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89-510: The Don Gorge is the valley of the River Don to the west of Doncaster , south of the village of Sprotbrough . The gorge is known as a 'green corridor'. A weir is on the river at Sprotbrough, and this is bypassed by a canal with a lock. The abandoned hamlet of Levitt Hagg sits in woodland to the south of the river. The Sprotbrough Flash nature reserve lies adjacent to the river on its north bank. Boat Lane provides vehicular access into

178-504: A 12-foot (3.7 m) undershot wheel for rolling copper plates, and another of 18 feet (5.5 m) for rolling silver. The River Loxley joins the Don opposite the mill site, and the building was badly damaged by the great flood of 1864. The tenant claimed £1,932 in compensation, and received £1,720. A steam engine replaced the large water wheel in 1875, and the rest of the works was electrified in 1920. Sheffield Steel Rolling Co. continued to work

267-552: A claim for £6,204 was made and received for damage caused by the 1864 flood. Next came Kelham Wheel, which was used as a cutlers wheel, a silk mill, and a cotton mill. Following fires in 1792 and 1810, the mill was rebuilt to use steam power, and became the Britannia Corn Mills after 1864. The buildings were demolished in 1975, but the weir remains in good order, and is one of the largest in Sheffield. Below this were

356-521: A corn mill and cutlers wheels. Steam power was used from 1860, although a redundant water wheel remained in situ until 1950. Sanderson's weir provided water for the Upper Hammer, on the south side of the river, which was converted into the Attercliffe slitting mill in 1746. By 1802 it was described as being in a decayed state, and the dam and goit were filled in by 1818. The weir also supplied

445-445: A corn mill from before 1383 until 1690. Two cutlers wheels were added in 1706, and the works had become a forge by 1789. Four wheels were recorded in 1895, and a set of tilt hammers from the site were rescued and moved to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet . Hadfields Weir is the final weir on this stretch, which supplied Parker Wheel initially, and then a paper mill from the 1750s. At various times there were two flour mills, two forges and then

534-442: A dam is designed specifically to impound water behind a wall, whilst a weir is designed to alter the river flow characteristics. A common distinction between dams and weirs is that water flows over the top (crest) of a weir or underneath it for at least some of its length. Accordingly, the crest of an overflow spillway on a large dam may therefore be referred to as a weir. Weirs can vary in size both horizontally and vertically, with

623-406: A derivative of the root of the verb werian, meaning "to defend, dam". The German cognate is Wehr , which means the same as English weir. Commonly, weirs are used to prevent flooding , measure water discharge, and help render rivers more navigable by boat. In some locations, the terms dam and weir are synonymous, but normally there is a clear distinction made between the structures. Usually,

712-474: A film, which can be seen at the Kelham Island Museum , was made of its activity. The weir has five bays, but is deteriorating. Wadsley weir supplied a series of works which were situated to the east of the river channel. Wadsley Bridge paper mill was operational by 1709, and a tilt was also working by 1806. The wheel was 16.5 feet (5.0 m) in diameter and 6.83 feet (2.08 m) wide when it

801-488: A negative effect on fish species that migrate as part of their breeding cycle (e.g., salmonids ), but it also can be useful as a method of preventing invasive species moving upstream. For example, weirs in the Great Lakes region have helped to prevent invasive sea lamprey from colonising farther upstream. Mill ponds are created by a weir that impounds water that then flows over the structure. The energy created by

890-415: A range of biota , including poor swimmers. Even though the water around weirs can often appear relatively calm, they can be extremely dangerous places to boat, swim, or wade, as the circulation patterns on the downstream side—typically called a hydraulic jump —can submerge a person indefinitely. This phenomenon is so well known to canoeists, kayakers, and others who spend time on rivers that they even have

979-616: A river system with a catchment of 714 square miles (1,850 km ), which held a population of around 1.4 million in 1997. Much of the region is underlain by Carboniferous age Coal Measures rocks , and pollution of the river system has arisen where the coal has been mined. The headwaters rise on the moorlands of the Pennines , where the rocks are largely Millstone Grit , while the lower reaches pass through areas of alluvial and glacial material, up to 66 feet (20 m) thick, which overlies Magnesian Limestone strata and rocks assigned to

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1068-511: A rolling mill. The precise location of the works is difficult to trace, as the river has been straightened below the weir, but the weir itself can be seen from Meadowhall Shopping Centre . This section provides details of some of the many bridges crossing the River Don, in west-to-east (river source to river mouth) order. This area stretches from the source of the River Don down to and including Oughtibridge. There are many minor crossings of

1157-416: A rueful name for weirs: "drowning machines". The Ohio DNR recommends that a victim should "tuck the chin down, draw the knees up to the chest with arms wrapped around them. Hopefully, conditions will be such that the current will push the victim along the bed of the river until swept beyond the boil line and released by the hydraulic." The Pennsylvania State Police also recommends to victims, "curl up, dive to

1246-643: A seven-arch viaduct, built around 1855, which crosses the B6462 Thurgoland to Penistone road as well as the River Don. The railway that it conveys started off as a local colliery line of the South Yorkshire Railway Company and later became part of a trunk freight route which reached its traffic peak in the early 1950s. From 1983 the line has been used for local passenger services between Sheffield and Huddersfield via Barnsley. Built about 1734, this narrow stone bridge conveyed

1335-422: A small part of the weir remains. The next weir supplied Old Park corn mill, which was built around 1673. In 1807 a lease was issued to a group of 32 tenants, which included a miller, grinders, cutlers, a button maker, a scissorsmith and an ivory turner. In the early 20th century, it was known as Old Park Forge, and so had presumably changed its use. Old Park paper, silver or rolling mill followed. In 1795 it had

1424-476: A weir in 2014/2015 revealed the remains of a mill at Sprotbrough. The weir was being reconditioned into a fish pass. The Trans-Pennine Trail now traverses the gorge, and the whole valley is known as a 'green corridor' which has seen much investment and cleaning up of the river. River Don, Yorkshire The River Don (also called River Dun in some stretches) is a river in South Yorkshire and

1513-449: A weir is broad-crested for much of its length, but has a section where the weir stops or is 'open' so that small boats and fish can traverse the structure. A notch weir is any weir where the physical barrier is significantly higher than the water level except for a specific notch (often V-shaped) cut into the panel. At times of normal flow all the water must pass through the notch, simplifying flow volume calculations, and at times of flood

1602-405: Is a flat-crested structure, where the water passes over a crest that covers much or all of the channel width. This is one of the most common types of weir found worldwide. A compound weir is any weir that comprises several different designs into one structure. They are commonly seen in locations where a river has multiple users who may need to bypass the structure. A common design would be one where

1691-473: Is a generic relationship and specific calculations are available for the many different types of weir. Flow measurement weirs must be well maintained if they are to remain accurate. The flow over a V-notch weir (in ft /s) is given by the Kindsvater–Shen equation: where As weirs are a physical barrier, they can impede the longitudinal movement of fish and other animals up and down a river. This can have

1780-529: Is also culverted, below Sheffield Railway Station , and the combined flows join the Don between Lady's Bridge and Blonk Street bridge. The section of the river from Lady's Bridge to Meadowhall and the junction of the river with the Sheffield Canal has been designated as the Five Weirs Walk, by the creation of a footpath which closely follows its course. It contains the final five weirs before

1869-458: Is rated good or fail. The water quality of the Don was as follows in 2019. Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and mercury compounds, none of which had previously been included in the assessment. These are the settlements on the River Don from the source to

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1958-627: The East Riding of Yorkshire , England. It rises in the Pennines , west of Dunford Bridge , and flows for 69 miles (111 km) eastwards, through the Don Valley, via Penistone , Sheffield , Rotherham , Mexborough , Conisbrough , Doncaster and Stainforth . It originally joined the Trent , but was re-engineered by Cornelius Vermuyden as the Dutch River in the 1620s, and now joins

2047-472: The Environment Agency announced that they had recently re-stocked the Don with 1,000 barbel . A spokesman said that the fish in the river were now at a sustainable level with a breeding population and these would be the last fish added as part of a 10-year programme to help the Don recover from an industrial heritage that had depleted fish stocks. The Environment Agency measure water quality of

2136-476: The Ewden Beck joins, after flowing through Broomhead and More Hall reservoirs . By the time it reaches Oughtibridge , the river is below the 300-foot (91 m) contour. Below Oughtibridge, the course of the river is marked by a series of weirs, which were used to impound water, so that it could be used to power mills, hammers and grinding wheels. The gradient of the river bed is less than that of most of

2225-856: The Loxley , the Rivelin , the Sheaf , the Rother and the Dearne . Along the Sheffield–Rotherham stretch of the river are five weirs that punctuate a local walking and cycling route, the Five Weirs Walk . A further walk, the Upper Don Walk , is being developed that will make it possible to walk or cycle from Sheffield city centre up to Oughtibridge . Below Doncaster , the main channel of

2314-610: The River Ouse at Goole . Don Valley is a UK parliamentary constituency near the Doncaster stretch of the river. The probable origin of the name was Brittonic Dānā , from a root dān- , meaning "water" or "river". The name Dôn (or Danu ), a Celtic mother goddess, has the same origin. The river gave its name to the Don River , one of the principal rivers of Toronto , Canada. The Don can be divided into sections by

2403-508: The Sherwood Sandstone Group . The impacts of human habitation, particularly the inadequate treatment of sewage effluent, and the growth of mining in the upper reaches and the processing of metals in the Sheffield area have resulted in serious pollution of the river, and the depletion of fish stocks, to the extent that large parts of the Don contained no fish until the mid-1980s. Concerted efforts have been made to improve

2492-746: The 700-tonne Eurobarge standard by deepening the channels and enlarging the locks as far as Rotherham. The expected rise in freight traffic did not occur, however. The cuts and navigable river sections, with the Stainforth and Keadby and the New Junction canals constitute the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation . Locks on the Bramwith to Rotherham section can accommodate boats which are 230 by 20 feet (70.1 by 6.1 m), but above that, boats are restricted to 56 by 15 feet (17.1 by 4.6 m) by

2581-551: The Dearne and the Rother has not improved as much as on the Don, and pollution of the lower reaches is compounded by the fact that the pollutants, which include dioxins , are locked up in the river bed sediments. Despite the steady improvement in water quality, restocking of the river with fish, attempted on several occasions between 1981 and 1994, was largely ineffective, caused by intermittent discharges of pollutants. In November 2011,

2670-648: The Don at Stainforth to the Trent at Keadby, most traffic for the Trent used that in preference to the Dutch River and the route around Trent Falls, where the Trent joins the Humber. Construction of a railway from Doncaster to Goole in 1869 reduced traffic on the river, but the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company was formed in 1889, to buy back the River Don Navigation, the Sheffield Canal and

2759-477: The Don bridges upstream of Lady's Bridge (see "Bridges over River Don" section below) and killed 270 people. The Don was also one of the rivers that flooded during the 2007 United Kingdom floods . Following high levels of rainfall, some 80 million cubic metres of rain fell on South Yorkshire on 25 June 2007. The river burst its banks in the late afternoon, flooding areas of Sheffield from Hillsborough to Meadowhall , and two people died after being swept away by

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2848-419: The Don in this area, so only a selection of bridges is covered in this section. The road bridge at the small hamlet of Dunford Bridge carries the unclassified Windle Edge Road across the River Don. The source of the Don is about 2.5 miles (4 km) to the west and the retaining dam of Winscar Reservoir is 1,300 feet (400 m) to the west. The road bridge is 160 feet (50 m) below the surface level of

2937-487: The Don northwards along Turnbridgedike. He constructed Dikesmarsh bank some distance to the east of the channel, so that the intervening land could be used as washlands . The main work was completed by 1628, but after flooding in 1629, a "Great Sluice" was constructed at the junction between the river and the Aire, with 17 openings which were 6 by 8 feet (1.8 by 2.4 m), probably by Hugo Spiering, who had assisted Vermuyden on

3026-476: The Don's tributaries, which required the weirs to be spaced further apart, to prevent water from one mill backing up and preventing the next mill upstream from operating. The river falls by 160 feet (49 m) between Oughtibridge and Brightside, a distance of 8 miles (13 km), and by 1600, there were sufficient weirs that no new ones were built subsequently, although there were cases where additional mills were built, which used water from an existing weir. Most of

3115-547: The Flooding section above, its wide catchment area and the sometimes-extreme weather in the Pennines makes the river susceptible to occasional flooding. The two photographs illustrate the contrast. Weir Weir can also refer to the skimmer found in most in-ground swimming pools, which controls the flow of water pulled into the filtering system. The word likely originated from Middle English were , Old English wer ,

3204-545: The Nether Hammer on the north side of the river, which was first recorded in the 1580s. The forge was sold in 1869, one part to the Midland Railway, and the other to Sandersons, who had six water wheels in 1895, but the works was running on steam power by 1907. In addition to the weir, the head goit is still visible, passing under the railway twice, to disappear into a culverted drain. Brightside weir supplied

3293-525: The River Dearne. This has led to a great improvement in ammonia levels and BOD, further aided by the construction of biological treatment facilities for the processing of industrial effluent in the Doncaster area, while the decline in the steel industry in Sheffield has reduced the discharge of metals into the river. Mining presents a different problem, as the mines have been abandoned, but the pollution continues. Near Penistone , ochre discharged into

3382-532: The River Don. It is used by passenger services on the route from Sheffield to Huddersfield ("The Penistone Line "). It was built in 1850 by Sir John Fowler for the Huddersfield & Sheffield Junction Railway (later the Great Central Railway ). The viaduct suffered a partial collapse in 1916. The viaduct crosses the B6462 Thurgoland to Penistone road as well as the River Don. This is

3471-429: The River Don. The station referred to is the "Oughty Bridge Station" (east of the road bridge) on the former Great Central Railway Company's Sheffield to Manchester route. It opened in 1845 and closed to passengers in 1959. Like most of the upper Don, the river at Oughtibridge appears fairly benign, with it having a small flow and being easily fordable below the weir to the south of the bridge. However, as discussed in

3560-636: The Sheffield to Manchester Railway which opened in 1845. Trains ceased on this section of the line in May 1983. This footbridge is on the Barnsley Boundary Walk, upstream of Tin Mill Dam. It provides a drier alternative to the adjacent set of stepping stones when the river level is high. The bridge has an above-deck truss design and is constructed largely of tubular steel. It was manufactured by Tubewrights Ltd of Newport (Monmouthshire). This

3649-618: The Stainforth and Keadby Canal from railway ownership, to keep them competitive. They acquired the waterways in 1895, but failed to raise sufficient capital for the major improvements they had planned. However, they succeeded in constructing the New Junction Canal from Stainforth to the Aire and Calder Navigation (Knottingley and Goole Canal) west of Goole, which was jointly funded by the Aire and Calder, and opened in 1905. The Dutch River reverted almost entirely to its original drainage function, and Stainforth lock, which connected it to

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3738-426: The Stainforth and Keadby Canal, was closed in 1939. Navigation to Sheffield was made possible by the construction of weirs, locks and canal cuttings to avoid circuitous and unnavigable sections of the Don downstream of Tinsley, and then by a canal from Tinsley to Sheffield. The first serious attempts at improvements were authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1726 by Sheffield's Company of Cutlers to make

3827-477: The Town Corn Mill and wheel, which was water powered until 1877, and was the subject of an archaeological investigation in 1999, which uncovered the remains of the wheel pits. Wicker Tilts and wheel was really two works, a grinding wheel known to have been working in 1581, and a tilt forge built in the 1740s. A second tilt was added near Lady's Bridge by 1752. The grinding wheel, which supplied 36 troughs,

3916-479: The area to flood. It is now a nature reserve, which opened to the public in 1984. The presence of the limestone led to quarrying in the gorge, which prompted use of the river to transport the product out. The abandoned village of Levitt Hagg, on the south side of the gorge, is now a landfill site. The villagers left, or were transferred into council houses in Warmsworth and Sprotbrough in the 1950s. Excavations of

4005-557: The area. These seem to be from the last ice age when meltwater carved out the Don Gorge from the magnesian limestone. Several hoards of coins and jewelry have been found on both sides of the gorge, though mostly on the south side. This has led to speculation that the gorge was a boundary in the pre-Roman period in Britain, when the gorge was less wooded than it is at present. Sprotbrough Flash formed in 1924, when mining subsidence caused

4094-502: The bottom, and swim or crawl downstream". As the hydraulic jump entrains air, the buoyancy of the water between the dam and boil line will be reduced by upward of 30%, and if a victim is unable to float, escape at the base of the dam may be the only option for survival. There are many different types of weirs and they can vary from a simple stone structure that is barely noticeable, to elaborate and very large structures that require extensive management and maintenance. A broad-crested weir

4183-403: The building of the railway. The mill housed grinding wheels in 1862, but was used for milling corn in 1934. The dam remains full, overflowing through a culvert which passes beneath the railway. Owlerton Rolling Mill was next, located on the west bank, but was destroyed by fire around 1883. It had been reconstructed by 1907, when steam power assisted the water wheels, and was demolished in 1936. Only

4272-501: The change in height of the water can then be used to power waterwheels and power sawmills, grinding wheels, and other equipment. Weirs are commonly used to control the flow rates of rivers during periods of high discharge. Sluice gates (or in some cases the height of the weir crest) can be altered to increase or decrease the volume of water flowing downstream. Weirs for this purpose are commonly found upstream of towns and villages and can either be automated or manually operated. By slowing

4361-414: The design of a weir that ensure that fish can bypass the barriers and access upstream habitats. Unlike dams, weirs do not usually prevent downstream fish migration (as water flows over the top and allows fish to bypass the structure in that water), although they can create flow conditions that injure juvenile fish. Recent studies suggest that navigation locks have also potential to provide increased access for

4450-432: The different types of structures built to restrict its passage. The upper reaches, and those of several of its tributaries, are defined by dams built to provide a public water supply. The middle section contains many weirs, which were built to supply mills, foundries and factories with water power, while the lower section contains weirs and locks, designed to maintain water levels for navigation. The Don's major tributaries are

4539-669: The early 2000s, led primarily by the Catchment Science Centre, based at the University of Sheffield . A comprehensive summary of the river catchment was completed in 2008, describing the key social, economic and environmental characteristics of this historically important urban river and its main tributaries. The River Don, together with its main tributaries, the River Rother and the River Dearne , form

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4628-596: The eastern portal of the Woodhead Tunnel , through the Hamlet of Dunford Bridge, and continues, first east and then south-east, on its way to Sheffield. Near Penistone, the river is joined by Scout Dike, which flows from the Ingbirchworth, Royd Moor and Scout Dike reservoirs. The Little Don River or River Porter, on which there are three more reservoirs, joins the Don near Deepcar, while at Wharncliffe Side,

4717-498: The head goit. The weir by Station Lane, Oughtibridge served the Upper Middlewood forge, described as a tilt in the sources, as it had a tilt hammer which was raised up and allowed to drop to shape the metal. The weir is in good order, although much of the original structure has been replaced by concrete steps. Next came Middlewood Works, which was a rolling mill and slitting mill, splitting bars of iron into thin strips for

4806-467: The late 19th century for the Dewsbury and Heckmondwike Waterworks Board. Lower Windleden was the first to be completed in 1872, with Upper Windleden following in 1890. Winscar, Snailsden and Harden were all completed in 1899, although Winscar was called Dunford Bridge at the time. A new dam was built at Winscar between 1972 and 1975, and replaced the earlier earth dam. To fit it in, without destroying

4895-611: The lower Don originally meandered in a north-easterly direction across the marshland of Hatfield Chase to enter the Trent just above its junction with the Ouse. A second channel flowed to the north, along a Roman channel called Turnbridgedike. The eastern channel formed the boundary between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In the Hatfield Level drainage project which started in 1626, the Dutch civil engineer Cornelius Vermuyden diverted

4984-409: The main project. The washlands had insufficient capacity, and in 1632 work started on a new channel, which would run for 5 miles (8.0 km) from Newbridge, near Thorne, eastwards to enter the Ouse at the site of Goole, 9 miles (14 km) upstream of the Trent. Water levels here were between 5 and 10 feet (1.5 and 3.0 m) lower than at Turnbridge. This new channel was called the "Dutch River", and

5073-441: The manufacture of nails. Four water wheels were recorded in the 1820s, and water power was still being uses in 1900. The site was cleared after 1985, but the stone weir, with its nine bays, remains. Beeley Wood or Nova Scotia Tilts was a sizeable operation, with eight water wheels operating in the 1830s, four wheels driving two forges, another two driving the bellows for the forges, and the final two driving two tilt hammers. The works

5162-423: The maximum height a species can jump or creates flow conditions that cannot be bypassed (e.g., due to excessive water velocity) effectively limits the maximum point upstream that fish can migrate. In some cases this can mean that huge lengths of breeding habitat are lost, and over time this can have a significant impact on fish populations. In many countries, it is now a legal requirement to build fish ladders into

5251-441: The mill buildings have long since gone, but the weirs remain. All of the weirs on this section of the Don followed a similar pattern, with a weir built at an angle across the river, and a goit or channel leading from the lower edge to a reservoir or dam running parallel to the river. After the works, a tail goit returned water to the river. Water supply to the dam was controlled by shuttles which could be raised to allow water to enter

5340-710: The mouth. The largest city on the river is Sheffield. Settlements with a population of over 10,000 according to the 2001 census are shown in bold . The river's source, tributaries and mouth are in italics . Winscar Reservoir Confluence with Little Don River River Ouse The River Don rises in the Peak District, on Great Grains Moss, a millstone grit moorland area between 1,480 and 1,570 feet (450 and 480 m) above sea level. A series of small streams, including Great Grains and Black Grough join up, and within 1.2 miles (1.9 km) enter Winscar Reservoir. Reaps Dyke rises within 500 yards (460 m) of

5429-641: The navigable section is reached. Walk Mill weir supplied the Upper and Nether Walk mills and wheels. The Nether Walk mill is thought to have been the site of a fulling mill mentioned in 1332, and was still operating as a fulling mill in 1760, when there were also two cutlers wheels at the lower site and one at the upper. The use of water wheels ceased in 1853, and both sites were recorded as the Albion Iron and Steel Works in 1864. Burton Weir supplied Royds mill and wheels, which also operated on two sites, and included

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5518-403: The navigation, but although some locks were lengthened around 1910, Long Sandall lock was not, and it was not until 1959 that it was extended to 215 by 22 feet (65.5 by 6.7 m) and trains of 17 compartment boats could work through to Doncaster. The navigation was the subject of one of the last major attempts in the UK to attract commercial freight to the waterways. In 1983, it was upgraded to

5607-583: The packhorse trail from Leeds to Cheshire. It now forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail . It is listed Grade II by English Heritage. This substantial viaduct conveys the long-distance Trans Pennine Trail across the River Don and its valley which is narrow at this point. The name of the viaduct varies. Barnsley Council sign-boards call this Romticle Viaduct, local newspapers call it Rumtickle Viaduct and 1940s LNER plans call it Romptickle Viaduct. Built in 1844 from local stone, it formed part of

5696-413: The rate at which water moves downstream even slightly, a disproportionate effect can be had on the likelihood of flooding. On larger rivers, a weir can also alter the flow characteristics of the waterway to the point that vessels are able to navigate areas previously inaccessible due to extreme currents or eddies . Many larger weirs will have construction features that allow boats and river users to "shoot

5785-427: The river bottom) that reduces the water oxygen content and smothers invertebrate habitat and fish spawning sites. The oxygen content typically returns to normal once water has passed over the weir crest (although it can be hyper-oxygenated), although increased river velocity can scour the river bed causing erosion and habitat loss. Weirs can have a significant effect on fish migration . Any weir that exceeds either

5874-584: The river from Barnby Dun to Fishlake Ferry, to avoid the shallows at Stainforth and Bramwith. The river was navigable to Rotherham in 1740, and to Tinsley by 1751. Stainforth was connected to the River Trent by the opening on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1802 and to the Aire and Calder Navigation by the New Junction Canal , opened in 1905. There were plans to use compartment boats to carry coal on

5963-406: The river from old ganister mine workings, giving it an orange colour for about six miles, eventually remedied, while at Beeley Wood , the ochre comes from a pile of waste metal on the river bank. A nearby paper mill has also been a significant polluter of the river. Some of the problem has been mitigated by the construction of lagoons, into which mine discharges have been diverted. Water quality on

6052-654: The river navigable from Holmstile in Doncaster to Tinsley , on the edge of Sheffield, and another obtained by the Corporation of Doncaster in 1727 to improve the river below Holmstile, as far as Wilsick House in Barnby Dun. An Act of 1733 created "The Company of the Proprietors of the Navigation of the River Don", and authorised further cuts above Rotherham, while a further Bill of 1740 sought powers to improve

6141-481: The river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations,

6230-636: The short Rotherham lock. On the night of 26 October 1536, a sudden rise in the level of the River Don prevented the forces of the Pilgrimage of Grace from crossing the river at Doncaster, forcing them to enter into negotiations with Henry VIII's forces. The Great Sheffield Flood , which occurred on 11 March 1864 following the collapse of the Dale Dike Dam on a tributary of the River Loxley, destroyed 800 houses, destroyed or damaged most of

6319-494: The site until 1980. Sandbed wheel was built in 1723, and by 1794, there were three water wheels supplying 52 grinding troughs. A steam engine was supplementing the wheels by 1886, but the wheels remained in use until at least 1907. The weir and the shuttles controlling the flow in the head goit remain. Below this, Morton wheels are known to have existed in 1581. The works became the Philadelphia Works around 1807, and

6408-422: The smallest being only a few centimetres in height whilst the largest may be many metres tall and hundreds of metres long. Some common weir purposes are outlined below. Weirs allow hydrologists and engineers a simple method of measuring the volumetric flow rate in small to medium-sized streams/rivers or in industrial discharge locations. Since the geometry of the top of the weir is known and all water flows over

6497-453: The source, and flows in a semicircle to the north, through Snailsden reservoir and Harden reservoir, to flow into another arm of Winscar reservoir. Just 100 yards (91 m) from the source, Withens Brook rises, but flows westwards, to supply the reservoirs of Longdendale and the people of Manchester . To the south of Winscar reservoir, other streams supply Upper Windleden and Lower Windleden reservoirs. All of these reservoirs were built in

6586-407: The village of Dunford Bridge, the dam is built of rock fill, which allows the faces to be much steeper than those of an earth dam, and the inner face is covered with two layers of asphaltic concrete, the first such use of this material on a dam in Britain. The dam is 174 feet (53 m) high and contains around 1,180,000 cubic yards (900,000 m ) of rock fill. Another innovation in its construction

6675-456: The village; additionally there is a public footpath. Mill Lane connects the Don Gorge with Warmsworth to the south. The Don Gorge is a valley of magnesian limestone, cut through by the water of the River Don. It extends from Conisbrough in the west, to Sprotbrough in the east, ending just before the A1(M) motorway . Animals such as woolly mammoths and rhinoceroses, are evident from bones dug up in

6764-465: The water in the reservoir. One of many footpath crossings of the Don in the upper part of its course. This path links the A628 (near St Saviour's Church) with Leapings Lane. There is a ford by the side of the footbridge and this can be easily crossed by road vehicles for most of the year. This is a curving 29-arch viaduct which is 980 feet (300 m) long and 98 feet (30 m) high where it crosses

6853-515: The water level can rise and submerge the weir without any alterations made to the structure. A polynomial weir is a weir that has a geometry defined by a polynomial equation of any order n . In practice, most weirs are low-order polynomial weirs. The standard rectangular weir is, for example, a polynomial weir of order zero. The triangular (V-notch) and trapezoidal weirs are of order one. High-order polynomial weirs are providing wider range of Head-Discharge relationships, and hence better control of

6942-439: The water quality, by reducing the concentration of metals, the ammonia content, and the biological oxygen demand (BOD), which is a measure of the amount of oxygen that is needed by organisms to break down organic matter in the water. Sewage treatment works on the Don, notably those at Cheesebottom, on the west bank of the river at Thurgoland and Blackburn Meadows at Tinsley , have been upgraded, as has that at Darton on

7031-471: The water. Parts of Rotherham and Doncaster were flooded for the second time in 10 days. Two days later, the army were called in to assist at Barnby Dun after the river flooded large areas near Thorpe Marsh Power Station . The Don also burst its banks in November 2019, flooding villages along its course, notably Fishlake . The River Don catchment was the subject of extensive research investigations in

7120-546: The weir" and navigate by passing up or down stream without having to exit the river. Weirs constructed for this purpose are especially common on the River Thames , and most are situated near each of the river's 45 locks . Because a weir impounds water behind it and alters the flow regime of the river, it can have an effect on the local ecology . Typically, the reduced river velocity upstream can lead to increased siltation (deposition of fine particles of silt and clay on

7209-532: The weir, the depth of water behind the weir can be converted to a rate of flow. However, this can only be achieved in locations where all water flows over the top of the weir crest (as opposed to around the sides or through conduits or sluices) and at locations where the water that flows over the crest is carried away from the structure. If these conditions are not met, it can make flow measurement complicated, inaccurate, or even impossible. The discharge calculation can be summarised as where However, this calculation

7298-507: Was a company that specialised in the fabrication of tubular steel structures. It had other factories in London, Liverpool and Glasgow and was in business from 1899 until 1981. In 1961, the company employed 1,200 people. This pre-fabricated design of footbridge was popular in the years immediately after World War II and examples can be found all over Britain. Station Lane bridge carries the unclassified road from Oughtibridge to Grenoside over

7387-482: Was described as a forge, and a high pressure steam engine was operational in 1855, to supplement the 15-foot (4.6 m) water wheel. The dams were out of use by 1892, and parts of the site are now occupied by Hillsborough Football Stadium . Near the tail goit of the Wadsley works, the Don was joined by a small tributary, on which was located Rawsons Mill or Bark Mill . The mill building was separated from its dam by

7476-428: Was finished in 1635, at a cost of £33,000. It ended in a sluice at Goole, and was never intended to be navigable, as boats could access the Aire at Turnbridge. The sluice was later swept away in a flood and never replaced. The Dutch River was difficult to navigate, made more hazardous by shoals, three awkward bridges, and low water levels at neap tides. With the opening of the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1802, from

7565-528: Was later connected to the tail goit. Wadsley Furnace was also located in this area. It was built for the Earl of Shrewsbury by 1583, but the blast furnace is thought to have been defunct by the 1670s. The final works in this section was Wadsley Forge or Wardsend Steel Works, which was operational from 1581 to the late 19th century, although the precise function varied. In 1819, there were two wheels supplying power to 69 troughs, where blades were ground. By 1849, it

7654-409: Was recorded as derelict by 1895. In February 2016 the Environment Agency removed the middle two-thirds of Beeley Wood Lower Weir as part of a scheme to allow the free migration of fish and let the river return to a more natural form. The next works was Hawksley or Clay Wheels which employed 54 men in 1794, and was still using water power in 1895. The site was used to make scythes until after 1941, when

7743-462: Was replaced by a wire mill in the 1870s, and was still using water power in 1895, by which time the tilts were using steam power. The weir was close to Lady's Bridge, and the head goit flowed through one of the arches of the bridge. It is thought that there are several goits in culverts near Blonk Street, but their exact extent is unknown. The culverted Porter Brook joins the River Sheaf , which

7832-416: Was surveyed in 1855, by which time the works had become Niagara Works. It was recorded as a forge which was still using water power in 1907. The weir remains, together with the shuttles which controlled the flow into the head goit, although the channel itself has been built over. Wadsley Bridge corn mill, which became a forge around 1800, originally took its water supply from the head goit of the paper mill, but

7921-572: Was the use of a hydraulic jump pool at the foot of the overflow chute, which dissipates the energy of the cascading water. The reservoir supplies drinking water to the Calder Valley, some 12 miles (19 km) to the north, and is also the base for Pennine Sailing Club, who offer basic training in sailing skills, on courses certified by the Royal Yachting Association . The Don flows from the foot of Winscar Dam, close to

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