Summary from FCC chair / extract from recent Portal
Work at Beggarlee has all but stalled for several months due to land ownership issues: but we finally met with with the Canal & River Trust and have received some clarity and direction. CRT have now appointed an engineer to work with us. We met with CRT in July and August and as we now have design contractors working with us, we hope to see some
progress. A further planning application is to be made for a new winding hole to Amber Valley BC so we can hopefully schedule in a visit from the Waterway Recovery Group for
late next summer where we could actually be building new canal!
Report compiled from separate reports from John Guyler May-July 2026
Volunteers removed tree roots from the site of the proposed new winding hole and Himalayan Balsam removed from the edge of the River Erewash. Using the digger and dumper tree roots were removed around the area that the next phase of the canal dig out is to take place.
Ground was levelled and scrub and roots removed in the area for the drilling rig for the bore holes. Drilling rig operating and digging the 3m deep trial holes at various places along the proposed new stretch, various thickness of clay, were identified.
Our team spent some time locating a manhole cover in the area that the winding hole will be created: when eventually located, the manhole was found to have water in it, with no signs of where the pipes came from or went to. On investigation, the inlet was in the corner of the in- water section and runs off to the river. But, with it being well blocked, it was not working as efficiently as it should be, but it was also found that any high water ran through the gap in the bank and possibly made the pipe redundant.