Insights into the Erewash
From the Archives: NarrowBoat, Winter 2022
Joseph Boughey
Joseph Boughey unearths details of the East Midlands canal from newspaper archives
The Erewash Canal near Trent Lock in the mid-20th century. The British Newspaper Archive is, unfortunately, behind a paywall. But as further records are scanned and added, its search facilities provide more and more insights into waterways history. In this piece, I use searches to draw out elements of the Erewash Canal’s history. During the deliberations of the Royal Commission of 1906-1910, arrangements were made for coal to be taken by “monkey boat” (sic) to Godalming on the Wey Navigation on an experimental basis. As the Croydon Guardian & Surrey County Gazette reported, the Fellows, Morton & Clayton boat Austria was loaded at Digby Colliery on the Nottingham Canal (not far from Langley Mill), early in September 1907. It then travelled the full length of the Erewash, Leicester and Grand Junction lines to London, and then by Thames and Wey to Godalming, taking nine days for the 208 miles. The Railway News (7th September 1907) recorded the total cost by c…
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