Thursday 27 December 2012

Following the Cromford Canal ~ 7 ... Golden Valley and Erewash Meadows.

My seventh walk following the Cromford Canal was undertaken on a rather dull day nearly two years ago. That is very hard to believe.

There's a car park beside Codnor Park Reservoir ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011

... and from there I took a path on the northern side of the reservoir to get back to where I left Cromford Canal on the sixth day ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011   

Once I'd reached the Newlands Inn [or what remains of it] I turned back and walked alongside the old canal once more ...

 Initially the canal was less than impressive, as you can see above, but as I got back towards Codnor Park Reservoir it began to look more like a canal.


Cromford Canal ~ January 2011   

As I walked along the southern side of the reservoir to my right, on the hill, was the Jessop Monument ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011

 At the eastern end of the reservoir is a redundant bridge ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011    

The three mile long Pinxton Arm of the canal used to pass under this. Behind me as I took the above photograph is the canal itself ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

It was rather lacking in water.

A little further along, still on the edge of Ironville, you reach the remains of a lock ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  


Cromford Canal ~ January 2011   

Some local people seem to believe the section beyond the bridge is a rubbish dump ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011   

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

I was heading down to the railway bridge where the canal wasn't so much maltreated as just overgrown ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

Passing under the bridge the canal still appeared neglected ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

 It's rather different from the canal at the Cromford end isn't it.

Beyond the railway bridge I turned around and looked back ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

I was heading almost due south now ... and I was in Nottinghamshire ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

I could tell I was in Nottinghamshire by the graffiti ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011  

I'd reached the edge of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Erewash Meadows Reserve ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011

This is where I started to head back after crossing the footbridge over the railway line and walking northwards ...

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011

Cromford Canal ~ January 2011

This walk was followed on the 28th January 2011

  Length of walk ~ 4.12 miles *
 
  Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 31.67 miles

  Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 28th January 2011 ~ 560.72 miles

   9 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

8 comments:

  1. Hope you had a good Christmas Charlie.Good to see you blogging again.This looks a depressing walk with all the litter about,thank goodness nature comes along and covers up our mess.Ann

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    1. Yes, we had a good Christmas thank you Ann ... I hope you did too. It was a surprisingly interesting walk, despite the rubbish.

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  2. Is this the canal they hope to one day restore to it's former glory? They really have their work cut out for them, don't they??

    Message to Forest fans.....the feeling is mutual. From a lifelong Derby County supporter :-))

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    1. It is just one of three canals in Derbyshire they are hoping to restore ~ I admire their tenacity. I think the Chesterfield Canal might be the first one to succeed though there are massive challenges with that one [which gives you some idea as to the challenges with the other two].

      I'd forgotten that the message from the Forest fans might not appeal to you Mitch. I did smile when I saw it though.

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  3. That was an interesting historical clip about the Jessop Monument. Is it still open to the public to go up and look around the countryside? Don't get me started on the rubbish along trails. It raises my blood pressure. Our pigs in their pens were tidier. I am serious about that. They poop over in one corner away from their sleeping straw and cooling mud baths that prevent sunburn. Their slops smell but they don't. So I won't compare those folk who litter to pigs, as pigs are more organized.

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    1. I don't believe the monument is open ... I could be wrong but I don't think I am. It should be open. I agree about pigs and pens. Mum used to have one pig on the farm which she looked after and which had a litter or two. Some people have no self respect.

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  4. Sad to see a canal in this state. Good to hear someone is thinking of trying to renovate it.

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    1. It will keep them busy for some time Neil ...

      In years gone by it may well have been that the folk of Ironville would have depended on the canal for their livelihoods and presumably anyone dumping their rubbish in it would have been 'deterred' ... I dare say they didn't have the same sort of 'rubbish' as we have now. No plastic !

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