We have had a busy start to the year at Hollingwood Hub. Here are a few tasters.

January 28th. Live broadcast on Radio Sheffield.

February 21st. Cuckoo stuffing.

March 3rd. Marvellous Hands.

March 7th. Hérétique concert.

March 20th. Trust's A.G.M.

March 21st. Hilary James and Simon Mayor concert.

One of the great things about night events is the blue lights.

Working in partnership with Derbyshire County Council, we have had Hollingwood Lock House renovated and extended thanks to a grant from Community Assets, funded by HM Government Office for Civil Society. It is now called Hollingwood Hub.

It provides a Coffee Shop, a Meeting Room and offices - our first permanent base after 35 years!
The pictures below tell the story so far.
For further information about the facilities, click here.
To make a booking, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Hollingwood Lock House in the early 1960s. At this time it was still occupied.
The buildings in the background - the former Sand Spun Plant sheds - are no longer there.

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February 11th 2008. Renovation and extension was still a dream.

The original sketch by Dr. Geraint Coles, the Chesterfield Canal Development Manager.

September 23rd 2010. The construction company start work.
The lock remained open for navigation throughout the works. Photo © John Lower.

October 27th. The steelwork is being erected.

December 8th. No work in the sub-zero weather. Note roof tiles are off.

January 28th. The roof insulation is going on and the walls are complete.

March 28th. The water is back in the lock and the patio is being built.

May 5th. The fences are finally down.

May 7th. Now we are starting on the garden.

Laura and Dawn serve another satisfied customer in Nona's which opened on 1st June.
You can't go wrong with the home made Victoria Sponge cake!

June 4th. Our first Community Gardening Day and what a success.

July 7th. A welcome visit from out tripboat, the John Varley.

August 8th. Work on the car park is complete.
Fifty years ago, this view would have been taken from the platform of the station.
For further information about the station, including a photo of this view in 1950s, click here.

August 13th. The first of our Open Days. Click here for more.

September 4th. A group of riders from the Fusion Group of Companies did a sponsored bike ride from Tapton Lock to Rother Valley and back today. The called in at the Hub on their way back.

September 27th. New locks gates were fitted.

October 28th. We had our first concert at the Hub featuring Lady Maisery.
For the full story, click here.

November 20th. We had 450 trees from the Woodland Trust to plant to make a hedge. Lots of Trust members and local folk turned up to help, plus the Brimington Rainbows; a total turn out of over 50 volunteers.

December 17th. Woodhouse Prize Band came to give a concert of Christmas music.

Below are various other views of the building and a bit of history.

The Meeting Room on 16th February.

May 12th. This room is now called the David Trickett Room.
David was the much loved and respected Vice Chair of the Trust who died in November 2010.

The front of the building before and after.

Nona's Coffee Shop before and after.

Office in the Lock House before and after.

This is what the offside abutment wall looked like in June.

Thanks to the Work Party, this is what it looks like now.

The lock in the 1960s.  The concrete was broken up in the early 1990s.

Now that's what I call volunteering! A Waterway Recovery Group session on the lock in 1991.
Photo © John Lower.

May 2010. Note that the level of the parapet on the left has been lowered for the car park.
This is the site of the old Staveley Works railway station which closed on 5th March 1963.

The same view on 8th December 2010.

April 21st 2011.
The lock's paddle gear is being painted by Mick Hodgetts who has worked on Hollingwood Lock since 1988.

August 13th. Our Opening Ceremony.

And finally, we have to thank Michael Cherry for this magnificent image of our Opening Ceremony at the Open Days had it taken place in 1961 instead of 2001.

Community Assets, funded by HM Government Office for Civil Society in 2008 and administered by the BIG Fund, the non-Lottery funding arm of the Big Lottery Fund.