The Transhipment Warehouse has just benefitted from a £100,000 upgrade project to make the roof of the 200-year old building secure and watertight. Funded by the Trust and a £10,000 grant from High Peak Borough Council, the project has also included dredging of the narrow boating channel inside the warehouse which will make it possible for a canal boat to moor once again inside the Peak District stone building.
The investment
This investment has allowed the historic warehouse to be re-purposed from an empty shell into a vibrant new heritage craft skills centre, courtesy of a dedicated band of volunteers, led by Neville Clarke, Gemma Roe and Ian Kidd, who have formed the community interest company, Whaley Bridge Canal Group.
Their new High Peak Heritage Crafts Centre will offer a range of public courses in traditional skills like pottery, felting, green woodworking, weaving, glass blowing, textiles, sign writing and silver-smithing. Due to current coronavirus lockdown restrictions, courses will probably not start until early spring but are booking now. In the meantime they are launching Whaley's first food bank and organisers are planning to run two festive outdoor Christmas craft markets on Saturday 12 and 19 December, 10am-3pm, as well as socially-distanced family storytelling sessions between 16 and 19 December.
Over the last few months, the volunteers have been preparing their new home by painting the warehouse interior, installing new work benches, creating new outdoor picnic benches and landscaping the waterside grounds of the beautiful canal basin. They have also sourced a second-hand kiln from a cottage at Bugsworth Basin and transported it along the canal, courtesy of a local Trust workboat.
Hard work payed off
Gillian Renshaw, our Whaley Bridge Community Engagement Manager, said: “The Whaley Bridge Canal Group have worked so hard over the years to restore and give life to this amazing building. The group has always had the community at the heart of everything they do, working tirelessly and voluntarily to transform this important heritage building into a central hub for everyone to love, use and enjoy.
“They have created a whole range of activities that are unique to Whaley Bridge, from local food and craft markets, traditional craft workshops, volunteer experiences, community events and now a new food bank, to support those who may be struggling during what has been a very difficult year.
“To do all this under a global pandemic and two national lockdowns is incredibly impressive and clearly demonstrates the passion and determination of all the volunteers involved. For this reason alone, they deserve our support and we wish this new venture every success, now and for many years to come.”
