Erewash
A UK Canal Boating Article
Category : Canals
Length : 12 miles
Locks: 14
Tunnels : 1
Aqueducts : 1
HISTORY
The canal was surveyed by John Smith and designed by John Varley and was built largely to bring coal out of the Erewash Valley pits and down to the river Trent for onward trade to Nottingham and Leicester. It initially served the many 'bell' pits between Ilkeston and Langley Mill, with horse-tramways bringing coal to waterside wharves at several points. The Erewash Canal is a popular choice for fishermen as it regularly restocked with fish by the local angling clubs.
THINGS OF INTEREST ON ROUTE
The mighty River Trent is one of the Uk's major rivers and flows through the city of Nottingham, the market town of Newark and the rural Trent Vale. The scenery along the river is mostly arable farmland, with villages, churches, watermills and old ferry crossings along the way. Trentlock is the point where the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire meet and a visit there helps to understand how a lock works and to find out the differences between a canal and a river.
The Attenborough Nature Centre is an award winning visitor and education facility owned and managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Situated in stunning countryside surrounded by water the Centre gives you a brilliant window to the natural world. The reserve was opened by Sir David Attenborough and is best known for the visiting winter wildfowl.
Sheetstores Basin was once a busy canal and rail transhipment basin and later became a British Rail depot. It gets its unusual name from the days when it was the place where tarpaulin sheets where used to cover the goods. Todays the basin is full of moored pleasure boats and holiday canal boats.
Long Eaton developed around the lace making and railway wagon industries in the nineteenth century. There are plenty of moorings at Long Eaton and the town offers visitors a good selections of high street facilities, shops, pubs and places to eat.
Staffed by volunteers of the Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association Sandiacre Lock Cottages are a fine example of a lock keeper's cottage and stables of the canal era.
Ilkeston is the third largest town in Derbyshire and a former coal-mining town which has retained a thriving industrial centre. The town offers all the usual high street shops and a good choice of pubs and place to eat. There is also a good range of sporting facilities in and around the town that include a 10-pin bowling alley and an 18 hole golf course. There are weekly markets held in the town centre every Thursday and Saturday so a good place to stock up on fresh provisions.
There are plenty of visitors moorings at Langley Mill Basin and this is a good spot to walk along the towpath. This is a good base to explore one of the five nature reserves that are situated around the Erewash Canal.
Moor up at the city's Castle Marina and take the short walk into Nottingham where there are a wealth of visitor attractions. Visit the Castle and museum, the City of Caves, and the Galleries of Justice which are all within a short distance of each other. Have a pint in the ‘Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem’ which is reputedly to be the oldest pub in the world. For shopoholics Nottingham has been voted one of the best shopping destinations in the country, visit the Broadmarsh and Victoria shopping centres.
Locks: 14
Tunnels : 1
Aqueducts : 1
HISTORY
The canal was surveyed by John Smith and designed by John Varley and was built largely to bring coal out of the Erewash Valley pits and down to the river Trent for onward trade to Nottingham and Leicester. It initially served the many 'bell' pits between Ilkeston and Langley Mill, with horse-tramways bringing coal to waterside wharves at several points. The Erewash Canal is a popular choice for fishermen as it regularly restocked with fish by the local angling clubs.
THINGS OF INTEREST ON ROUTE
The mighty River Trent is one of the Uk's major rivers and flows through the city of Nottingham, the market town of Newark and the rural Trent Vale. The scenery along the river is mostly arable farmland, with villages, churches, watermills and old ferry crossings along the way. Trentlock is the point where the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire meet and a visit there helps to understand how a lock works and to find out the differences between a canal and a river.
The Attenborough Nature Centre is an award winning visitor and education facility owned and managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Situated in stunning countryside surrounded by water the Centre gives you a brilliant window to the natural world. The reserve was opened by Sir David Attenborough and is best known for the visiting winter wildfowl.
Sheetstores Basin was once a busy canal and rail transhipment basin and later became a British Rail depot. It gets its unusual name from the days when it was the place where tarpaulin sheets where used to cover the goods. Todays the basin is full of moored pleasure boats and holiday canal boats.
Long Eaton developed around the lace making and railway wagon industries in the nineteenth century. There are plenty of moorings at Long Eaton and the town offers visitors a good selections of high street facilities, shops, pubs and places to eat.
Staffed by volunteers of the Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association Sandiacre Lock Cottages are a fine example of a lock keeper's cottage and stables of the canal era.
Ilkeston is the third largest town in Derbyshire and a former coal-mining town which has retained a thriving industrial centre. The town offers all the usual high street shops and a good choice of pubs and place to eat. There is also a good range of sporting facilities in and around the town that include a 10-pin bowling alley and an 18 hole golf course. There are weekly markets held in the town centre every Thursday and Saturday so a good place to stock up on fresh provisions.
There are plenty of visitors moorings at Langley Mill Basin and this is a good spot to walk along the towpath. This is a good base to explore one of the five nature reserves that are situated around the Erewash Canal.
Moor up at the city's Castle Marina and take the short walk into Nottingham where there are a wealth of visitor attractions. Visit the Castle and museum, the City of Caves, and the Galleries of Justice which are all within a short distance of each other. Have a pint in the ‘Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem’ which is reputedly to be the oldest pub in the world. For shopoholics Nottingham has been voted one of the best shopping destinations in the country, visit the Broadmarsh and Victoria shopping centres.