Peak waterway to get facelift

Horse Power - The Friends of Cromford Canal use a shire horse to pull a narrow boat from Cromford Wharf to High Peak Junction.

Natural England has awarded Derbyshire County Council with the funding to carry out work on Cromford Canal.

The council’s Cabinet Member for Jobs, Economy and Transport, Cllr Andy Botham, said: “We are grateful to Natural England for providing this funding.

“It means that we can continue to look after this wonderful asset for our county which is enjoyed by many every day of the year.

“The canal is a vital tourist attraction and is an important part of the local economy.”

Cash will pay for a programme of regular vegetation management, including reed clearance, bank-side vegetation cutting and the control of Himalayan Balsam – an invasive weed that grows in many areas along the canal.

Trees at the side of the canal will also be trimmed allowing more light which will encourage aquatic plants.

Plants will also be cleared from Gregory’s tunnel and a sluice mechanism in the mill yard will be restored. The canal, its wharves, roads, bridges and aqueducts, the Leawood Pumphouse, and the High Peak Junction goods sheds, workshops and other railway buildings are pioneering examples of industrial development. The canal was last used as a working waterway in 1944.