville

Sunday 4th October 2009

A bright autumnal day in Derbyshire heralded the next stage in our exploration of the Cromford Canal, picking up where we left off at the Butterley Tunnel.

Having consulted Google Earth images we identified the eastern portal of the Buttlerley Tunnel, set back among the trees behind the ruined Newlands Inn. We parked up in Golden Valley Lane and soon found a footpath down to an open stretch of water, with the barred entrance to the tunnel at the far end. The portal looks very small but this is due to the accumulation of silt and debris at its mouth.

Butterley Tunnel eastern portal

As with the cutting to the west, this stretch is cut short by an embanked road crossing with the watercourse piped through its base. It is easy to imagine this peaceful cutting either side of the embankment lined with moored boats, with their crews relaxing in the reopened Newlands Inn, a staging post before a timed tunnel passage through the narrow Butterley from the Golden Valley to the beauty of Ambergate beyond. I could almost smell the woodsmoke from the narrowboat chimneys.

Disused footbridge at Golden Valley

Across the road to the east the canal is largely in water, with a well maintained and popular towpath bordering Coach Road all the way to Codnor Reservoir, which is about 4ft lower than the canal. At first glance the canal enters the western end on the reservoir but in actual fact the water flows over a weir with the canal skirting its southern edge.

Codnor Reservoir

The canal's sunken path is hidden by trees till it emerges beside the spillway, opposite the bridge over the entrance to the Pinxton Arm. I guess that a small aqueduct or a piped embankment will be needed to gain access to this arm.

Pinxford Junction bridge

For the purposes of our walk we went round the northern shore of the reservoir on the outward leg of the journey, heading straight for the scaffold clad tower of Ironville Church.

Cromford Canal - Butterley Tunnel

Butterley Tunnel

Cromford Canal

You could say that this blog post is utterly Butterley, as it is entirely devoted to this 1 3/4 mile subterranean waterway route.

My towpath treck has now taken me from Cromford all the way through Ambergate and I now find myself, quite literally, at a watershed. It is a small miracle that William Jessop managed to maintain a level lockless pound for so many miles through very hilly country, but at Butterley his contour options ran out.

For Butterley Tunnel (originally known as Ripley Tunnel) coal was both its greatest triumph and ultimately the cause of its downfall. When originally constructed in 1794 it was the third longest canal tunnel in England, with its 2966 yards coming in just behind the Sapperton and Dudley. This makes it one of the earliest long tunnels and given its pioneering nature, it was built to small dimensions - a mere 9ft wide at the waterline.

Whilst this tunnel allowed the Cromford Canal to maintain its level course all the way to Pinxton, it also provided direct access to Butterley Carr Pit, for which an underground wharf was built approx 880 yards in from its western portal. The tunnel was constructed with 33 vertical access shafts, the deepest of which was an impressive 210 feet and, just to make things interesting, the tunnel was made to pass right under its own 50 acre reservoir on the hill above.

All went well for nearly 100 years, with the canal flourishing, even coping with the introduction of the railways. The tunnel itself had to evolve with the new railways, with a further 117 yard extension added to the western end to carry the tracks above. However, the tunnel's uneasy relationship coal mining finally caught up with it and the resulting subsidence triggered a series of collapses. The first was in 1889, which took 4 years to repair, only to collapse again in 1900. This time an Act of Parliament was needed to raise the funds to effect a repair and when a third collapse occurred in 1907, before the second repair had started, the canal was abandoned to its fate.

So it's now over 100 years since a craft navigated it's narrow channel, and about thirty years since an internal inspection was carried out by a team of intrepid souls. This group penetrated 1100 yards in from the west, before being halted by an increasingly unstable arch. This 1970's expedition yielded some fascinating photos which can be found on the Friends of Cromford Canal website.

With only 1/3rd of the bore explored in living memory, no one knows what state it really is in. The good news is that mining has long since ceased and and further subsidence is unlikely. Having said that, I am sure that repairs to allow a return of craft will be expensive.

The road to full reinstatement of this tunnel may be some way off, but with progress being made to push forward from Langley Mill on the Erewash to Pinxton, the Butterley Tunnel will be the next big obstacle to be overcome.

For the time being we will have to content ourselves with a glimpse of each end, a handful of internal photos and a stiff walk over the hill above.

Cromford Canal Walk - A610 Ripley Road to Butterley Tunnel

Canal Walk - Ripley Road Bridge to Western Portal of Butterley Tunnel
Sunday 7th Sept 2009

My Sunday outing with Tilly had the objective of reaching the western portal of the Butterley Tunnel and, as you may have noticed from my last blog entry, this last section wasn't covered. In actual fact we did make it to the tunnel mouth, but this last section is particularly interesting I feel it justifies an entry in its own right.

We shuttled the car round to the A610 and parked up in the entrance to a lane which branches off to the north, just before the roundabout with the A38. As previously mentioned, we didn't have the benefit of an OS map so it was a bit of an expedition into the unknown, which started with a scramble under the steel barrier which bears the inviting message "Private, no public right of way". I always take these messages with a pinch of salt and figure that as sins go, trespass is pretty low on the scale, and will probably be overlooked at the pearly gates. However, if my misdeeds are found out before I cross the Styx I generally find that a profuse apology and a rapid retreat works well enough!

On this occasion there was no one in the vicinity and we mooched our way to an abandoned farm, which is now used as a scrapyard and wood store, before branching off into the woods and down the hill in search of what we expected to be a bit of a boggy ditch. We were initially misled by a man made feeder stream, which could potentially have been a contour canal except that it's proportions seemed just too small. A bit more investigation and 50 feet of descent later and we found ourselves on a well made track which led to the western portal of the Butterley Tunnel itself. The Friends of the Canal (or the IWA WRG) have been hard at work in the area having recently erected a sturdy rail over the portal and some very fine steps down to the waters edge to facilitate a closer inspection.

The portal you see is clearly not the original, as the five foot aperture is far too small for a canal boat to pass through. This narrow chanel is in fact not part of the tunnel proper, and is in fact a later addition to carry the Ripley Bypass which runs above. The resulting corrugated concrete culvert is covered by iron bars to protect the canal enthusiasts (and small boys) from their own curiosity.

A steady flow of ochre tainted water flows from the entrance, similar in colour to that coming from the Harecastle Tunnel. This flow of water means that the canal track has to be maintained to prevent flooding as it makes its way west, under the A610 and off towards the hamlet at Bridle Lane.

The towpath had been cleared in recent weeks, and the return along the canal was a delight. Ariel photographs reveal this length as running in a deep cutting beside a large sewage works, but there is no sign of the installation from the tree lined waters edge.

This stretch of canal looks ready to carry craft, were it not for a blocked tunnel at one end and a 60 foot earth embankment at the other. The map describes this location as Ripley Road Bridge but there is no sign of any such structure. All that remains are two insignificant concrete pipes which will ultimately serve as a guide to the tunnel boring machine which will be needed to drive a full sized hole through.

A steep flight of steps allows you to reach the A610 and so a return to the car.

As for the tunnel itself? It is actually one of the longer tunnels on the system and, when restored, will be one of the major landmarks of the route, along with the new aqueduct over the A610 at Ambergate. I will take a look at the tunnel in a future blog entry but rest assured it will be based on research rather than first hand experience.

Enthusiastic as I am, I know which no entry signs are to be taken seriously.

Cromford Canal Walk - Buckland Hollow to Ripley Road

Cromford Canal Walk

Buckland Hollow Tunnel (Excavator Pub) to Ripley Road Bridge

Sunday 7th Sept 2009

My last visit to the Cromford Canal was back in April when I walked the Missing Link with Tilly, exploring the stretch from Watstendwell Station to The Excavator Pub at Buckland Hollow.

With another Sunday available we decided to try and walk the line a bit further, but had been warned that this section gets pretty indistinct. Ideally, I would have bought an OS map but sadly I wasn't very prepared and instead opted for a close examination of the Google Earth images accessed via the Friends of Cromford Canal website. I then made a couple of rough maps on some A4 paper and hoped for the best.

Tilly was nursing a sore ankle so we decided to tackle it in little stages, returning to the car at frequent intervals and try to leapfrog along the line. We therefore parked up in the Excavator Pub car park and set off under the railway bridge, which once spanned the cut. With a bit of imagination the line of the canal is reasonably clear in this area, striding out in a straight line between the trees, all filled in with rubble as it heads towards a large farm.

One problem with following a long extinct canal track is that it is very easy to get the levels slightly wrong and as we approached the farm the canal bed appeared to have been obliterated by the digging out of a fishing lake. Imagine our surprise when we spied, sitting at the far end of the lake, a perfect example of a canal bridge, all you need is a narrowboat to complete the scene. Far from merely infilling that canal the debris has been mounded up about 20 feet - but infill is easy to remove..

Beyond this lake the line is completely lost as it makes its way over meadowland, at which point we returned to the car and drove round to Bridle Lane with its cluster of what must have been old canal side houses. The bridge at Bridle Lane has been lowered, but the water pipe continues to arch its way over the canal bed. From Bridle Lane the towpath side of the canal is well defined in concrete and, given its remoteness, few obstructions have been placed in its course.

This length remains in water, with a steady flow draining out of the Butterley Tunnel and into the nearby streams via a couple of side sluices. To render this navigable one would only have to close the sluice gates (and pray the the banks hold!).

The next major structure is the road bridge at Hartsey Hill. The canal bed is remarkably clear at this point save a low level water pipe. Redirecting this at a higher level would appear to be a relatively simple job.

With the towpath deteriorating we approached a substantial house, with what appears to be a well maintained landing stage. However, this is the journey's end for now as forward progress was blocked by the towering ramparts of the A610 Ripley Road. This structure was built in the 1960's, presumably at the same time Bull Bridge Aqueduct was destroyed lower down the valley. The watercourse is now reduced to a couple of meagre looking concrete pipes navigable only by adventerous ducks and rats. Whilst it is a significant obstacle, the embankment is made of earth and it should be possible to bore a tunnel through without disturbing the traffic racing far above.