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.

Nutbrook Canal - Moor's (or Straw's) Bridge area

Nutbrook canal - Moor's (or Straw's) Bridge Area
May 2016

Its frustrating when an area seems to change its name for no apparent reason. In all the old literature the next crossing is Moor's Bridge but for some reason it has changed to Straw's Bridge and this is the name given to the adjoining car park. So, if you pass under a sign saying Straw's Bridge near Kirk Hallam Community College you are in the right place.

Bridge House - on site of Ladywood Road bridge

To catch up on our progress, we left the canal at Lock 4 (Birches Lock) and its nearby modern road crossing maybe half a mile downstream. Redevelopment has wiped the old Ladywood Road bridge away with Bridge House, the imposing toll house, being bought be the council in the early 1960's and demolished to improve the road layout. If it stood today I suspect it would have preservation order clapped on in in no time.

The next significant location is a decorative lake just to the south of the College. This lake incorporates part of the canal and lock 5 (Oxmeadow Lock) appears to have been sited somewhere in the lake.

Site of Oxmeadow Lake

Immediately adjacent to the college (Google Earth tells me its parallel to the middle of the football pitch) you will find Lock 6 (Sharb Pond Lock).There is no sight of the pond but the eastern wall of the old lock still stands in the trees, offering furtive cigarette smokers from the college somewhere to congregate away from teacher's eye.

Remains of Sharb Pond Lock (No 6)

Route of Hunloke's Arm (1950's)

Just before you reach Moor's Bridge (site of) Hunloke's arm exited to the West serving the ironworks and pits of West Hallam. Hunloke's interests in the canal were always minor and his shares were eventually sold and later he disposed of the rest of his estate to the Newdigates. Newdigate??? I can hear the cogs in your brain churning away - where have I heard that name before? Its the same Newdigate that owned the collieries and private Arbury network of canals and Griff Hollows Canal were built by him to connect his collieries between Bedworth and Nuneaton to the Coventry Canal in 1765. Its a small world.

Moors Bridge as it was - and as it is with Lock 7 (Straw's Lock) removed

The original Moor's Bridge has been swept away along with its adjoining canal cottages and Lock 7 (Straws Lock) but the canal path beneath the nearby railway remains. Upstream from Moor's Bridge there was a row of lime kilns (am essential ingredient in the Iron process) and Potters Coal Wharf. The area is still engaged in the iron industry but it is limited to Numbers 1 to 9 (plus the pitching and sand wedges) used by golfers on Pewt Golf Course.

Potters Coal Wharf to the north of Moor's Bridge

Nutbrook Canal - Stanton Ironworks to Birches Lock (4)

Nutbrook Canal - Stanton Ironworks to Birches Lock (4)

May 2016

After the desolation of the Ironworks site we now break free into the relative tranquility of the countryside. I say relative because a crushing plant sits alongside the canal and its crashing and grinding can be felt as much heard.

Ilkeston Road Bridge from the north

But from a photographic perspective it all suddenly gets very lovely. The next two pounds through Lock 3 (Old Furnace Lock) to Lock 4 (Birches Lock) are maintained by the local angling club alongside a lake created by recent opencast mining and very pretty it is too. 

Looking north from Ilkeston Road

The Ilkeston road crosses the canal more or less on the level. Just south of the bridge is the old Stanton Basin (the lake beyond will be another area of opencast or subsidence). During its last days the canal was kept navigable to the basin to allow boats to turn and exit the canal to the Erewash.

Stanton Basin is to the right behind the fisherman

Old Furnace Lock is something of a delight because we have images of it, already with a weir at the top end from 1956 at which time the same valve gear existed but the fields to one side have been replaced by a big lake.

Old Furnace Lock in 1956 (B&W) and 2016

Just above Lock three Stanhope's Arm exited to the west. It was never very long and whilst the outline can be seen, its bed is so choked up it is possible to walk across it and barely get your feet wet.

Stanhope's Arm

The canal is then crossed by a narrow brick bridge which has had its middle section replaced with a flat concrete slab. It appears to be a pedestrian bridge built to connect the two communities of Hallam. 

Pedestrian Bridge between Little Hallam and West Hallam

From there its a short walk up a steadily silting and overgrown channel to the rubbish filled chamber of Lock 4 ( Birches Lock) which can be found immediately to the rear of the houses on Valley View.

Lock 4's debris filled chamber