Bugsworth Basin
12th September 2019
We arrived at Bugsworth Basin on Thursday and we love it already
We travelled along the spectacular Peak Forest Canal to moor at Bugsworth Basin and it is amazing.
Bugsworth Basin is a fabulous old terminal basin system built in the 1790s. The canal line to Bugsworth was built to bring the canal as near as possible to the limestone quarries at Doveholes. By 1926 the sidings and basins at Bugsworth became disused and overgrown.
Thanks to a painstaking 30 year restoration, Bugsworth Basin finally re-opened in 2005 and is in near original condition. It is absolutely beautiful, with its amazing High Peak location and is quite secluded. Bugsworth Basin is our new favourite place!
Murder at Bugsworth Basin
Another interesting fact (especially as I am from Derby) is that Bugsworth Basin is where John Cotton murdered his wife, Hannah. The murder was committed on 26th October 1898 in the cabin of a narrowboat moored here. John Cotton was arrested the same day and sent for trial at Derby Assizes. He was hanged at Derby Gaol on the 21st December 1898 and it is reputed that he was the last person to be hanged here.
After mooring up we went to the local pub called The Navigation Inn. This pub was built around 1794 and was once run by Pat Phoenix (Elsie Tanner out of Coronation Street). After a pint we decided to have our tea there and both ordered pie of the day. The meal was fabulous. If you are in the area it’s well worth a visit.
Our daughter arrived this evening with Winston. Chan goes back tomorrow but Winnie is staying for the weekend. We had a lovely evening catching up and it’s just so lovely to have them here.
Chan cooked us an amazing omelette for breakfast on Saturday before she went home. Sadly she’s on an afternoon shift so couldn’t stay any longer. Paul returned to Derby with Chan to bring his car back. We are going back to Derby next weekend so it will be useful to have the car for a week or two.
I took Tilly and Winston for a walk along the Peak Tramway trail, which was lovely. It was a beautiful sunny day too - even better.
We had a little BBQ in the evening and the pups have been brilliant- they have definitely missed one another.
The friendly warden at Bugsworth Basin told us that the coal boat would be here Sunday morning so we asked him to send it down to us as well. We bought coal but unfortunately couldn’t change our gas bottle as it was the wrong type. The coal was a really good price compared to when we bought it in a marina last year, and it’s great to give a smaller business our custom.
After a visit to Derby we decided to take down our cratch cover and re-varnish. We thought it would be a day's job to sand it down and re-varnish it but it turned out to be three days work. It was very weather worn though.
Bugsworth Basin is an amazing place. You can usually only moor for 48 hours here but as it was quiet we could stay for two weeks. Contributions are welcome to the Bugsworth Basin Heritage Trust.
We are now heading back the way we came and will be travelling towards the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. We had a lovely stop at New Mills and had a walk around the Millennium Walkway. New Mills is definitely worth stopping at if you come down the Peak Forest Canal.
