Perks of the Job: Pinxton Continued

SCARS members occasionally have to travel long distances to attend canal conferences. Sometimes purposefully, and sometimes by chance, the journey offers the opportunity to visit places of interest not normally encountered.

En route to the Northern Canals Association October meeting SCARS' representatives passed close enough to the village of Shardlow to make a very short detour to view the Trent and Mersey Canal and its associated architecture.

Like Ellesmere Port and Stourport, the village owes its existence to the canal. It is situated west of the junction of the River Trent, the southern end of the Erewash Canal and the northern end of the River Soar Navigation and was the transhipment point for cargoes from broad beamed river craft into narrow boats for the journey across country to the west. Built at the same time as the canal, the village consists of small dwellings and a whole series of canal warehouses and maintenance buildings, most of which survive in good repair although diverted to non-canal uses. The oldest part of the village faces onto the canal rather than the road, with popular inns taking full advantage of their waterside locations. Colin had sailed through the village by boat many years ago and was delighted to be able to revisit the site and see more than was possible last time.

The valley of the Trent is extensively plundered for natural materials, there are many hectares of gravel pits and most buildings are made from local clay deposits. Shardlow is no exception, and the brick built bridges, wharves, winding holes, locks and warehouses form a very pleasant unified whole rather than the more usual hotchpotch of different styles and materials.

Whilst inspecting the facilities we were able to assist a narrow boat through Shardlow Lock, its occupants long-standing boaters. The accompanying lock house seemed almost too small for a family to live in comfortably but canal companies were never over generous in their housing provision for their workers.

The most outstanding building was the 18thC Trent Mill, the largest of the warehouses incorporating an arch through the bottom storey into which canal boats could sail to unload their cargoes under cover. Restored in 1979, its present role is that of a very popular pub, offering the usual range of refreshments. Parts of a broad beamed boat have been built into the lower section where they form a marked contrast to the narrow boats moored nearby.

A modern replica lift bridge spans the entrance to the arches, complete with its high level counterweight.

Having still some miles to cover we reluctantly left the village and pressed on towards the meeting venue at Pinxton.

Leawood Pumping Station

At the end of the NCA meeting another site visit was offered as an optional activity on the way home. Needless to say we did not need to be invited twice. After a complicated cross country journey we ended up near the western end of the Cromford Canal at one of its water sources. This is not the traditional reservoir since the region is too hilly for extensive areas of water. Instead, water is raised from the River

Derwent up into the canal by a steam powered beam engine, still complete and functioning within its own pump house. The engine is fired up on some Sundays and we were fortunate enough to visit on one of these steam days.

Although the Cromford Canal had been operational from 1794 until 1844, the latter year was particularly dry and the canal suffered badly from lack of water. A temporary pump was installed to raise water from the river Derwent but the company decided on a permanent installation and the present pump commenced operation in 1849. The combined engine house/boiler house stands between Canal and River close to the Wigwell Aqueduct. There are two locomotive type boilers (left) supplying steam to a 50 inch diameter steam cylinder, the piston of which has a nine foot stroke. This is connected to the massive beam (below) which in turn operates the plunger. This is capable of lifting 4 tons of water per stroke, seven strokes per minute. This massive capability was necessary since the canal company could only pump at limited times so as not to deplete water supplies for mills further down the Derwent Valley.

There is no charge for admission, so the public were taking full advantage of seeing both the pump and the boilers at work. There is access to all levels within the pump house and viewers were equally fascinated watching the huge beam nodding away, the movement of the connecting rods or the outpourings of each lift down below ground level.

Outside, set into the tow path, is the feeder channel from the pump, discharging its regular quotas of water into the canal, with an overflow weir on the opposite bank.

The canal here passes over the River Derwent by means of the stone-built Wigwell Aqueduct, still in good repair, offering good views of the pump house from an elevated position. On the far side of the aqueduct is the entrance to the Leawood or Nightingale branch, built by Peter, the great uncle of the famous Florence.

High Peak Junction

On the way back towards the car park, there is a transhipment warehouse on the west bank with covered accommodation for the waterborne cargoes (right) and a stone warehouse for the materials delivered by rail. Although the track is long gone, the course of the rails could be traced alongside the canal to a small collection of buildings at the foot of a steep incline.

This is High Peak Junction and the buildings are the surviving workshops of the Cromford and High Peak Railway. Originally intended as a canal link between the Midlands coalfield and Manchester, the plan was to join the Cromford Canal to the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge, with a canal across the hills. In practice this was not possible simply because of the lack of a water supply to the higher sections. Even when the railway was in use, converted tenders had to be used daily to supply water to the winding houses, dwellings and locomotives up in the hills. To get round the problem the company built a railway with steep inclines where the sets of locks would have been installed. These were initially cable hauled which , as can be imagined, made the journey over the tops very slow.

The High Peak Junction was a busy site as boats unloaded and goods were reloaded aboard railway wagons for their journey across the hills. A small number of wagons were attached to the cable running between the standard gauge track, and hauling began, one 'train' heading upwards, balanced by another heading downwards. A widened out passing place was provided half way down the incline, with a sand trap to capture runaways. The bottom of the first incline, Sheep Pasture Incline, lies beside the workshops and a section of line has been left in position to illustrate the original lay out of the tracks which led through the bridge and up to the winding house at the top. (Left)

Most of the Cromford Canal can still be traced on foot, though it might be advisable to purchase the Friends' Walkers' Guide for the more obliterated sections. The western end can be navigated by shallow draught boats whilst the eastern section, including the Pinxton Branch, provides excellent walking with plenty to see. As has been shown, there are many other attractions within easy reach of the canal and it is well worth a visit.

Index for this issue     Index of all Canal Cuttings issues      Home Page

Site design and content © 2002 - 2010 Sankey Canal Restoration Society
Canal Cuttings Editor: David Long Site design: Phil D.Long