25th February  2013

A group of teachers and education officials from Haripur in Pakistan came for a trip on the John Varley today. They were interested in the industrial history of the area, so they had visited Chesterfield Museum in the morning.

They were very interested in the canal and especially how locks work. Apparently there are hundreds of miles of canals in Haripur, but they are all underground, to stop evaporation, and are used for irrigation, not boating.

Today's outing was organised by Hollingwood Primary School. The other Chesterfield schools involved in the week-long visit are Grassmoor Primary School and Springwell Community College. They are linked with the schools from Haripur for three years, through a British Council project called Connecting Classrooms.

Those attending were
Mr. Riasat Khan, Government Centennial Model High Secondary School No. 1
Mr. Imran Jeelani, Government Centennial Model High Secondary School No. 1
Ms. Sadia Tabassum, Quaid-e-Azam Public School
Ms. Rehana Yasmeen, Deputy District Officer, Elementary & Secondary Education Department
Mr. Akhunzada Riaz Bahar, Director Education Sector Reforms Unit
Mr. Stephen Hull, Headteacher, Hollingwood Primary School
Miss Vicky Evans, Cluster Co-ordinator North-Derbyshire, Hollingwood Primary School.

Inside the JV.

Getting off at Tapton Lock. Thanks very much to the loyal crew of Des, Ron and Dave for taking us.

We then went to Barrow Hill Roundhouse where the fire in the Mess Room was very popular!