Chesterfield Canal Walking Festival offers 36 guided walks including trip to Spireites football stadium and Barrow Hill Roundhouse

The fourth festival, which is the country’s biggest based on a single canal, gets underway on Saturday, September 10.

There will be 36 walks along the canal’s 46-mile route during the event which runs until September 18.

One walk includes a visit to Chesterfield Football Club’s Technique Stadium, another offers the chance to see beavers. There is a cycle ride with a difference and a ramble through ancient woodlands. Waterway and railway enthusiasts will relish the opportunity of a canal and river walk finishing up at Britain’s last surviving working railway roundhouse at

Barrow Hill. Serious walkers will jump at the chance of walking the full length of the canal in the course of three days.

The festival is organised by the Chesterfield Canal Trust, whose walks officer, David Blackburn, said: “We look forward to seeing old friends again and hope to welcome many newcomers too. We believe that our 46-mile long canal has parts that are as attractive as any in the country. Do take the opportunity to join a walk in an area with which you are not familiar, and you will hopefully be pleasantly surprised.”

All the walks are free except for those combined with a boat. They must be booked in advance, either online via the trust’s website at https://chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk/chesterfield-canal-walking-festival or by calling 01246 477569.

A brochure with full details is available at various places along the canal, including Hollingwood Hub and local Tourist Information Centres. It is also available online.

Some walks are already full, so it is advisable to book now to avoid disappointment.