Nottingham Canal - The Canal Today

The Canal Today

Since 1977, the Broxtowe Borough Council has owned and maintained the upstream sections from Wollaton to Langley Mill as a nature reserve and walking trail. On theTrowell section of the walk, remains one of the original stone bridges(Swansea bridge) Grade two listed built in 1793-95 with wooden keep gates. The view from the bridge overlooks Trowell Garden Centre where you can see the original stone built lock keepers cottages,1&2 Swansea Cottages,Trowell. built 1794-95. The name Swansea for bridge & cottages originates from the fact that this particular part of the canal is where large quantities of swans used to congregate. Due to the lack of water in 1980 a decsion was taken by the garden centre & the RSPB to relocate them. Much of the route is in water, although water supply is a problem. The Robinettes Arm acts as a feeder, taking water from Oldmoor Wood, but beyond this, a 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) section has been destroyed by open cast mining at Awsworth, cutting off the original water supplies from Giltbrook and Moorgreen reservoir. Because of the rich habitat that the route provides, it was declared a Local Nature Reserve in 1993. The downstream section through Nottingham and connecting to the River Trent remains in use as part of the Beeston and Nottingham Canal.

The towpath of the canal through Nottingham city centre is also the route of Nottingham's Big Track, a 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) circular car free cycle and footpath, which follows the canal from the railway station in Nottingham to the Beeston locks, and then returns via the Trent riverside path.