The Canal Cottages

Alongside the Hopwell Road end of the Draycott ” The Golden Mile” there was a derelict building (a number of cottages), which were built at the end of the 18^th century soon after the completion of the Derby Canal. The building started life as a thread or twist mill complex but, quite early in its life when the mill ceased to be viable, the building was converted into cottages, possibly as many as 6 (each 2 up 2 down with outside privies) to accommodate families working on nearby farms. Over the years the building has been changed and ended up as three dwellings.

The complex became derelict towards the end of the 20^th century and the Trust was able to purchase the buildings from a local developer and has now virtually completed the restoration.

Restoration plans and funding

Plans were drawn up to restore the building to create a mixed residential and commercial complex (see the plan to the right of the page). The residential side comprises of three cottages – with two, three and four bedrooms – with accommodation spread over three floors in all three cottages. The ground floor of the commercial section is a café with kitchen, reception and seating areas; the upstairs is being used as offices/meeting rooms. A downstairs room has been turned into a museum for the Trust to display pictures and artefacts. The museum room, and one of the offices, are now used to provide a base for the Trust to showcase the heritage of the cottages and the wider Derby Canal. It is hoped that in the long term, the site will form a base for activities and canal line services, e.g., shower, changing room, café.

All the properties have been let on long term leases which allows the loans to be serviced. As the Trust has retained the freehold of the buildings, we have a valuable asset to support our future activities.

Work done during the restoration

With the restoration now complete, an overview of the work done is given below:

The clearance and removal of unwanted/dangerous vegetation and trees. All the rubbish, debris and general detritus has been cleared and removed from the inside of the building.
Scaffolding was erected around the entire building, to enable a heritage-specialist builder to rebuild the main structure. All the work was done using reclaimed bricks from the main building and the dilapidated outbuildings. The majority of the internal walls were left untouched.
All the old roof tiles were removed to provide access to the whole building. New roof timbers were installed, where needed, and the whole roof was tiled using new slates. The roof was completed in November 2019, when we held a Topping Off ceremony.
Inside, new floors were installed. The ground floor was laid with a fully insulated concrete floor and screed top. On the first and second floors, all the old floor joists were removed and replaced with new. To create the new layouts, some internal walls were removed, new walls added and doorways removed. We installed several large steel joists to bear the weight of the roof.
All the internal walls were either plastered or plaster-boarded, again with the correct type of insulation in place. The staircases in cottages 1 and 3 were repaired and restored, but we had to completely replace the one in cottage 2.
The water supply was installed, via a bore hole, and an on-site waste management system added.
Each cottage was fitted with kitchens (including hobs & ovens) and spacious bathrooms. Two of them have separate shower rooms/en-suites. The kitchen and bathroom floors were tiled, and tall other rooms carpeted.
Outside, the landscaping was completed with retaining walls built from railway sleepers. The outbuildings were rebuilt using reclaimed bricks left over from the main building. The car park was finished with permeable asphalt, which allows rainwater to soak away, and car park lighting installed.
New flooring was laid in the café area.
The upstairs offices were painted and internal doors fitted. The floors were then sanded, stained and sealed.
The café area was painted and internal doors fitted after which the café was handed over to the tenants who fitted out the kitchen etc. and completed the decorating.
A small upstairs room was insulated, plaster-boarded, painted and fitted with skirting boards for use as a storeroom for the cafe.
A small downstairs room was converted into a museum, retaining as many of the original features as possible.
Outside, a perimeter fence was erected on the Hopwell Road and canal sides of the site.

The café was formally opened on 7th May 2022 by Donna Briggs, the Mayor of Erewash.

Work done since the restoration

The three residential properties were caught in a flash flood on Friday 20th October. The ground floors of the three tenanted cottages were damaged. This necessitated the following additional works much of which was carried out by volunteers:

Drying out the cottages
The purchase of door barriers for all three cottages to stop flood waters entering through the front doors
Stripping out, and replacement, of all damaged plasterboard to a height of 1 metre above floor level
Removal and replacement of skirting boards
Removal and replacement of kitchens and radiators
Injection of a new, higher damp course
Waterproofing the external walls
Tanking (coating the floor and walls with tanking slurry)
Removal and replacement of floor screed
Electrical and plumbing works
Repainting
Replacement of carpets
Works on the canal line to enable flood water to drain away from the cottages

What we have achieved

For the volunteers, the restoration of the cottages has been a labour of love and we believe we have created a building which not only looks good but will last for decades to come.

Cottage 1 – a three-bedroom cottage with a ground floor kitchen and lounge. The first floor has a double bedroom and bathroom, with two more bedrooms on the top floor
Cottage 2 – a two-bedroom cottage with a ground floor kitchen and lounge. The first floor has a double bedroom and bathroom, with a further bedroom and en-suite shower room/toilet on the top floor
Cottage 3 – a four-bedroom cottage with a ground floor kitchen and lounge. The first floor has a double bedroom and bathroom, with three further bedrooms and en-suite shower room/toilet on the top floor
The ground floor of the commercial section is a café, comprising kitchen, service/reception area and two seating areas. The small room at the back has become a museum
The upper floor of the commercial section comprises two very large offices/meeting rooms, an entrance room off the external stairs, which is large enough for a small office. There is also a small room which used as storage for the café.
Outside there are two outbuildings. One houses the water treatment equipment, a toilet for the café/Trust staff/volunteers and two store rooms. The other contains toilets for the use of the café customers, a shower/changing room for canal users and a storeroom

Gallery

The images below chart the progress of the restoration, from derelict building to what it is today!