3 Million Bricks

Today, we did our 3rd leg of the Cuckoo Way, following the Chesterfield Canal from the Rother to the Trent - not as scenic as the first 2 sections, but full of interest and history. It involved one section where the canal had houses built over it, and the proposal is to restore it by re-routing it, and another section which involved following the line of the Norwood Tunnel, which collapsed in 1907, and, as by then, the day of the canal was over, it was simply bricked up. At 2884 yards, was one of the longest ever build, and is estimated to contain 3 million bricks. This is the western portal, and a very sad sight. We have an excellent guidebook to the canal, which tells us everything you might want to know, although short sections of the canal before the tunnel are said to be "navigable", and we felt this was playing fast and loose with the term. However, beyond the eastern portal, the canal is open for business right down to the River Trent. another 30 or so miles from where we finished today.