"The canal was built to link Chesterfield, Worksop and Retford to the Trent and so gain access to more trade. Local Anston Stone was transported by the canal to the river Trent for the building of the new Houses of Parliament. During the 19th century the canal was a commercial success due to local coal. However, mining caused subsidence in the Norwood Tunnel, severing the top end of the canal.
The Chesterfield Canal runs from the river Trent at West Stockwith to Chesterfield. The Canal is 45.5 miles (73.3 km) long and has 65 locks, but only the section from West Stockwith the eastern end of Norwood Tunnel is currently navigable. This navigable section is 31.6 miles (50.9 km) long and has 46 locks.
At the isolated western end of the canal, five miles and five locks have been restored. The new Staveley Town Basin opened in 2012. There are slipways at Tapton Lock in Chesterfield and Staveley Town Basin. There is also a craning pad at the basin. This leaves nine miles to be restored. There are detailed plans for the entire stretch, prepared by the Chesterfield Canal Partnership."
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The Railway
The Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway was an early British railway company which opened in 1849 between Sheffield and Gainsborough and Lincoln. It amalgamated with the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway and the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway, the three being renamed the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1847. It is now the Sheffield to Lincoln Line.
The line originated with a plan in 1836 to connect the SA&MR at Sheffield with the proposed Midland Counties Railway at a time when the latter was planning to run to Chesterfield. This was changed to proposal for Sheffield Union Railway to connect instead with the North Midland Railway at Woodhouse Mill. This plan, in turn, was superseded by one for a connection to Chesterfield. At this point, in 1844, it was suggested that the people of Sheffield would be better served by extending the SA&MR eastwards. This was supported, not only by the SA&MR, but by the councillors of Retford and Worksop.
The line received approval in 1846, along with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire extension, which was the branch to Lincoln, which would run from near Retford. Parliamentary decree meant that the way from Saxilby to Lincoln would be shared with the Great Northern. The latter built this part of the line and shared it with the S&LE with the agreement that it could have running powers from Retford to Sheffield.
The first board meeting of the amalgamated Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway took place on 6 January 1847. Construction had begun on 15 October 1846[1] with the section between Sheffield and to what was by then the Midland Railway at Beighton. The final link in the line between Sheffield and Gainsborough was completed in 1849 with stations at Kiveton Park, Shireoaks, Worksop, Retford and Sturton."
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The Viaduct
At some point the bridge has had to be strengthened and the arches have large metal bars bracing each of the arches.