Geograph - photograph every grid square

The Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles from Langley Mill (where there was a connection to the Erewash and Nottingham Canals) to Cromford on the edge of the Peak District. It was opened in 1794 and for many years traded profitably carrying mainly coal, limestone, iron ore and lead. As with many other canals, however, it suffered from railway competition and was dealt a major blow when Butterley Tunnel had to be closed permanently in 1900 due to subsidence. The southern stretch remained open until 1944 when it was formally abandoned (except for a short distance at Langley Mill). Today there is an active restoration society, the Friends of the Cromford Canal, that hopes eventually to reopen the canal for navigation.