106-691: Mexborough is a town in Doncaster , South Yorkshire , England, between Manvers and Denaby Main , on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne , and the A6023 road . It is contiguous with Swinton to the southwest and Conisbrough to the east. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire , Mexborough had a population of 15,244 at the 2011 Census. The name of Mexborough
212-582: A cottage hospital , the lack of suitable facilities led to Lord Montagu donating land for a new hospital to be built. Lord Montagu laid the first stone at the site in 1904. The site is still a working hospital, which now forms part of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS trust. The industries that led to the creation of Montagu Hospital not only brought problems to the town but also led to an increase in population and, for some, an increase in wealth and opportunity. Many more public houses and other businesses were created, many of which are still trading today. It
318-573: A 5-mile (8 km) channel from Newbridge near Thorne eastwards to Goole, where water levels in the Ouse were between 5 and 10 feet (1.5 and 3.0 m) lower than at Turnbridge. The channel, called the Dutch River, ended in another outfall sluice, and was completed in 1635 at a cost of £33,000. Boats continued to use the lock at Turnbridge. In about 1688 the Goole sluice was washed away by a flood, and
424-409: A bus-only lay-by on the northern side of the eastbound carriageway of Greens Way, a single stand (numbered B1) at a right angle to these accessed from John Street, and three stands (numbered HS1–HS3) situated a short distance away at the side of Hartley Street. The three sets of stands are in close proximity, linked by car parks and pathways. The majority of bus routes traverse Mexborough town centre on
530-610: A chapel; it was formally reconsecrated in 1924 by the Bishop of Sheffield, and restoration of the interior took place in 1980. Centenary Way bridge (north) carries the Centenary Way dual carriageway over the navigation. Greasbrough Road Bridge carries Greasbrough Road, which is no longer a main road and only serves local businesses. Downstream of this bridge are 3 pipe bridges. Rawmarsh Road Bridge , called “Rotherham Rawmarsh Road Bridge 39” by British Waterways, carries
636-485: A concept known locally as Mexit. In December 2023, a meeting was held and jointly hosted by Bev Chapman and Glenn Bluff, from opposing parties to push forward the concept of a town council that has since received local support and has a facebook page. Mexborough railway station is located on the south bank of the River Don on Station Road, a short cul-de-sac off the A6023 Greens Way dual carriageway on
742-505: A fifth arch added in 1768. In 1930 a new bridge was built nearby, a little further upstream, and as part of the work, the fifth arch was removed and the bridge was returned to its Medieval width. Because of improvements to the river made in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is wider than it used to be, and the bridge no longer reaches the west bank. The chapel on the bridge is one of only three complete bridge chapels that still exist in Britain,
848-571: A lack of capital. One success was the opening of the New Junction Canal in 1905, jointly funded with the Aire and Calder Navigation . During the 20th century, there were several plans to upgrade the Don, to handle larger craft. It was eventually upgraded to take 700-tonne barges in 1983, but the scheme was a little too late, as an anticipated rise in commercial traffic did not occur. Most use of
954-579: A minor road linking the Blackburn Meadows Nature Reserve Car Park with Holmes. The bridge still has railway tracks embedded in part of the cobbled road surface. The tracks were part of a network of sidings which served the Holmes Rolling Mills on the north bank of the navigation, and the bridge provided access to a crushing plant situated on the island formed by the course of the river to the south and
1060-697: A one-way loop, with the Greens Way stops serving routes heading generally eastbound towards Doncaster and the Hartley Street stops serving westbound services towards Barnsley and Rotherham . Mexborough Interchange was built by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive in the early 1990s, replacing bus stops in both directions on the High Street which was subsequently pedestrianised . When
1166-651: A plain green with a leaf design impressed "Reed". Before 2010, Mexborough was in the Barnsley East and Mexborough constituency. Since then, it has been in the Doncaster North constituency, whose current MP is Ed Miliband , former leader of the Labour Party . Local party Mexborough First did hold all three seats in the Mexborough ward on Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council but following
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#17327809381661272-572: A straight line for 5.5 miles (8.9 km), to join the Aire and Calder Navigation upstream from Goole . It provided a much more direct route from Sheffield to Goole, and was opened on 2 January 1905. The company had hoped to run compartment boats for the transport of coal along the canal, as the Aire and Calder did, but although straightening of the navigation was completed at Doncaster in April 1905 and at Sprotborough in late 1907, and Doncaster Town Lock
1378-516: A stretch near Doncaster and the construction of a new warehouse and wharf were largely funded by Doncaster Corporation in 1934. Stainforth Side Lock, which allowed boats to access the lower River Don, was closed in 1939. The major traffic on the navigation had always been coal, but after the Second World War there was a steady increase in oil traffic. By 1946, all of the mortgages that the company had used to fund expansion were repaid, and
1484-522: Is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire , England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster , and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The district has large amounts of countryside ; at 219 square miles (570 km ), it is the largest metropolitan borough in England by area. The largest settlements in
1590-602: Is a combination of an Old English or Old Norse personal name, which may be Meke , Muik , Meoc or Mjukr , and the suffix burh , meaning a fortified place in Anglo-Saxon Old English. Mexborough is located at the north-eastern end of a dyke known as the Roman Ridge , which is thought to have been constructed either by the Brigantian tribes in the 1st century AD, perhaps as a defence against
1696-408: Is a road and pedestrian bridge across the river into Forge Island. Bridge Street Bridge also known as Chantry Bridge is a single-span metal bridge that carries Bridge Street over the navigation. The street continues eastwards and originally crossed the river at Rotherham Bridge . As originally constructed in 1483 the bridge had four arches and was 15-foot (4.6 m) wide, but it was widened and
1802-583: Is bridge number 47 and conveys a service road over the Navigation and railway. At this point on the west side of the Navigation, there was a large tar distillation works and it is probable that this road connected that works with a tip or further chemical plant on the east side. The tar distillation works was built by Ellison & Mitchell in 1886 and became part of the Yorkshire Tar Distillers group in 1927. Swinton Talbot Road Bridge
1908-573: Is bridge number 48 and connects the main road in Swinton (A6022 Bridge Street and Rowms Lane) with an industrial estate whose principal unit is the Morphy Richards distribution centre. Mexborough Double Bridges is named "Double Bridges and Footbridge 49A" by the Canal & River Trust. The bridge carries a footway and double-track railway over the Navigation. This section of the Navigation
2014-481: The Emley Moor TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Sheffield , Heart Yorkshire , Capital Yorkshire , Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire (formerly Trax FM ), TX1 Radio , Hallam FM , and Rotherham Radio, a community based station which broadcast from the town. The town is served by the local newspapers, Dearne Valley Weekender and Doncaster Free Press . Mexborough has been represented in
2120-839: The English Democrat candidate, Peter Davies , won the election for mayor. In January 2013 Davies left the English Democrats citing "a big influx of new members (of the English Democrats) joining from the British National Party". In the May 2013 mayoral election he was defeated by Labour's Ros Jones . The council as a whole has been dominated by the Labour Party traditionally, but in the 2004 local elections , they lost overall control of
2226-529: The FA Cup by four different football teams – Mexborough Locomotive Works, Mexborough St. Johns, Mexborough West End and Mexborough Town . The last of the four was the most prominent and won the Yorkshire Football League in 1973. The history of the town is charted on the Mexborough & District Heritage Society's extensive website . City of Doncaster The City of Doncaster
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#17327809381662332-541: The Great Central Railway . Between this railway bridge and Jordan Bridge, there are two bridges carrying pipes. Jordan Bridge , called "Jordan Bridge 21" by British Waterways, carried a railway that linked Blackburn Meadows Sewage Works to additional filters and contact beds to the east of the navigation. It was constructed by Logan and Hemmingway, who won a contract valued at £41,046 in April 1907, which included six settling tanks, 24 contact beds, and
2438-765: The M18 motorway . This section provides details of some of the many bridges crossing the Don Navigation, in west-to-east order, starting from Tinsley. MS&L railway bridge , which is located a little below the junction of the Sheffield Canal and the river, carries the Sheffield to Rotherham freight-only railway line. The railway, which opened in 1868, was originally part of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway , which later became part of
2544-629: The River Trent at Keadby . The River Don heads northwards too, turning to the east where the Dutch River starts at Newbridge. The original course to the River Aire can be traced across the fields, now little more than a drainage ditch crossed by an oversized Grade II listed bridge on the A1041 at East Cowick , and Vermuyden's embankments are closely followed by the A614 road after it has crossed
2650-457: The River Trent , and a northern branch, which was a Roman navigation channel, and joined the River Aire at Turnbridge, near East Cowick . Cornelius Vermuyden 's drainage scheme for Hatfield Chase, begun in 1626 and largely completed by 1628, included the construction of Ashfield Bank, which ran for 2 miles (3.2 km) along the southern bank of the Don from Fishlake to Thorne, cutting off
2756-804: The Roman invasion of Britain , or after the 5th century to defend the British kingdom of Elmet from the Angles . The earliest known written reference to Mexborough is found in the Domesday Book of 1086 ( Mechesburg ), which states that before the Norman Conquest of England the area had been controlled by the Saxon lords Wulfheah and Ulfkil. Following the Conquest, the area fell under the control of
2862-402: The Sheffield Canal in 1819, which provided better access to Sheffield. All three were bought out by the Don Navigation in the 1840s, after which the canals were owned by a series of railway companies. The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company was created in 1889 and eventually succeeded in buying back the canals and the Don Navigation in 1895, but plans for expansion were hampered by
2968-499: The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. cxc) on 26 August 1889, creating the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company , which was authorised to raise £1.5 million and to purchase the four canals either by negotiation, or by compulsory purchase if negotiations failed. The railway company was unwilling to sell, and it was not until 1895, after protracted negotiation and legal battles that
3074-578: The demise of coal-mining in the 1980s, Mexborough, like many ex-mining towns and villages, is still in the process of economic and social recovery. The Rock Pottery originally operated as Beevers & Ford. In 1839 it was bought by James Reed, whose son John renamed the business the "Mexborough Pottery", and expanded the works. On the bankruptcy of the Rockingham Pottery in 1842, John Reed bought many of its moulds and continued their production, though with different transfer prints and also in
3180-726: The A633 Rotherham Road (from Rotherham to Parkgate). The A633 crossing of the River Don is called Grafton Bridge. Eastwood Footbridge carries the public footpath from the Eastwood area of Rotherham to the Parkgate Retail Park. When the Rotherham Cut section of the Don Navigation was constructed in 1740, the crossing was by means of a swing bridge. This was replaced by a high-level footbridge in
3286-601: The Aire and Calder Navigation, although some of the bridges would have had less clearance. In 1972, a further proposal for a £2 million scheme to upgrade the waterway to handle 700-tonne barges up to Mexborough, and 400-tonne barges from there to Rotherham was submitted to the Department of the Environment. Finally, the navigation was the subject of one of the last major attempts in the UK to attract commercial freight to
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3392-460: The Don from the retaining wall of the factory site to the north. Corporation Bridge is a single-span metal bridge which carries Main Street over the navigation. Slightly upstream of this bridge was a wooden railway bridge with seven arches, built in 1838, that took the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway into Westgate Station . It was demolished in 1952. Prior to the re-routing of the canal in 1864,
3498-769: The Duke of Norfolk, who represented the opposition from Sheffield, and a great deal of work had been done to reduce the opposition from landowners. The River Dun Navigation Act 1725 ( 12 Geo. 1 . c. 38) was passed on 24 May 1726 giving the Cutlers powers to make cuts and to make the river deeper and wider so that boats of 20 tons could reach Tinsley. There were a number of restrictions, intended to protect existing water-powered installations. Lord Frederick Howard's mills at Rotherham, Kilnhurst forge, Thrybergh dam and Sprotborough mills and water engine were specifically mentioned. The Corporation of Doncaster sought powers in 1727 to improve
3604-613: The Holmes Cut to the north. Midland Railway bridges are two parallel railway bridges. The western one was built in 1869, but the line it carried was truncated by the building of the Holmes Chord in the 1980s, and it is now unused. The eastern of the two bridges was built in 1840 as part of the North Midland Railway. This carried the "main line" from Derby to York until the diversion via Bradway and Sheffield
3710-745: The Interchange first opened, there was a staffed ticket office and indoor waiting area with toilet facilities located in a small building between the Greens Way stands and John Street. However, around the time of the beginning of the Great Recession , the staffed ticket office was closed and all facilities inside were sealed off as an austerity measure. As of October 2022, the stand allocation is: Mexborough has one secondary school ( Laurel Academy ) and many primary schools. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire . Television signals are received from
3816-763: The Norman Baron Roger de Busli . The remains of an earthwork in Castle Park are thought to have been a motte-and-bailey castle constructed in the 11th century shortly after the Conquest. St John the Baptist's Church includes elements that date from the 12th century. A few other pre-1800 buildings remain, including several public houses : the Ferryboat Inn, the George and Dragon, the Bull's Head and
3922-459: The Red Lion. Most of the buildings in the town are post-1800. Throughout the 18th, 19th and much of the 20th century the town's economy was based around coal mining , quarrying , brickworks and the production of ceramics , and it soon became a busy railway junction . These industries led to an increase in industrial illness and an increase in the mortality rate . Although the town boasted
4028-591: The River Don. The road (A630) is an upgrading of the old Canklow Road and is the main access into Rotherham from the M1. It also forms part of the Rotherham Ring Road which was begun about 1968, actually only goes half way around town, was built in sections and completed in 1995. The towpath of the navigation (part of the Trans-Pennine Trail ) is carried on a walkway that is cantilevered over
4134-491: The Trans Pennine Trail. Sprotborough lock and weir are situated just before Sprotborough . Below the lock on the north bank are the remains of an engine house, built in the 1690s for Sir Godfrey Copley of Sprotborough Hall. A water wheel pumped river water some 100 feet (30 m) upwards to supply a fountain in the grounds of the hall, a swimming pool, and also provided a water supply for the village. The pump
4240-585: The Westgate line crossed the Holmes cut a little further to the west by a three-arched bridge, the centre arch of which was 36 feet (11 m) long and was made of iron. Rotherham Lock footbridge provides pedestrian access to the Court House from Forge Island, which was once the site of an iron works but is now occupied by Tesco's. The River Don separates from the navigation above Forge Island, and there
4346-657: The above stations can be received within various areas of Doncaster, the only stations actually owned by Doncaster-based companies are Sine FM 102.6 and TMCR 95.3. The borough is also the base of Nova Productions who produce the syndicated TV series Walks Around Britain . The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Doncaster. 53°31′21″N 1°07′43″W / 53.52250°N 1.12861°W / 53.52250; -1.12861 River Don Navigation The River Don Navigation
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4452-630: The agreement and legalise the issuing of shares was defeated because it also included powers to make further changes to the river, including the section below Barnby Dun . Finally an act of 1733, the River Dun Navigation Act 1732 ( 6 Geo. 2 . c. 9), created the Company of the Proprietors of the Navigation of the River Don, with powers to create a new cut from Bromley Sands above Rotherham to Ickles Dam. The problems presented by
4558-413: The authorities in Sheffield , Rotherham and Doncaster . The first bill to try to obtain an act of Parliament was presented in 1698 by the MP for Thirsk , Sir Godfrey Copley of Sprotborough, representing the interests of Rotherham. Although there was support from the "gentlemen, traders and inhabitants" of Doncaster, the corporation opposed the bill in view of the likely impact on their mills. There
4664-414: The borough are Doncaster itself, followed by the towns of Thorne , Hatfield and Mexborough (the latter of which is part of the Barnsley/Dearne Valley built-up area ), and it additionally covers the towns of Conisbrough, Stainforth , Bawtry , Askern , Edlington and Tickhill . Doncaster borders North Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, North Lincolnshire to
4770-399: The borough's population reside within Doncaster's urban area (approximately 160,000). Verified population statistics per Ward from the 2001 census are shown as A referendum was held in 2001, to decide if a directly elected mayor should be appointed. The first mayor , Martin Winter , representing the Labour Party, was elected in 2002 and successfully defended his post in 2005. In 2009
4876-456: The bridge. The eastern approach consists of three brick arches, which allowed a siding to pass through it. Continued expansion of the works required a second bridge to be constructed in 1922, to carry the railway over the river channel. The steelwork for Holmes Bridge was supplied by Charles Ross Ltd, who were based in Sheffield, while piling work was carried out by Yorkshire Hennebique Concreting Co Ltd. Holmes Lock Bridge carries Steel Street,
4982-429: The canal to Sheffield. It was close to the site of the Meadowhall Shopping Centre and the Tinsley Viaduct , which carries the M1 motorway over the valley of the River Don. From the junction there is a towpath along the canal to Victoria Quays (formerly Sheffield Basin) in Sheffield City Centre, or the Five Weirs Walk follows the course of the River Don to the same destination. The towpath extends to Rotherham in
5088-421: The changes which have occurred over the years can be visualised, with the river on the left and ox-bow lakes on the right, severed by the course of the Wheatley Cut. The final section to Bramwith is usually called the River Dun Navigation. At Bramwith, the waterway splits, with the New Junction Canal heading north-east for the Aire and Calder Navigation and Goole , and the Stainforth and Keadby Canal heading east to
5194-457: The council (though they retained more councillors than any other single party). Labour regained overall control at the 2010 local elections . In January 2010, the Audit Commission initiated a corporate governance inspection of Doncaster Council. This followed the sudden resignation of the Chief executive leading to a conflict between the mayor and council over the appointment of a successor. The Commission felt that this, along with evidence that
5300-492: The council had not been well run for 15 years, was leading to a loss of public confidence. The Commission's report was issued in April 2010. It found that Doncaster was a dysfunctional authority and that there were three factors preventing the council from providing good governance: On the recommendations of the commission, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government , John Denham , used powers to appoint an acting chief executive and an advisory board to oversee
5406-789: The council. A Doncaster Recovery Board, comprising four appointed commissioners and seven other members including the mayor and chief executive held its first quarterly meeting on 10 September 2010. Settlements in the Borough of Doncaster include: In terms of television, the area is served by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire broadcasting from the Emley Moor transmitter. Radio stations that can be received in Doncaster are Sine FM 102.6 (serving central districts of around 100,000 households in FM stereo), TMCR 95.3 (which serves Northeast Doncaster and other areas in FM stereo), TX1 Radio (covering Doncaster and Bassetlaw), Capital Yorkshire , Heart Yorkshire , Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire , Hits Radio South Yorkshire and BBC Radio Sheffield . Although
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#17327809381665512-414: The defection of Bev Chapman to Labour it (Mexborough First) only holds two seats. In late 2023, Glenn Bluff , Doncaster City Councillor for neighbouring Adwick-on-Dearne in the Sprotbrough ward and Parish Councillor for Neighbouring Barnburgh and Harlington announced he was standing against sitting MP Ed Miliband in the next General Election and one of his first priorities was a town council for Mexborough,
5618-519: The east, Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire to the south-east, Rotherham to the south-west, Barnsley to the west, and Wakefield , West Yorkshire , to the north-west. It is part of the Yorkshire and the Humber region. The borough was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , as a merger of the former County Borough of Doncaster , the urban districts of Adwick-le-Street , Bentley with Arksey , Conisbrough , Mexborough , and Tickhill , Doncaster and Thorne rural districts, and
5724-424: The eastern branch. Navigation to Sandtoft was made possible by the provision of a navigable sluice in the bank, which had lifting gates and a 50-by-15-foot (15.2 by 4.6 m) lock chamber. A further bank some distance to the east of the northern channel ran for 5 miles (8 km) from Thorne to Turnbridge to provide washlands, which would flood when high levels in the Aire prevented the Don discharging into it. In
5830-451: The engineer to the Don Navigation Company, overseeing the work until his death in 1795. It provided a link from Bramwith Lock to the River Trent , broadly following the old course of the River Don prior to Vermuyden's improvements. Two years later, the Dearne and Dove Canal opened, connecting with the Barnsley Canal near Barnsley . The canal had also been proposed by Don Navigation shareholders in 1792, and again John Thompson had overseen
5936-478: The financial position of the canal gradually improved. Control of the navigation, as with most British canals, passed to the British Transport Commission on 1 January 1948, under the terms of the Transport Act 1947 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 6 . c. 49). Some improvements continued to be made, with two coal wharfs being built at Mexborough in 1954, to serve the new Doncaster power station, and Long Sandall Lock being extended to 215 by 22 feet (65.5 by 6.7 m). The new lock
6042-434: The home of James Simpson in Mexborough and decided to form the Mexborough Working Men's Industrial Society (later renamed the Mexborough Cooperative Society). The aim of the Society was to supply (at first to the nine men themselves) the necessary things of life. Membership quickly grew and by the 1890s it stood at 1,200. At one time, there were ten shops across the built-up area of Mexborough. By 1903, land had been purchased in
6148-402: The initial construction. The third opening was in 1819, when the Sheffield Canal connected the Tinsley terminus to the centre of Sheffield. There were several plans to create a link to the Chesterfield Canal , including one in 1793 by Benjamin Outram , and a proposal by Richard Gresley in 1810 for a North East Junction Canal, which would have linked to the Don at Rotherham, broadly following
6254-405: The internal railway system at the Blackburn Meadows sewage treatment plant. The former railway viaduct at Conisbrough now carries cyclists 113 feet (34 m) above the Don, as part of the National Cycle Network . The final section to Bramwith is known as the River Dun Navigation . Before 1626 the River Don had two outlets, an eastern branch that meandered across Hatfield Chase to enter
6360-512: The late 1900s. To the south of Eastwood Footbridge is a bailey bridge crossing of the River Don. Wash Lane Bridge is situated immediately downstream of Aldwarke Weir and upstream of Aldwarke Lock. It was rebuilt in 1834. In more recent times, it has been superseded by the A6123 (Aldwarke Lane) road bridge, a concrete flyover spanning both river and navigation. The bridge is now gated at both ends to prevent access to pedestrians and traffic. Steelworks access (road) bridge provides access to
6466-412: The local collieries required railway locomotives to haul it and these locomotives required driving, firing, refuelling, maintenance and stabling. Mexborough was chosen as the site for a large 15-road depot. In its heyday it had an allocation of about 150 locomotives. In the 1920s it was the stabling point for the LNER Garratt , then the most powerful locomotive in the UK. The depot closed in 1964. Following
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#17327809381666572-456: The locks are 70 by 15.1 feet (21.3 by 4.6 m), and so can accommodate a 70 feet (21 m) broad boat, but Rotherham lock is smaller, being only 61.5 feet (18.7 m) long, and so the upper reaches are effectively restricted to 60-foot (18 m) boats. Kilnhurst Lock and Doncaster Town Lock are both located at the head of a canal section of the navigation, and are used to regulate water levels within those sections. When not in use by boats,
6678-409: The middle of Mexborough on which to build a large and grand new central store, but then suddenly in 1904 the Mexborough Cooperative Society went into liquidation. Soon afterwards it was taken over by the Barnsley British Co-operative Society. One of Mexborough's landmarks is closely associated with the Cooperative Society. This is the former Barnsley British Cooperative Society flour mill, which stands on
6784-426: The modern ideas for the Rother Link . Neither of these, nor a revival of the idea in 1832 gained sufficient support to proceed. The company bought out the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1846, the Sheffield Canal in 1848, and the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1849. They then amalgamated with the South Yorkshire, Doncaster and Goole Railway in 1850, to become the South Yorkshire Railway and River Dun Company. This in turn
6890-432: The navigation is now by leisure boaters, whose boats are dwarfed by the huge locks. The navigation and river are crossed by a wide variety of bridges, from a medieval bridge complete with a chapel on it , one of only three to have survived in Britain, to a motorway viaduct that pioneered the use of rubber bearings and a new waterproofing system. In between are a number of railway bridges, including two that were built to carry
6996-400: The navigation passed on again in 1963, this time to the British Waterways Board , who submitted a proposal to the government for a £2.5 million upgrade, covering the stretch from Bramwith to Rotherham. This would have involved the construction of ten new locks, each 225 by 25 feet (68.6 by 7.6 m), to replace the existing 12 locks. The new main line would then have been the same size as
7102-408: The neighbouring Aire and Calder Navigation. A plan to upgrade the waterways to allow the use of 300 to 500-tonne boats led to the formation of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal Company Limited in November 1888. The cost of the scheme was estimated to be around £1 million, in addition to the cost of acquiring the canals from the railway company. The new company obtained an act of Parliament,
7208-424: The new larger lock, allowing a comparison of their relative sizes to be made. The new lock has three sets of gates, and pleasure craft normally use the bottom and middle sets, while the original lock is used for moorings. The new locks are 198 by 20 feet (60.4 by 6.1 m), and the navigation accommodates boats with a draught of 8.2 feet (2.5 m) and needing headroom of 10.5 feet (3.2 m). Beyond Rotherham,
7314-409: The new waterway. No work could start until the company actually owned their canals, and they were required to raise £150,000 at a time when they had just failed to raise the finance for the takeover of the original canals. However, three-quarters of the cost had been raised by 1903. The new canal leaves the original navigation at Bramwith Junction, runs over the River Don on an aqueduct, and continues in
7420-499: The north side of the River Don Navigation , close to the Church of St John the Baptist. It started off as the "Don Roller Mills". It was owned by James White, who sold it to the Barnsley British Cooperative Society in 1912. For more than a hundred years the railway locomotive maintenance and stabling depot (colloquially known as " Mexborough Loco ") was a major employer. The South Yorkshire, Doncaster and Goole Railway arrived in Mexborough in 1850. The extensive coal traffic generated by
7526-420: The only way to see the navigation is from a boat or from one of the bridges which cross it. To the north of the cut are the remains of the Greasbrough Canal , now culverted under the embankment of the A633 road. Eastwood lock marks the end of the Rotherham Cut, to be followed by Aldwarke Lock, in the shadow of the A6123 road bridge, and Kilnhurst flood lock, which marks the start of the Kilnhurst Cut. In Swinton ,
7632-482: The opposite direction, passing the large Jordans Weir and the three locks on the Holmes Cut. Beside Jordans Weir is the outfall from Blackburn Meadows sewage treatment plant. In dry weather, this discharges 30 million gallons (136,000 m ) of treated water each day, more than doubling the flow in the river. The towpath continues to Rotherham Lock, where the Rotherham cut starts, but from there to Conisbrough
7738-407: The other two being at Wakefield , West Yorkshire, and St Ives, Huntingdonshire . Dating from about 1483, it remained in use as a chapel until the reign of King Edward VI (1547–1553). It was put to use as almshouses during the 17th and 18th centuries, and in 1779 it was used as a prison. Later, it became a private dwelling and finally a tobacconist's shop, before being returned to its original use as
7844-407: The paddles at both ends of the locks may be raised automatically to maintain water levels. When a boat needs to use the lock, the paddles close automatically before the normal operating procedure can be followed. The River Don Navigation ended at Tinsley Wharf, but it forms a convenient place to start a description of the route. The wharf was on the river, just upstream from the present junction with
7950-486: The parish of Finningley from East Retford Rural District and small parts of the parish of Harworth from Worksop Rural District from Nottinghamshire . According to the 2011 census , the population of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is 302,400. With approximately 110,000 inhabitants, the town of Doncaster itself contains around a third of the population of the entire borough. Around half of
8056-428: The railway built along its course. Despite attempts to divert coal traffic to the railway, the canals maintained their traffic levels, carrying 982,000 tonnes in 1878 and 927,254 in 1888. However, there was dissatisfaction among users of the canals that the rates for traffic were higher than on the railways, and the canals were failing to modernise, as steam boats were banned, despite them having been in use for 50 years on
8162-401: The railway influence was removed. The scheme involved deepening the channel from 6 feet (1.8 m) to 8 feet (2.4 m), and constructing 18 new locks which would be 270 by 22 feet (82.3 by 6.7 m), to replace the existing 62-by-16-foot (18.9 by 4.9 m) locks. The locks would have multiple gates, and be capable of holding four 110-tonne barges or one 300-tonne barge. The estimated cost
8268-492: The river below Holmstile, as far as Wilsick House in Barnby Dun. The bill passed through Parliament uneventfully as the River Dun Navigation Act 1726 ( 13 Geo. 1 . c. 20), and again included detailed restrictions on what could and could not be done, designed to protect the landowners. The details were very specific in that they included the permissible heights of dams, the maximum length of cuts, and many other details of
8374-413: The river below Wilsick House, including shallows and fords at Bramwith and Stainforth, and bridges on the Dutch River that were difficult to navigate, resulted in the proprietors trying again to obtain powers to improve the lower river in 1737, but again the petition was defeated in a parliamentary committee. Work continued, and it appears that Aldwarke was the head of navigation for some years, but Rotherham
8480-614: The river was obtained in 1726, by a group of Cutlers based in Sheffield ; the Corporation of Doncaster obtained an Act in the following year for improvements to the lower river. Locks and lock cuts were built and by 1751 the river was navigable to Tinsley . The network was expanded by the opening of the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1802, linking to the River Trent , the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1804, linking to Barnsley , and
8586-509: The road to Hooton Roberts. The bridge over the Navigation adjoins the bridge over the railway. The bridge over the railway is original, but that over the Navigation is a modern replacement. Kilnhurst Central railway station was immediately downstream of the bridge, until it closed in 1968. The road continues to the east to cross the Don at Kilnhurst Bridge, and continues to the west as Victoria Street and Kilnhurst West railway station , which also closed in 1968. Kilnhurst Burton Ings Bridge
8692-503: The section above Doncaster. There was organised resistance to the scheme from local landowners, and it appears that their influence resulted in the proposed bill being defeated in committee, so it could not be presented to Parliament. However, in 1726 Sheffield's Company of Cutlers sought parliamentary approval to make the river navigable from Holmstile in Doncaster to Tinsley , on the edge of Sheffield. Terminating at Tinsley placated
8798-401: The shallows at Stainforth and Bramwith. Work on this northern section started almost immediately. The southern section to Tinsley was navigable by 1751, although the wharf and warehouse had not been completed by that date, and the towpath from Rotherham was not completed until 1822. In 1737, the navigation was leased to three of the company shareholders for 14 years, and a new seven-year lease
8904-696: The south side of the town. It is served by local stopping trains towards Doncaster and Sheffield , operated by Northern Trains , with generally an hourly service in each direction. Mexborough also has a bus station in the town centre, Mexborough Interchange , operated by Travel South Yorkshire . The Interchange is located between the A6023 Greens Way dual carriageway, John Street, Main Street and Hartley Street, around 100 m (330 ft) from Mexborough High Street and 500 m (1,600 ft) on foot from Mexborough railway station. The bus station consists of three stands (numbered A1–A3) located in
9010-596: The stub of the Dearne and Dove Canal turns off to the left, and there are three more locks before the cut ends. Immediately following this, the River Dearne flows into the Don, and the towpath resumes, where the Dearne Way footpath ends. The route continues through a wooded valley, past the site of the Sprotborough Flash Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), with the towpath forming part of
9116-475: The transfer was agreed. The Navigation Company had only succeeded in raising £625,000, which was less than the purchase price of the canals, and therefore the railway company nominated half of the ten directors, while the Aire and Calder Company declined to buy any shares because of railway influence. Many of the ambitious plans for the modernisation of the system were hindered by a lack of capital, although some further developments took place. One improvement that
9222-515: The two steelworks from the A630 road at Dalton. Don (rail) Bridge forms part of the internal rail network of the two steelworks. It was constructed in 1901 as part of what was called locally John Brown's Private Railway . This railway connected the Silverwood and Roundwood Collieries of John Brown & Company with wharves on the Don Navigation. The girder bridge crossing the Don Navigation
9328-691: The waterways. In 1983, it was upgraded to the 700-tonne Eurobarge standard by deepening the channels and enlarging the locks as far as Rotherham. Conisbrough lock was removed altogether, and the two Eastwood locks were combined into one. The new lock was initially named the Sir Frank Price Lock, after the chairman of the British Waterways Board who formally opened it on 1 June 1983. The expected rise in freight traffic did not occur, however. At Long Sandall, there used to be two locks side by side, and one of these still exists beside
9434-404: The winter of 1628, there was flooding at Fishlake and Sykehouse, which was followed by rioting. A navigable sluice was built at Turnbridge in 1629, with a lock 60 by 18 feet (18.3 by 5.5 m), and an outfall sluice called the "Great Sluice" was completed in 1630, probably by Hugo Spiering, who had assisted Vermuyden with the main project. Continued problems with flooding led to the construction of
9540-415: The work to be carried out. Both acts were unusual in that they gave the bodies powers to borrow money, but did not create the companies to do the work. Nor were the financial arrangements clearly laid down, and both groups resorted to issuing shares to fund the improvements, although they were not actually empowered to do so. In October 1730, the two groups decided to amalgamate, but a 1731 bill to formalise
9646-519: The year of the general strike, to 815,329 tonnes in 1937, but much of the latter was short-haul traffic, rather than long-haul, and the revenues did not increase correspondingly. In an agreement with Hatfield Main Colliery and the Aire and Calder, Bramwith Lock on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal was lengthened in 1932, to allow compartment boats to be used for the coal traffic, while straightening of
9752-406: Was completed was the construction of the New Junction Canal . This had been authorised by an act of Parliament, the Aire and Calder and Diver Dun Navigation Junction Canal Act 1891 ( 54 & 55 Vict. c. clxx) obtained on 28 July 1891 by the Aire and Calder Navigation, which specified that the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company would share the cost of construction and the ownership of
9858-540: Was in one of these public houses, the Montagu Arms, that Stan Laurel stayed overnight after performing at the town's Prince of Wales Theatre on 9 December 1907. During the second half of the 19th century, as in many other industrial towns, a Cooperative Society was formed in Mexborough. It was modelled on the consumer cooperative set up by the Rochdale Pioneers in 1844. In 1861, nine working men met at
9964-400: Was leased to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1864. In order to allow an extension of the railway from Mexborough to Sheffield to pass under the railway line to Rotherham Westgate railway station , the Holmes cut below Ickles lock was diverted into the river, and the Eastwood cut below Rotherham lock was diverted to the east in 1864. The original bed was then filled in and
10070-467: Was lengthened in 1909 and 1910, most of the locks could only hold three compartments at a time, and so there was little advantage to using this type of boat. Towards the end of the First World War, Sheffield Corporation proposed a major upgrade of the navigation. They expected the government to nationalise the waterway, and pay for the improvements, to which they would contribute, providing that
10176-459: Was made in 1751. After 1758, the company managed the navigation itself. Tolls for the next 10 years raised an average of £7,006 per annum, indicating healthy traffic levels. The early 19th century saw the completion of a number of canals which linked to the Don. The first was the Stainforth and Keadby Canal , which had been proposed by the Don Navigation shareholders in 1792. Construction was started in 1793 and completed in 1802, with John Thompson,
10282-471: Was never replaced. The tidal scour widened the channel, and barges of up to 30 tonnes could normally reach Fishlake, and often Wilsick House, in Barnby Dun . Smaller boats could reach Doncaster for most of the year, and large barges could do so when there was a flood tide. Initial attempts to seek powers to make the River Don navigable were hampered by opposition from local landowners and disunity between
10388-423: Was no support from Sheffield either, and the bill failed at its first reading. In 1704 Doncaster Corporation, with the support of its traders, presented a bill that received a first reading, but disappeared without a second reading ever happening. By 1722 there was some agreement between Sheffield and Doncaster, with a tacit agreement that Doncaster would be responsible for the river below their town, and Sheffield for
10494-487: Was opened in 1870. The line is now freight-only. Lockhouse Bridge , located just east of Ickles Lock, is actually two bridges. The western bridge carries the continuation of Millmoor Lane and the eastern the ex-MS&L freight-only line between Tinsley and Rotherham Central. Centenary Way bridge (south) carries the A630 Centenary Way dual carriageway over the navigation, which has now been re-joined by
10600-720: Was opened on 10 July 1959, and allowed trains of 17 compartment boats to work through to Doncaster and Hexthorpe, as Doncaster Town Lock above it and Sykehouse Lock below it on the New Junction Canal were already of a similar size. In 1961, the British Transport Commission, together with the British Iron and Steel Federation and Sheffield Chamber of Commerce considered plans to upgrade the navigation to handle 250-tonne barges, and work started on new wharfs and warehouses at Rotherham. Control of
10706-460: Was powered by a water wheel which was removed in the 1970s. Soon the edge of Doncaster is reached, where amongst the railway marshalling yards, the River Don leaves the navigation for the final time, as does the towpath. The two weir streams flow either side of Doncaster prison , effectively forming an island on which the building sits. Doncaster Town Lock is situated close to Doncaster railway station , and between there and Long Sandall Lock, some of
10812-405: Was quite challenging for full-size barges to negotiate since the bridges are immediately adjacent to a right-angle bend in the canal, which was created when the railways to Mexborough were built in the late 1840s. Further work was required in the 1980s, when the navigation was upgraded, to allow larger barges to negotiate the bridges. Mexborough Station Road Bridge is bridge number 52 and carries
10918-399: Was reached in 1740. A further bill in 1740 sought powers to improve the river from Barnby Dun to Fishlake Ferry. Despite serious opposition, which included the merchants and traders of Doncaster as well as Doncaster Corporation, the bill was passed as the River Dun Navigation Act 1739 ( 13 Geo. 2 . c. 11), giving the company new powers to make the river deeper and create a cut to avoid
11024-418: Was the main engineering work on this railway line. It was built by Newton, Chambers & Company. Thrybergh (rail) Bridge carried the former Great Central and Midland Railways' joint line across the River Don. This line was double track. It was essentially a colliery line and never carried a regular passenger service. Kilnhurst Station Road Bridge or Hooton Road Bridge is bridge number 46 and carries
11130-476: Was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire , England , navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield . The Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden had re-routed the mouth of the river in 1626, to improve drainage, and the new works included provision for navigation, but the scheme did not solve the problem of flooding, and the Dutch River was cut in 1635 to link the new channel to Goole . The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on
11236-400: Was £1,483,426, but the government was unwilling to support the scheme, and Sheffield Corporation was not prepared to proceed without government backing. During the inter-war years the navigation struggled to hold its own against competition from the railways and later the roads, and was affected by miners' strikes in the coal industry. Traffic was spasmodic, rising from 381,727 tonnes in 1926,
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