6th June

The Chesterfield Canal Trust’s new base in Chesterfield has opened to a hugely positive response from local people and towpath users. Cakes, gardening and mink made it an amazing first few days.

It started on Wednesday 1st June when Nona’s Coffee Shop opened its doors. It proved an instant hit, helped by the glorious sunshine which meant that the patio was full. Nona’s home-made lunches and cakes went down a storm. Lots of the locals said how delighted they were to see the old lock house finally being used again.

The next day saw a virtuoso performance from a mink. On at least five occasions it trotted happily across the lock gates, reappearing a few minutes later with a baby rabbit in its mouth. On one occasion it even decided to play hidey-boo in a drainage hole in the abutment wall.

Saturday brought our Community Gardening Day which exceeded our wildest dreams. Dozens of people brought plants varying from tiny seedlings to ten-foot trees. There were people digging, planting and watering for hours. Hollingwood Primary School has agreed to take over a section of the garden. The herb garden was planted and adopted by a couple of local Trust members. Other local people volunteered to keep any eye on things, to plant, water and weed as necessary. It will take time for things to get established, but it was a wonderful start.


Hollingwood Lock House was a dangerously dilapidated structure owned by Derbyshire County Council whose architects supervised its renovation and construction following an idea originally put forward by Dr. Geraint Coles – the canal’s Development Manager. The bulk of the money came as a grant from 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.

Besides the Coffee Shop, there is a Meeting Room and offices for the Chesterfield Canal Trust and the Chesterfield Canal Partnership. The Meeting Room is available for hire by local groups, for social events or for business meetings. There will be display space for local art and photographic societies.

Future plans include running regular cruises on the Trust’s tripboat, holding a series of concerts and creating a mural.

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