The Chesterfield Canal runs for almost 46 miles between the River Trent at West Stockwith, in Nottinghamshire, and the town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, climbing and falling through 65 locks along the way. Opened in 1777, it was once a working link carrying the coal, lime, lead and iron of the East Midlands. Abandoned in the twentieth century after the collapse of its great tunnel, much of the canal fell derelict — yet a good deal of it is alive again today, restored, re-watered and busy with boats. What remains is an ambitious, long-running restoration led by the Chesterfield Canal Trust, which aims to close the final gap and reconnect the whole line to the national canal network.
It is a project measured in decades rather than seasons — part civil engineering, part conservation and part community endeavour — and much of the work is carried out by volunteers.
A short history
The Chesterfield Canal was one of the last waterways designed by the great engineer James Brindley, who died while it was under construction; the work was completed by his assistant John Varley. Built in the great age of canal construction and opened in 1777, it ran for almost 46 miles from the Trent to Chesterfield, rising and falling through 65 locks.
This was ambitious engineering for its day. The line passed through two tunnels, the largest being the Norwood Tunnel near Kiveton Park — at 2,884 yards (some 2,637 metres) the second-longest canal tunnel in Britain at the time, exceeded only by Brindley’s own tunnel at Harecastle. The canal was built to carry coal, limestone, lead and iron out of Derbyshire and to bring corn, timber and general goods in; famously, stone quarried at North Anston travelled along it on its way to build the Palace of Westminster. Locally it is still known with affection as the ‘Cuckoo Dyke’, and its narrow boats as ‘Cuckoo boats’.
Why the canal was lost
Like much of the inland waterway network, the canal’s commercial usefulness faded as the railways and then the roads took over the carrying trade. Traffic dwindled and maintenance lapsed. The decisive blow came in 1908, when the Norwood Tunnel collapsed and severed the western end of the canal from the rest.
With the through route broken, the Derbyshire length above the tunnel was left isolated, and by the middle of the twentieth century long stretches had been drained, filled in or built over. For anyone walking parts of the route today, little obvious sign remains that a waterway ever ran there — which is exactly the challenge the restoration sets out to overcome.
The two sections still in water
The Chesterfield Canal was never entirely lost. Since 1989, decades of patient work by the Chesterfield Canal Trust and its partners have brought around 12 miles back into use, together with 37 locks, 12 major bridges and two new marinas. That restored waterway exists today as two separate navigable sections, each fully in water and open to boats, walkers and wildlife.
At the eastern end, the canal has remained navigable from the River Trent at West Stockwith through Retford and Worksop and on up to the mouth of the old Norwood Tunnel near Kiveton Park. The length from Worksop up to Kiveton was reinstated between 1995 and 2003, so there is now a long, continuous, watered route running from the Trent all the way to Kiveton Park — and, importantly, joined to the rest of the national canal network.
At the western end, closer to Chesterfield itself, more than five miles of canal are in water around Staveley, including five original locks and a new lock at Staveley Basin, navigable since 2017. This is the section from which the current restoration is pushing steadily eastward.
Between these two watered lengths lies a gap of roughly eight and a half to nine miles, between Staveley and Kiveton Park. Closing it — and so joining the isolated Derbyshire canal back to the national network — is what the restoration is all about.
The vision for restoration
The aim is straightforward to state and formidable to deliver: to bring the full length of the Chesterfield Canal back into navigable use, reconnecting the isolated western section to the eastern length and, through it, to the wider canal system. Reopening the link would restore a complete through route of some 46 miles, give boaters a fresh destination, and create a green corridor of water, towpath and wildlife habitat through Staveley, Renishaw and Killamarsh and on towards Kiveton.
Wherever it can, the restoration follows the original historic line. But parts of that line are now blocked or built over, so the scheme combines careful reinstatement of the old canal with entirely new lengths of waterway built to steer around the obstacles that have appeared since abandonment. Working around these problems, rather than abandoning the sections they affect, is one of the reasons the project is so complex.
Restoration Video’s
Closing the gap: the work underway
The eastern and western sections are being drawn together phase by phase. The largest current effort is the restoration funded through the Staveley Town Deal, which began with a ground-breaking ceremony at Staveley and is being delivered by the contractor O’Brien; major groundworks are clearing and landscaping the route of the canal, with this phase expected to complete in the summer of 2026. As part of the same programme, a new lock — Keith Ayling Lock — is being built at Hartington in the spring of 2026.
Alongside this, the Trust’s Rewatering Renishaw project is bringing around a kilometre of canal back to life at Renishaw. The intention is to join the Renishaw and Staveley works together, extending the currently navigable canal by about two and a half miles and moving the western head of navigation steadily closer to the eastern section.
The route and its challenges
Restoring a canal that was severed more than a century ago, and filled in over the decades since, throws up a formidable set of problems. Three obstacles in particular dominate the remaining route between Staveley and Kiveton Park.
The first is the Norwood Tunnel itself. The original tunnel collapsed and cannot be brought back on its old line, so a new tunnel — or a new length of canal on a diverted route — will be needed to carry the waterway through the high ground at Norwood. The second is the M1 motorway, which now runs directly across the site of the old tunnel; a new passage beneath the motorway has to be engineered where none was ever intended. The third is modern development at Killamarsh, where housing and infrastructure sit on part of the historic line, requiring a fresh length of canal to bypass the town.
Large infrastructure schemes are among the biggest hurdles for any restoration, but they can also bring relief. A significant milestone came in July 2025, when the safeguarding of land for HS2 across the route through Staveley was formally revoked — lifting a long-standing threat that had hung over the canal’s future and clearing the way for restoration to proceed.
The route, section by section
Rather than tackle nine miles in one impossible push, the Trust has divided the unrestored canal into seven named sections, each at its own stage of planning and each with its own challenges and points of interest. Running from west to east — from the Staveley end towards Kiveton — they are:
- Colliery Link — from Hartington in Staveley to Renishaw, taking in new locks, the rebuilt Staveley Puddle Bank and a new aqueduct carrying the canal over the River Doe Lea.
- Great Central Railway Mile — following the 1890s railway diversion from Spinkhill to Boiley, with the original Brindley Loops opened up as a walking route.
- Forging into Killamarsh — new locks and the reuse of the old Forge Bridge on the way to Walford Road.
- The Crowning Glory — the descent into Rother Valley Country Park and the Moorhouse Flight, with a proposed ‘Crown’ boat lift as a possible showpiece.
- The Cradle of the Canal — the magnificent Norwood Flight — thirteen locks lifting the canal 76 ft in under three-quarters of a mile, among the finest early canal engineering in the country.
- Up or Under — replacing the collapsed Norwood Tunnel and getting beneath the M1 motorway, either by a flight of locks or a new tunnel.
- The Tunnel Reborn — through Kiveton Park to the surviving eastern tunnel portal and today’s head of navigation on the network.
The Trust’s own overview of all seven sections can be found on its New restoration sections page.
A wider vision
The canal is increasingly seen not just as a waterway to be reopened but as the spine of a much larger regeneration. In February 2025 a strategic masterplan was launched to complete the restoration as part of a wider revitalisation of the Staveley and Chesterfield area, bringing new green space, walking and cycling routes, wildlife habitat and a visitor economy alongside the water itself.
As with any canal restoration, the benefits arrive long before the final boat passes through. A re-watered channel is a linear park and wildlife corridor in its own right — water, reeds, trees and open space returned to the landscape — to be enjoyed by walkers, cyclists and local residents from the day it is filled.
Who is behind it
The driving force is the Chesterfield Canal Trust, the charity that co-ordinates the restoration, cares for the sites, raises funds and organises the volunteer effort that does so much of the physical work. Progress depends heavily on volunteers, donations and partnerships with local authorities, landowners and the wider waterways movement. It is patient, incremental work — funded piece by piece and built length by length.
There are many ways to be part of the story: by becoming a member of the Trust, by volunteering on work parties, boat crews and events, by supporting the appeal to restore the last nine miles, or simply by visiting and cruising the sections already in water — every trip helps the cause. You can find out more at chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk.
In summary
The Chesterfield Canal restoration is the long, determined effort to undo a loss that began with a tunnel collapse in 1908: to close the final nine miles between Staveley and Kiveton Park, reunite the two lengths of canal still in water, and reconnect this historic Brindley waterway to the national network. Guided by a strategic masterplan and delivered site by site through the work of the Trust and its volunteers, it blends heritage, engineering and nature conservation into a single ambitious scheme. Full restoration remains a long-term goal — but with each rebuilt lock, re-watered channel and newly opened stretch, a canal written off decades ago edges a little closer to carrying boats along its whole length once again.
