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New Canal Development Manager
September 8, 2004
In December Geraint Coles started full time work as Development
Manager for the Chesterfield Canal Partnership. Keith Ayling asked
him to pen a few words by way of introduction.
To begin at the beginning, I was born in Singapore about 41 years
ago of patriotically Welsh parents (hence the name). Regretfully
I have no Singapore tales to tell as they promptly brought me home
at 18 months of age and, after a spell in Cardiff, I was eventually
to do the majority of my growing up in Lancashire and Liverpool.
When I was young I was taken on a visit to see family friends near
Kendal. It was a hot June afternoon and we went for what seemed,
at least to my seven year old legs, to be a very long walk along
the banks of the Lancaster Canal. This section was still partially
in water but had a neglected air with an abundant crop of pondweed,
rushes and moss. Where the canal passed through a deep cutting beneath
overhanging trees it seemed mysterious and not a little lost. I
can still remember my disappointment that our explorations were
terminated by a brutal length of motorway embankment with the canal
reduced to a pitiful culvert and pipe.
I suspect that this walk was to sow more than a few seeds in my
youthful mind. Some of those seeds germinated into an interest in
the vanished and hidden past and may ultimately have led to a career
in archaeology. Another developed into an abiding passion for our
industrial heritage and especially for canals. This latter love
affair being fuelled by adolescent reading of the collected works
of LTC Rolt and Scout Troop holidays on leaky barges.
Eventually my interest in the buried past won out (at least for
a while) and led to a degree in archaeology at the University of
Sheffield. This was followed by a doctorate on the evolution of
the landscape of North East Derbyshire and North Nottinghamshire.
While studying for the latter I was to make the acquaintance of
the remainder section of the Chesterfield Canal as it passed across
the Magnesian limestone ridge between Kiveton Park and Shireoaks.
I loved the seclusion of the lost canal and this prompted me to
gradually explore the working line from Worksop to West Stockwith.
In 1984 I also attempted to walk the disused canal from Kiveton
down the Norwood flight to Chesterfield. Some sections were relatively
easy going but in many places the line was difficult to follow being
built upon, blocked by barbed wire or swathed in dense undergrowth.
Towards Staveley low slung railway bridges were encountered which
made further progress impossible. I glumly concluded that the canal
would never be restored beyond Kiveton. How things have changed
in the last twenty years and how different are the prospects now
for the Chesterfield as we head into the twenty first century!
My links with the region continued after graduation, when I worked
for Derbyshire County Council at Creswell Crags. My chief tasks
were to take a leading role in the excavations at Pin Hole Cave
and to continue my explorations of the origins of the Crags landscape.
One element of my work was to contribute to a team which drew up
a draft heritage strategy for the North East Derbyshire/North West
Nottinghamshire area. Most of my work was geological conservation
but I was pleased to quietly insert the restoration of the Chesterfield
Canal as a desirable goal and flagged up the use of the canal line
for long distance footpath development – needless to say I
found that many others were already thinking along these lines!
Events were, however, conspiring to take me away from this region
as in 1988 I joined the academic staff of the University of Edinburgh
as a lecturer in Environmental Archaeology. Essentially environmental
archaeology is the application of the earth and biological sciences
to the understanding of the human past. My initial research focussed
on understanding the evolution of the landscape, vegetation and
climate of the Western Isles of Scotland. One consequence was that
I became involved in the creation of a visitors centre for the Calanais
Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. This
continued, and deepened, an interest in the public presentation
of archaeology and heritage management, which had begun while working
at Creswell Crags.
Many frantic and fun years followed with the development of new
degree courses and the pursuit of research projects in Cyprus, Spain,
Italy, Scotland and Iceland. In the midst of all this I still found
time to walk canal towpaths and persuaded all and sundry to accompany
me on canal holidays (and eventually one of those afflicted with
my canal ramblings foolishly agreed to marry me!).
By 1998 I was becoming increasingly interested in the impact of
early industrial activities on the environment. Using the evidence
from lakes and mires I began to look at the origins of lead and
copper mining in Scotland and North Wales and have now, working
with partners from Birmingham and Coventry Universities, turned
to establishing the scale of the Roman and Mediaeval iron industry
in the Ironbridge Gorge area of Shropshire. In turn my teaching
also changed and began to place greater emphasis on our industrial
heritage.
When the Development Manager post was advertised I saw it as a
golden opportunity to combine professional and hobby interests and
to return to an area which I know and love. In consequence, I was
absolutely delighted to be appointed and am looking forward to the
challenges and opportunities that this post presents.
As Development Manager I am employed by Derbyshire County Council
Countryside Services on behalf of the Chesterfield Canal Partnership.
The Partnership exists to promote the restoration of the canal for
its historical, ecological and recreational value and believes that
a re-born canal can play an important role in social and economic
regeneration. The Partnership is made up of local authorities, statutory
and non-statutory bodies, the voluntary sector and private enterprise.
I am currently working with all the members of the Canal Partnership
to develop a detailed work programme, which will build and capitalise
upon the major achievements which have already been made in the
restoration of the canal. Even at this early stage it is clear that
my work will centre on:
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Planning for the restoration of the Chesterfield Canal from
Kiveton to Staveley.
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The development of visitor facilities along the canal, especially
improving information boards, signposting, footpath links, access
points and public transport.
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The promotion of the canal to the widest possible audience.
I hope to present, in subsequent editions of Cuckoo, more detailed
accounts of my activities as they develop over the next few months.
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