May 16th. Contractors were making good the damage done by the flood (see below) by digging out the bank and replacing it mixed with more clay.
Note the abutments for the new Constitution Hill footbridge in the background. Work has been held up on these because the weather has made it impossible for the concrete lorry to get there.

April 27th. The torrential rain caused the canal to flood its banks.

Although the above photo looks dreadful, you can see here that it is perfectly safe.

Before and after shots always go down well, so here are a few.

Staveley Town Basin has been dug thanks to a grant from the East Midlands Development Agency and some funding from Derbyshire County Council. The works are being directed by the engineers of Derbyshire County Council in partnership with the Chesterfield Canal Partnership. Below is a visual record, firstly of the basin works, then of the link back to Mill Green.

On this plan, the canal goes in the direction of Mill Green and Chesterfield from the bottom left.
Hall Lane is at the bottom, Eckington Road runs up the right and the new road curves round the top.
Our Work Party have been completing a 600 m washwall from Mill Green to the new basin. They have built all the concrete block walls shown below in partnership with Derbyshire County Council and with help from the Waterway Recovery Group and support from Staveley Town Council.

This is a new drawing, slightly different from that shown above.

June 11th 2009. The site of the basin. The contractors portakabins for the new road are still on site.

February 24th 2011. The view from from Hall Lane bridge.

March 22nd. The basin excavation is underway.

April 6th. The foundations for the walls are going in.

May 18th. Most of the walls are done. The slipway is straight ahead.

June 6th. The excavation for the new Staveley Town Lock, no. 5A. Our volunteer Work Party will build it. For further details click here. To make a donation towards the cost of the lock click here.

June 17th. Some concrete for the new lock base pad being poured.

June 24th. Pouring concrete for the new bridge at the tail of the new lock.
The block at the far end of the lock base is the cill.

July 23rd. The lock front walls built by the Waterway Recovery Group.

December 9th. The contractors are lining the bed of the canal. When the dumper has left a pile of clay, the digger pushes it forward and flattens it out. The engineer in the distance is checking the levels.

December 16th. The contractors have started to fill the basin. At about 8 a.m. on Wednesday (14th), they inserted a 6" pipe into the existing dam.

December 21st. The stop planks are now in place for the new lock and the siphon pipe entry (right).

January 5th. The dam has been dug out. For the full story, click here.

January 7th. The view from the New Road Bridge; the new lock base is in the foreground, the new canal is top right.

January 8th. It even looks great at night.

January 20th. To see what all these people are waiting for, click here.

February 20th. Twelve mooring bollards are being fitted. They were very kindly donated by Killingley's who are the contractors who built the basin.

March 23rd. Killingley's put in the foundations for the new footbridge (no. 11) at the narrows at the bottom of Constitution Hill today.

March 27th. The slipway was used for the first time.

We had a visit from the Wheelyboat Trust. As you can see, it is very easy to get on board.

April 6th. The Waterway Recovery Group are building the abutments for the new footbridge at Constitution Hill.

The space inside these brick walls will be filled with concrete.

The site (taken from the Library) when the road building was just starting in November 2007.
The new road does not exist, nor does Hall Lane bridge.

November 24th 2010. The same view.

The same view on 19th April 2011 . ....

..... on June 30th .....

..... and finally on January 10th 2012.

Meanwhile, work had been going on to complete the Mill Green Link - the 600 metres joining the new basin to the old limit of navigation.

Our Work Party has already done lots of work at Mill Green. The photo above (© John Lower) shows them digging out Mill Green bridge in 1991. Below is the finished article.

March 6th. Looking east from Mill Green bridge. Our Work Party is clearing scrub.
The canal curves to the right.

April 19th. The same view as the diggers start to dredge the canal.

May 3rd. This was taken standing in the cut by Constitution Hill narrows looking back towards Mill Green.

May 6th. The same view with one foot of water to stop the clay drying out.

May 18th. All these walls were built by our Work Party, including this superb curve for the narrows at the bottom of Constitution Hill.

August 13th. The same view after flooding.

September 28th. Contractors put in this wall on the offside bank below Hall Lane to stop mud pouring off the steep field into the cut. It will eventually be covered in matting with vegetation growing through to make it easier on the eye.

October 9th. The Work Party lays the last concrete block in the 600 metre wall from Mill Green to the new basin.
This is a fantastic achievement that has taken several years.

First the Work Party build the wall out of modern blocks (front). Then they lay a layer of cut cobbles (centre). Then they backfill with concrete (top).

Next the cut coping stones are put in place.

This is one of the coping stones from old station platforms that has been half cut.

Here are some that have been cut and are ready to lay.

A little gulley is left between each coping stone and the back block.

Finally, this is filled with concrete and rounded off. This is called flaunching. It looks good, but also ensures that the coping stones will not be loosened if hit by a boat.

November 25th. The last cobble is laid.

January 2nd 2012. Terry and Dave put the final coping stone into place.

January 8th. The last of the flaunching has now been done.

January 13th. A cold and incredibly still morning.
The digger driver is creating a trench behind the wall for a final plug of clay before the towpath is made good.

The still conditions make for amazing reflections.

January 24th. Here's a night shot of Staveley Chemical Works reflected in the Basin taken by John Savage.

May 8th. The Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service came to the Basin to practice today.

We hope that they will be coming to do this at our Festival on 30th June.

April 21st 2011. The digging revealed this wall. It is a small wharf for a flour mill that was there in 1888.

August 12th 2011. The same view after flooding.

The flour mill later became houses. They are clearly shown in this photo. Mill Green bridge is in the foreground, Staveley Chuch at the top and the houses with the wharf are in the middle distance on the left.

The Flour Mill is just below the centre of this 1876 map. From the bottom left, the bridges are - Mill Green Bridge, Constitution Hill Bridge, Hall Lane Bridge and Eckington Road Bridge.