RCHS North West Group - Notes for Walk on 18 April 2019 to explore the Cromford Canal between Leawood and Cromford Wharf. Cromford Canal History The Act for the Cromford Canal was passed in 1789 and, although completed by 1783, full opening did not take place until the following year. It had been promoted to extend the existing navigation from the Trent along the Erewash Canal northwards through the upper Erewash Valley and across the watershed by the 3000- yard Butterley Tunnel into the Amber and Derwent valleys. It is 14.5 miles long with a 13.5-mile summit level from Cromford to Ironville top lock and along the 2-mile Pinxton branch. A flight of 14 wide locks descended the Erewash Valley to Langley Mill where it joined both the Erewash and Nottingham canals. Wide boats carrying up to 50 tons could reach Pinxton but Butterley Tunnel restricted the section above there to narrow boats. The main cargo carried by far was coal, as well as limestone, gritstone, iron products, mixed goods, grain, flour and timber. The canal flourished, giving over 20% dividends on shares and carrying over 300,000 tons a year in the 1830s. Like many canals, the construction of main line railways from the 1840s caused a serious decline in traffic and income. It was purchased by the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock & Midland Junction Railway, which later became the Midland Railway. Mining subsidence caused problems with Butterley Tunnel which finally closed in 1900, severing the canal. The lower section continued normally; the upper isolated section also operated into the 1930s with regular coal deliveries from Hartshay to Cromford and Lea. Lead from smelters in Lea was also carried to the railway wharf. Abandoned in 1944, the top 5 miles from Ambergate to Cromford were given by British Waterways in the 1970s to Derbyshire County Council to maintain as a linear amenity waterway. Much of the original restoration was done by the Cromford Canal Society, an organisation that ceased to exist around 1990. An entirely new organisation, the Friends of the Cromford Canal, was formed in 2002 with the aim or restoring and maintaining the canal. The Walk This section of the walk starts at what is today called High Peak Junction, although in earlier years it has been called Railway End and (confusingly) Cromford Wharf. The Cromford & High Peak Railway was an early railway, and today’s terminology had not been developed. Stations and goods yards on the CHPR were known as wharves. The line was opened throughout in 1831 and the original workshops remain with many of their tools and can be visited free of charge. They are thought to be the oldest surviving railway workshops in the world – but if anyone can prove this wrong, please do let me know! Unlike later railways, the CHPR turned what had been a dead-end canal into a through route to the industrial North West and increased traffic on the canal, particularly flour from Nottingham to Manchester. The Wharf Shed This distinctive building had rail access to allow perishable goods to be transhipped between boat and waggon under cover. The white cast iron post is the remains of a crane for moving other goods. DCC converted the building into group accommodation, but it has recently been closed and its future use is undecided. Page 1 Derwent Aqueduct We head first of all away from our destination of Cromford to follow the start of the line of the CHPR’s link to the MBM&MJR, about a mile to the south. This was the original High Peak Junction. We soon turn towards the canal and Jessop’s notoriously unstable aqueduct across the Derwent. The partial failure of this was one of the reasons for the canal’s delayed opening. Jessop attributed the error to his use of Crich Lime which is very pure and was not suited for use as lime mortar. When first filled with water the structure slumped and Jessop had to put in tie bars and huge buttresses, which you can see if you descend to view the aqueduct from below or look over the parapet. There are two small ‘cattle creeps’ and a single long shallow central arch across the river. Modern engineers suggest that the ‘cutting edge’ shallowness of the arch could have contributed to the instability. Aqueduct Cottage At the far end of the aqueduct as we cross the swing footbridge (restored by CCS in the 1980s), you will see ahead of you the remains of the former lock keeper’s cottage for the privately built Leawood or Nightingale Arm, built in 1802 by Florence Nightingale’s great uncle, Peter, to serve his mills and lead works. The Nightingale’s Derbyshire home of Lea Hurst, above Lea Wood, is now privately owned. The woods, cottage and Leawood Arm belong to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, who have plans to restore the cottage as an information centre. Leawood Pump Returning along the opposite towpath we pass Leawood Pump. The canal was originally fed by the Bonsall Brook and the Cromford Sough. The latter drained lead mines above Wirksworth but construction of the deeper Meerbrook Sough caused the original supply to fail. To overcome the shortage Leawood Pump was built in 1847 to pump water from the Derwent into the canal. Because the mill owners jealously guarded their water supply, water could only be pumped between 8pm on Saturday and 8pm on Sunday, as the mills did not work Sundays. So the canal company built this huge engine to pump a whole week’s worth of water in 24 hours. The long canal summit had fortunately been built a foot deeper than normal to act as an extra reservoir. The pump was restored in the 1980s and is operated by volunteers one weekend a month in summer. There are two loco-type boilers driving a 50in steam cylinder giving a 9ft stroke to a 33ft long beam weighing 27 tons which lifts 4 tons of water at each stroke. The coal for the boilers is still delivered by canal! ‘Railway Narrows’ This narrow stone-walled section came about when the MBM&MJR was built between the river and the canal, and to accommodate later sidings. To make room, the canal was moved slightly into the hillside and narrowed. The once main line railway to Manchester on which the famous blue diesel Pullman ran, now terminates at Matlock but offers and hourly service via Derby and Nottingham to Newark Castle. These Notes are for use solely by those RCHS participants in the walk on 18th April 2019. Not to be used for other purposes, reproduced or otherwise given to any third party. Page 2 Lawn Bridge Built at the same time as the canal, this is an accommodation bridge to link the two parts of Richard Arkwright’s land that had been separated by the canal. FCC believes rising ‘Brindley’ gates were fitted beneath as a recess is evident. Note also the rope grooves in the stonework, which FCC continues to ‘add’ to today when trip boat Birdswood is horse-drawn. After passing the bridge, look out for the 3-storey Rock House up ahead on the left; this is where Sir Richard Arkwright lived. The land was known as his ‘lawn’ – hence the bridge name. Cromford Wharf Approaching the terminus, on the left is a small arch into the hillside which is the boat house for Rock House. As a riparian landowner the Arkwrights were entitled to keep a pleasure boat on the canal free of charge. The canal splits into two and the right-hand arm is the original terminus. Cromford Wharf was on the right where the car park is now; much of the surrounding security wall is still in place. The warehouse ahead is known as the Gothic Warehouse after the castellation on the far end wall. It is believed that this unusual feature was incorporated to please Sir Richard as (before the trees grew up) the wharf was in clear view from Willersley Castle, the ‘stately home’ that he was building for himself. Unfortunately he died in 1792 before it (and indeed the canal) was completed. Today the warehouse is run as a meeting centre by the Arkwright Society, who look after the mills across the road, and the castle is a hotel. On the left is what is called the Feeder Arm, which was built in the 1820s to serve small limestone quarries around the corner. The original water feed from Bonsall Brook and Cromford Sough was first used for Arkwright’s mill wheels and then channelled under the buildings and across the road into the canal. Once the newer arm was built it fed direct into this rather than through the longer culvert to the original terminus. The Bonsall Brook is still the main water supply today and the complex sluice, recently restored with a new water control plate by engineers from Friends of Cromford Canal, can be seen in the mill yard. The warehouse on this arm now serves as Wheatcroft Wharf café. The FCC’s trip boat Birdswood moors just behind here where she can charge up her batteries overnight. Further Reading Hugh Potter’s The Cromford Canal offers a pictorial history of the entire canal, whilst Simon Stoker’s There and Back Again covers CCS’s restoration of the canal and Leawood Pump. Both are available in the FCC’s Weighbridge Office shop at the end of the Gothic Warehouse. The scales for the weighbridge can be viewed there. Hugh Potter Archivist, Friends of Cromford Canal February 2019 These Notes are for use solely by those RCHS participants in the walk on 18th April 2019.