Chesterfield Canal Trust
Planet: Protecting nature
We would like to restore the canal and create a great waterside space for the community and wildlife in Renishaw, with trees, picnic benches, wildflowers and aquatic habitats, all by local volunteers.
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About this cause
Our Trust aims to promote the full restoration of the Chesterfield Canal for community and wildlife. This project is a key part of what we do: creating great community spaces. Amongst other activities our volunteers run four trip boats and weekly work parties on the canal. We have a 95-year-old working boat, Python, that we use for maintenance work and a promotional trailer, which we take to community events and town centres. We have built Dawn Rose, the first new Cuckoo boat (unique to the canal) for over 80 years. Our base is in the restored and extended Hollingwood Lock House, now Hub, which includes a coffee shop, information centre, and shop. The Trust has over 2000 members, who receive regular copies of the Trust’s award-winning magazine, Cuckoo, and monthly e-newsletters.
How this cause brings people in the community together
Our project will create a space by the restored canal for community activities including accessible paths, picnic benches, new habitats for wildlife in the water and canal-side. It will transform a currently unsightly stretch of land into a place where families and friends can meet and enjoy themselves. Information boards will highlight the historic and wildlife features. The project will create a level and traffic-free circular route for local people to take walks and will link into the Trans Pennine Trail so that walkers, horse riders and cyclists can safely explore much further afield too. The space will include aquatic, marginal and land habitats, and pollinators, helping nature recovery and allowing school groups to see nature close at hand. Volunteering opportunities will be created.