The original entry to the Derby Canal from its present termination, the first bridge.
The old toll house is now the home of the Swarkestone boat club.
The remainder of the Trent and Mersey Canal to Shardlow is relatively uninteresting.
Shardlow is a fascinating settlement, a canal town in every sense of the word,
except it’s not a town! Altho it sits on a large river, it has no monumental
Victorian docks, huge multi story warehouses or terraces of dock workers
tenements or any of the retail facilities that would service such developments.
It is very much a village, but it is still worth a good walk round.
What it has or had, was over ten privately owned canal arms serving a significant number of small to medium sized warehouses or industrial buildings. Altho this infrastructure is very prominent and is why Shardlow has such a place in transport history, the settlement also had a vast area under glass. I was told that many of
the fine Georgian Houses are in fact the product of “The Glass” and not just the
inland port as one not unnaturally would, at first, suppose.
This delightful and immaculate terrace of dockside cottages is the only one I could find, not certain who the occupants were. The large mansion like building in the background was the Head Office of the T&MCC.
Altho the Trent and Mersey Canal company had their Head Office here and a vast amount of trade passed through the port. I have to wonder if this lack of monumental development was a result of the bulk of world trade concentrating on the west coast ports of Bristol & Liverpool, while the east coast was left the remnants of European trade? Or was it just too far away from the capital generated from the West Coat based slave trade?
On the right, one of the larger warehouses. On the left a salt warehouse, one of those which was built to supplement a smaller building which served the river traffic before the canal was built. The gap between the building contained a long canal arm most of which has been infilled. I was told the salt warehouse was until recently a chandlery
but it could not compete with internet sales and the building is now empty.
Probably one of the most well known buildings on the UK canal system.
This straddle warehouse (boats would enter through the central arch to unload) is often known as the Clock Warehouse, it is now a pub restaurant. The basin is used by a hire boat company.
The ports oldest surviving warehouse, this is now the heritage centre and has its own visitor mooring.
The white building in the background is directly opposite the clock warehouse and was the original riverside salt warehouse. The river is on the opposite side of the building.
This site comprised two buildings with an arm between them, an original crane can be seen on the tow path outside the second building. This crane served taking in doors facing the canal. They are the only warehouses on this side of the canal. Good moorings are located just past the crane.
The building on the right is in very poor condition, re opening the dock would enliven this complex as has been done in several similar Manchester locations.
Several smaller buildings have been converted to mixed use very successfully.
This basin & former mill complex is home to a large miniature railway
which runs round both sides of the basin.