The Canal was opened in 1793 and ran for 14 miles from Swarkestone on the Trent and Mersey Canal to Sandiacre on the Erewash Canal.
Nearby is the Jacobean grandstand called Swarkestone Hall Pavilion and walled area, formerly connected with Harpur Hall, where (it is believed, see Pevsner, loc. cit.), they used to bait bulls.
Swarkestone Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Swarkestone just outside of Derby.
He was a grandson of Richard Harpur, Justice of the Common Pleas, of Swarkestone Hall, Swarkestone, Derbyshire.