Shardlow Wharf

So important was Shardlow as an 18th-century river port, it was often referred to as 'Little Liverpool' and 'Rural Rotterdam' during its heyday. Its location on the Trent Lock, where the Mersey and Trent Canal meets the River Soar and Erewash Canal, meant that Shardlow was a bustling place.

Today, it is considered the most intact example of a classic canal village and has over 50 Grade II-listed buildings. When exploring the area, there are many places for a pit stop along the towpaths.

In the 17th century the village played a key role in the distribution of cheese and Derbyshire coal by boat on the River Trent. But it was when James Brindley's Trent and Mersey canal though Shardlow was completed in 1777 that it became one of the UK's most important river ports.