The restoration of the Chesterfield Canal will shortly take a great leap forward, thanks to a huge donation of clay from Suon Ltd.

Chesterfield Canal Trust will be spending £5.3 million on major works. These monies are its share of the Staveley Town Deal.

A substantial section will be rebuilding the historic Staveley Puddlebank. This is a massive structure, spanning 800 metres long and stretching across the Doe Lea Valley.

It was originally constructed in 1776 out of clay dug by hand and moved in wheelbarrows. The structure was 10 meters high when it crossed the river Doe Lea. It was partially bulldozed in 1972, hence the need to remodel it.

The value of the clay runs well into seven figures. It is currently at Foxlow, just north of Barrow Hill.

The total volume is 160,000 cubic metres. If this was all heaped onto the pitch at Wembley Stadium, it would be 22 metres high. That’s the height of a seven storey building or five double decker buses. If it was piled onto the centre court at Wimbledon, it would be over 800 metres high. That’s the same as the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building or nearly three times the height of the Shard, Britain’s tallest building.

The Chesterfield Canal Trust says it is incredibly grateful for this wonderful gesture by Suon, and also to the Chatsworth Settlement which has waived its right to the royalties that it held upon the clay.

Nicholas Wood, Estates Director for Chatsworth, commented: “We are very happy to have been able to support the Chesterfield Canal Trust with this project, and we hope it will help enable future generations to enjoy the canal for many years.”

Chesterfield Canal Trust’s Development Manager, George Rogers, said: “Purchasing and transporting suitable materials from other sources would be prohibitively expensive and cause untold disturbance to the local population. Without this incredibly generous donation, the project simply couldn’t proceed in its current form and so the Trust is very grateful for the support and generosity of Suon and Chatsworth. We look forward to continuing our long history of working together to enable the restoration of the canal”.

Ivan Fomin, Chair of the Staveley Town Deal Board, said: “It’s fantastic to see project sponsors working together to achieve the overall objectives of the Town Deal. This is an important donation that will help ensure the canal can continue to be enjoyed by local people and visitors, whilst making use of this natural resource in the local area.”

Suon Ltd, Chatsworth Settlement Trustees and Chesterfield Canal Trust support the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.