Village bid to be heritage port
IN its heyday it was known as “Little Liverpool” and “Rural Rotterdam” – an important transport hub where wide-beamed ships and boats traded cargo.
Today, it boasts more than 50 Grade 2-Listed buildings. It is considered Britain’s most complete surviving example of a canal village.
Now the residents of Shardlow in South Derbyshire aim to put that village up there with the likes of Manchester Docks and Chester Docks and gain for it the coveted status of Heritage Inland Port.
Their case is a strong one. The River Trent below Shardlow is navigable all the way to the Humber Estuary, as is the nearby River Soar. As early as the 17th Century, tariffs for goods passing through Shardlow enabled local industrialist Leonard Fosbrooke to build Shardlow Hall.
There was greater prosperity to come, however. After James Brindley developed the Trent and Mersey Canal through Shardlow in 1770, its impact on the village was breathtaking.
It quickly developed into one of the UK’s important river ports. Each wharf had its own use – coal, iron, timber, corn, salt, even cheese – and businesses flourished: boatbuilders, stabling, and ropewalks where long strands of material were laid before being twisted into rope.
Shardlow was considered so important that it became the headquarters of the Trent and Mersey Canal company, and besides commercial premises there were workers’ cottages and business owners’ houses.
Two local families made their fortunes through Shardlow’s new-found status: the Suttons with their barges and boats, and the Soresburys with rapid horse-drawn “fly” boats.
The coming of the railways did for Britain’s canals, and the arrival of the Midland Railway in the 1840s signalled the beginning of the end for Shardlow.
By 1886 its port was virtually abandoned, although it was only the forma- tion of the nationalised Brit- ish Waterways in 1947 that saw Shardlow finally stripped of its designation as an inland port. Its pride and feeling of heritage remain strong, however.
Resident, local business and canal boat owner Sue Hampson has been working closely with the Canal and River Trust and South Derbyshire District Council in the pursuit of Heritage Inland Port status.
She said: “Shardlow locals feel the historic importance of their inland port and associated waterways has been overlooked long enough and have formed a committee with the aim of getting the village the worldwide recognition and status it deserves.
“With cities such as Liverpool recently losing its UNESCO world heritage status, it’s now even more important that we do what we can to preserve and promote historic Derbyshire gems such as Shardlow.”
To that end, the Shardlow Inland Port Festival will run across the weekend of September 11 and 12, from 10am to 4pm each day. It promises to be a colourful spectacle.
Covering approximately two miles in total, it is formed around a specially designed, easy-to-navigate, circular village heritage trail, which takes in the local Heritage Centre, vintage canal boats, traditional puppet shows, boat trips, a floating mar ket along the towpath showcasing local artisan crafters, Morris dancers, live music, traditional afternoon teas, a children’s funfair and face painting as well as many other related attractions and refreshment stops at the village’s historic pubs along the way.
Marie McManus, of Milly’s Travelling Teapot, said: “This is a fantastic initiative.
“Not only does it raise the historical profile of Shardlow and Derbyshire, but it is also supporting our local economy and providing muchneeded staycation activities for both local and visiting families. It’s a welcome boost to local businesses post-pandemic, particularly for the local pubs that really suffered in the two recent lockdowns.”
For more information visit facebook.com/groups/144705997759926/ or contact Sue Hampson on 07920 400 007 or shardlowsue@icloud.com
It’s even more important that we do what we can to preserve and promote historic Derbyshire gems like Shardlow.
Sue Hampson