On a very hot Friday afternoon 8 members of the Sheffield South West group enjoyed a cruise on a small section of the Chesterfield Canal which runs in total for 46 miles from the River Trent to Chesterfield. The Eastern end, at Chesterfield is known as Cuckoo Dyke and is renowned for it’s leafy tunnels, meadows and wildlife.
We travelled on the John Varley II from Tapton Lock in Chesterfield to Robbin’s Bend, travelling through 3 locks where 2 of our members had a go at opening and closing the locks. We were also given the opportunity to drive the boat and found steering was more difficult than we thought, particularly with a narrow tunnel coming up!
Along the way we were able to observe lots of wildlife and some rare aquatic plant life. Highlights included the beautiful dragonflies and ‘banded demoiselle’ damselflies, along with fish and a swan with her cygnets. It was sad to hear that the father of the cygnets had been killed by a dog off it’s lead.
Finally we were treated to a tasty afternoon tea for all.
