Derbyshire, England

Staveley Basin put-in (Chesterfield Canal)

Launch — A purpose-built slipway in Staveley Town Basin, flanked by concrete block retaining walls, alongside mooring walkways and a dedicated craning pad.

Parking — A car park built as part of the Staveley Town Basin development sits immediately next to the basin, with around 50 general spaces plus dedicated disabled, parent-and-child and electric vehicle bays.

Access — Reached off Eckington Road over the lock bridge, or on foot along Hall Lane and the canal towpath. Paddling here needs a day licence from Derbyshire County Council's Countryside Service; Go Paddling (Paddle UK) members paddle free once registered. Every visit, member or not, must be logged with the Countryside Service in advance by phone, email or social media message.

Season — Katey's Coffee Shop and the toilets at Hollingwood Hub, a short way west along the towpath, open daily except Christmas Day and New Year's Day, 9.30am to 4pm. The canal east of Staveley Town Lock is part of an active, multi-year restoration project extending navigation further east; that stretch is closed to through boat traffic while the work continues.

Regulations — This western section of the Chesterfield Canal, Chesterfield to Staveley, is managed by Derbyshire County Council's Countryside Service rather than the Canal and River Trust, and runs its own licensing scheme. Non-members need a day, week or annual portable boat licence and must show at least £1 million third-party liability insurance; Paddle UK members paddle free on production of their membership details. Barbecues are prohibited at all Derbyshire County Council countryside sites, the basin included.

The basin sits at the current head of navigation on the restored western end of the Chesterfield Canal, next to Staveley Town Lock in Staveley, Derbyshire.

The basin was built in 2011 and 2012 as part of the canal's restoration, with concrete block retaining walls, nine mooring walkways carrying water and electricity hook-ups, and a dedicated craning pad alongside the slipway. Its towpath is part of the Cuckoo Way, which runs the length of the Chesterfield Canal, and links here with the Trans Pennine Trail, so paddlers share the banks with walkers and cyclists as well as other canal traffic.

West of the basin, the canal runs as a still, isolated five-mile pound through to Chesterfield, cut off from the rest of the national canal network since the Norwood Tunnel collapsed in 1907. Staveley Town Lock, immediately east of the basin, reopened to boats in 2016; beyond it, the Chesterfield Canal Trust is rebuilding Bellhouse Basin and constructing a new lock at Keith Ayling as part of an ongoing project to extend navigation further east, so that stretch is currently a live construction site rather than open water.

Nearby

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Katey's Coffee Shop

Independent cafe at Hollingwood Hub serving drinks, sandwiches and light meals; open daily except Christmas Day and New Year's Day, 9.30am to 4pm.

Website

Poolsbrook Country Park Club Campsite

Caravan and Motorhome Club touring site for caravans and motorhomes, no tents; open to non-members; open 20 March to 2 November.

Website

Conditions to check

Lock

Staveley Town Lock (Lock 5A), immediately east of the basin, is a modern lock built as part of the basin's 2011-2012 construction to drop the canal's level so it can pass beneath a disused mineral railway.

Source

Boat traffic

This stretch carries hire kayaks and paddleboards from Hollingwood Hub alongside the Chesterfield Canal Trust's own maintenance and trip boats.

Source

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