Typically for an early canal (it opened in
1779) the Erewash meanders as it follows
the contours, gradually climbing through
three well spaced-out broad-beam locks
before Ilkeston is left behind and there
are fields on both sides.
Two more locks follow and over to your
right you may glimpse Bennerley railway
viaduct crossing the valley – disused
since the line shut in the 1960s, it has
been preserved as a rare example of a
wrought iron lattice railway viaduct (one
of only two in Britain), boasts a Friends
of Bennerley Viaduct support group and
is to be reused for a cycleway.
The canal is accompanied and then
bridged by another railway line still in
use as it heads northwards through a
largely rural landscape, passing a further
two locks on its way to Langley Mill.
Here, the Erewash Canal ended at a
basin (now filled in) just south of the
main road, and for the final few yards
(including Langley Bridge Lock) to the
current limit of navigation we are
actually on the Cromford Canal.
Although most of it closed in 1944, thefirst section of the Cromford survived
until the early 1960s. It was adopted and
restored in the late 1960s by the Erewash
Canal Preservation and Development
Association, which has maintained and
developed the Great Northern Basin at
Langley Mill as a terminus for the
Erewash Canal ever since.
Meanwhile, Friends of the Cromford
have taken on the restoration of the rest
of the route to Cromford – but we’ll turn
sharp right and follow yet another
abandoned canal, the Nottingham.
You can see where (until it closed in
1937) the Nottingham Canal used to meet
the Cromford at Great Northern Basin;
there’s a swingbridge across what used
to be the start of the canal, and now
forms an extension of the basin.
Unfortunately the Nottingham comes
to a dead-end after a few yards at the
A608 Derby Road crossing. But long
sections of it survive between there andthe outskirts of Nottingham, much of it
preserved as a series of nature reserves,
and the towpath forms part of the
Erewash Valley Trail, a 30-mile circular
walkway and cycleway reaching right
down to the Trent. We’ll follow it for the
second half our our ten-mile walk (while
those for whom a five-mile walk is
enough can return by train from Langley
Mill to Ilkeston).
Follow Derby Road eastwards towards
Eastwood for a few yards before turning
right (opposite the Great Northern pub)
into a small back road called Anchor
Road, with a pair of old lock gates set in
the ground alongside the turning.
You won’t be able to make out more
than the odd bit of part-filled-in canal
channel on your left for the first half-mile.
But keep following the route indicated
by the Erewash Valley Way public
bridleway signs and you will find yourself
following a more recognisable derelict
canal. A filled-in arch bridge still carries
a local access road and a swingbridge
also survives.
After a couple of miles, the path enters
an area that was opencast-mined after
the canal shut: pretty much all traces of
the mining have now gone, but it’s taken
with it any remains of the canal.
However the Erewash Valley Trail is
waymarked as it follows a series of paths
along the approximate route, turning
right, then left, then right again before
eventually leaving the opencast site to
run alongside a well-preserved length of
canal still holding water.
Interpretation boards explain the
history of the canal and describe thecanalboat.co.uk Canal Boat November 2017 69Erewash excursion
The Nottingham Canal: no boats, but a series of nature reserves and a good towpathGreat Northern Basin, where three canals met
Approaching Langley Mill