48767 - a photo on Flickriver

48767

The Chesterfield Canal close to Kiveton Park in South Yorkshire.

Known locally as Cuckoo Dyke, the Chesterfield Canal was opened in 1777 and ran 46 miles from the River Trent at West Stockwith, Nottinghamshire to Chesterfield, Derbyshire. It is currently only navigable as far as Kiveton Park near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, plus an isolated section near Chesterfield. The canal was built to export coal, limestone, and lead from Derbyshire, iron from Chesterfield, and corn, deals, timber, groceries, etc. into Derbyshire. The stone for the Palace of Westminster was quarried in North Anston, Rotherham, and transported via the canal.

The route of the canal was surveyed by James Brindley and John Varley, who estimated the cost at £94,908 17s. Brindley presented his proposals to a meeting in Worksop on 24 August 1769. The investors asked John Grundy to carry out a second survey and he proposed a 1⁄2 miles shorter course, at the cost of £71,479. Although Grundy's line was considerably cheaper, it missed Worksop and Retford and was rejected.

The investors consisted of one hundred and seventy-four persons, amongst whom were the Duke of Devonshire, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Scarsdale, the Dean of York, and Sir Cecil Wray. They were incorporated by the name of The Company of Proprietors of the Canal Navigation from Chesterfield to the River Trent and raised among themselves the sum of £100,000, in one thousand shares of £100 each, to fund the construction.

Immediately on the passing of the act, construction began under the direction of Brindley. Upon his death in September 1772, John Varley moved from Clerk of Works to Resident Engineer with Hugh Henshall, Brindley's brother-in-law, appointed Chief Engineer in 1773. The canal was to be built as a narrow canal, but in 1775, nine shareholders offered to fund the extra cost of making it a broad canal from Retford to Stockwith. Retford Corporation joined them, and each contributed £500. The additional cost exceeded £6000. The canal was opened throughout in 1777, but the only record of wide-beamed boats using it at Retford is prior to 1799.

There were 65 locks in all, with two tunnels: a short 154 yards (141 m) tunnel near Gringley Beacon, and the major 2,880 yard long Norwood Tunnel. At the time of construction, Norwood Tunnel was the joint longest canal tunnel in Britain.

The canal was initially successful, with dividends being returned to the investors. However, the building of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway line parallel to the canal (1849) left much of the navigation redundant, and the Worksop to Chesterfield stretch ceased to serve commercial traffic in 1908, when problems with mining subsidence necessitated the closure of Norwood Tunnel. The stretch between the tunnel and Worksop subsequently fell into ruin and became un-navigable, while parts of the isolated section from the tunnel to Chesterfield were infilled and redeveloped.

Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesterfield_Canal

Taken in: UK / England / Thorpe Salvin / Thorpe Salvin (show map)

Taken on: October 15, 2022

Tags:

South Yorkshire

Yorkshire

United Kingdom

Great Britain

Britain

British

Kiveton Park

Kiveton

village

Rochdale

Chesterfield Canal

Canal

waterway

reflection

James Brindley

John Varley

John Grundy « less

Sets appears in: • Kiveton • Chesterfield Canal more » • South Yorkshire « less

Groups appears in: • Yorkshire • South Yorkshire more » • Anything Goes No Limits • It's Grim Up North • Unlimited! • Canals and Waterways of Great Britain • This is South Yorkshire • Yorkshire and Humberside photo • Summer's shots • yorkshire photography uk • I Will Photograph Anything...Will You ? • Bridges over ..... • CANALMANIA • North of England • (A) BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE RETREAT • The Very Great Outdoors • South Yorkshire and Derbyshire • Kiveton Park - Past and Present • A BRIDGES 2 • A YORKSHIRE DREAM • Flickr Photo Album Unlimited & Instant Posting « less

Camera: Nikon COOLPIX P1000, f/3.2, 1/80 sec, 9mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon COOLPIX P1000
Aperture:	f/3.2
Exposure Time:	0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length:	9mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Contrast:	High
Saturation:	Low
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Lightroom 6.4 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 210 views

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: