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Page 1 of 2 HERE'S a chance to hang some history on the cabin wall of your narrowboat—an early and rare share certificate of the Derby Canal.
The certificate recalls the creation of the Derby Canal and Richard How's investment in the £60,000 project in 1793 (£6 million at today's prices according to Wikipedia), writes Christopher Proudlove.
 The text on the share certificate clearly indicates the purpose of the company: '...for making and maintaining a Navigable Canal from the River Trent...to Little Eaton...and for making Railways from such Canal to several Collieries...in the County of Derby'.
Earliest known certificate
Given its date, the German auction house selling it, HWPH Historisches Wertpapierhaus AG, claim it is the world's earliest known railway share certificate. 4.5 miles long Little Eaton Railway which was built by the pioneer railway engineer Benjamin Outram was finished two years later in 1795 The railway was in operation till 1908.
The first part of the canal was also opened in 1795 and was in operation until the end of the Second World War. The liquidation of the company was finalised on 24th June, 1974.
The certificate is part of a large sale of old stocks and bonds by the auctioneers, who are based in Zorneding. If you can't make it in person, you can bid on-line at www.invaluable.com during the sale on 5th November. And the price? It's expected to fetch in the region of €3,000 to €4,500 (£2,500-3,800).
The auctioneers' website is at www.hwph.de and they can be contacted by telephone on 0049 8106 - 2461-86 or by email at
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The canal
The Derby Canal ran 14 miles (23 km) from the Trent & Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, Derbyshire. The canal gained its Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 1796. The canal's main cargo was coal.
Although the Derwent had been used for transport from the Trent since ancient times, it was winding and shallow in many places, silting frequently. In 1790, George Sorocold had done much to improve it, but it was still unusable for long periods of flood or dry weather. Indeed the Trent itself was little better.
In 1770, James Brindley had brought the Trent & Mersey Canal to the Trent near Shardlow. He had planned to link it to Derby, but was prevented by vested interests, and the matter was not raised again until 1791. In 1792, Benjamin Outram was asked to prepare plans for a broad canal from Swarkestone to Smithy Houses, near Denby, with a branch at Derby to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, which he estimated would cost £60,000 (£6 million as of 2011).
Narrow canal as alternative
The costs of the length from Derby to Denby would account for a third of this, and the plan included an aqueduct across the Derwent at Derby. Initially Outram suggested a narrow canal as an alternative. William Jessop was asked to give his opinion and he suggested a tramway from Little Eaton to Denby. This, the Derby Canal Railway, but known locally, as the Little Eaton Gangway, was therefore one of the first to be publicly subscribed, and would save the construction of six locks.
Outram also proposed to save some £4000 by dispensing with the aqueduct and, instead, building a weir to raise the river level to form a basin adjacent to the Morledge, with locks connecting it to each branch of the canal. A small aqueduct would still be needed to cross the mill race on the west side of the Holmes.
Strong opposition
The Bill was passed by Parliament in 1793 by a narrow majority in the face of strong opposition from the Trent & Mersey and the Erewash canals owners who had a scheme of their own.
Work commenced with the Little Eaton branch and the gangway, followed by the Sandiacre line. This began with a small basin under what is now St. Alkmund's Way, proceeding eastwards following a line south of the Nottingham Road. A short branch from the basin led via Phoenix lock to the river above a weir at St. Mary's Bridge, which gave access to the Darley Abbey mills.
The Sandiacre line followed the course of the old Nottingham Road with two locks near Borrowash, then level through Draycott and Breaston, and descending through two locks to Sandiacre Junction with the Erewash Canal, a distance of 9 miles (14 km).
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