This Saturday and Sunday Staveley Canal Basin hosts the Staveley Canal Festival. I spoke to Mark Potter, from the Chesterfield Canal Trust and Tricia Gilby for Brimington and Tapton to look ahead to the weekend’s festivities.

Toby Perkins: So, this weekend is the Chesterfield Canal Festival. We are up here on the Canal Basin at Staveley. I am here with Mark Potter, from the Canal Trust. Mark just quickly tells us about what’s actually available for people who visit this weekend.

Mark Potter: Yeah, so Saturday and Sunday is the Chesterfield Canal Festival, here at Staveley Basin. So, you’ll be able to come down at any time. We have got things happening all day. There’s an itinerary of shows, performances, we’ve got a flyover by a Spitfire on Saturday, Hawker Hurricane on the Sunday so, come down at any time and I’m sure you’ll have a great day. We have got all of the boats running of the Trust so, yeah lots to do.

Toby Perkins: And Tricia, we have just had an opportunity to have a little boat ride under my excellent tutelage. But from your perspective the Borough Council, obviously a massive supporter of the Trust. They’re leading the Town Deal Board to bring money into the Trust to try and continue with the plans. Just try and encapsulate why it’s so important, the Canal, to the future of Chesterfield.

Cllr Tricia Gilby: Well, I think there are two key ways in which the Canal is important to the future of Chesterfield. First, it is turning into a fantastic visitor destination. An opportunity for people to actually come to the Canal and visit the rest of Chesterfield, such as the Crooked Spire and of course it’s absolutely fantastic for local people to come down here and enjoy walking along the Canal, that’s extremely beneficial to people’s health, but also, as Mark said, having the opportunity to get out onto the Canal, in boats, on the Canal narrowboats but also, now there’s the opportunity to do canoeing and paddleboarding and what a fantastic way to spend a Summer afternoon?

Toby Perkins: Great stuff. So, this weekend, come up to Staveley Canal Basin and enjoy the festival.