Cash for canal restoration

Natural England has awarded Derbyshire County Council with £76,000 funding to carry out work on Cromford Canal.

The council’s Cabinet Member for Jobs, Economy and Transport, Councillor 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.”

The cash will pay for a programme of regular vegetation management, including reed clearance, bankside 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, along with 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.