140-600: The River Don Navigation 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
280-504: 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
420-512: 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
560-604: 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
700-552: 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
840-521: 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
980-445: 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
1120-505: 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,
1260-474: 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
1400-571: 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 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
1540-579: 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
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#17327728914271680-616: 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
1820-511: 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
1960-643: 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
2100-422: 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
2240-514: 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
2380-638: Is a river in South Yorkshire and 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
2520-407: 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
2660-529: 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
2800-582: 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
2940-573: 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
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#17327728914273080-458: 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
3220-472: 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
3360-476: 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
3500-590: 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
3640-856: 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
3780-706: 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
3920-627: 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
4060-457: 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
4200-401: The River Trent , the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1804, linking to Barnsley , and 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
4340-508: 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
River Don Navigation - Misplaced Pages Continue
4480-635: The 1620s, and now joins 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
4620-746: 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
4760-667: 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
4900-603: 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
5040-414: 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 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
5180-563: 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 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
5320-498: 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,
5460-588: 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
5600-477: 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
5740-460: 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,
River Don Navigation - Misplaced Pages Continue
5880-419: 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
6020-436: 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
6160-476: 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
6300-768: 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
6440-612: 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
6580-545: 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
6720-525: 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
6860-460: 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
7000-589: 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
7140-429: 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
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#17327728914277280-636: 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
7420-618: 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
7560-426: 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
7700-477: 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,
7840-489: 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
7980-583: 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
8120-765: The access road to Mexborough railway station from the A6023 Greens Way (and the town centre). Mexborough BBCS Flour Mill is an imposing building and associated wharf standing on the north side of the 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. River Don, South Yorkshire The River Don (also called River Dun in some stretches)
8260-441: 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
8400-413: 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
8540-454: 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,
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#17327728914278680-403: 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
8820-427: 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
8960-488: The canals and the Don Navigation in 1895, but plans for expansion were hampered by 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
9100-436: 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 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
9240-421: 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
9380-421: 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, 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
9520-415: 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 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
9660-432: 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
9800-414: 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
9940-423: 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
10080-596: 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,
10220-622: 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
10360-404: 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 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
10500-498: 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
10640-616: 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
10780-562: 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
10920-467: 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
11060-455: 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,
11200-611: 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
11340-409: 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
11480-441: 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
11620-441: 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
11760-710: 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
11900-641: 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
12040-432: 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
12180-475: 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
12320-403: 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
12460-562: The new channel to Goole . The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on 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
12600-423: 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,
12740-582: 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 the initial construction. The third opening was in 1819, when the Sheffield Canal connected the Tinsley terminus to
12880-601: 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 ,
13020-479: 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
13160-407: 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
13300-583: 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
13440-406: 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
13580-439: 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 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
13720-565: 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
13860-413: 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
14000-467: 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
14140-406: 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
14280-476: 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
14420-481: 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,
14560-507: 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
14700-408: 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, 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
14840-445: 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
14980-636: 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
15120-494: 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
15260-453: 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
15400-601: 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
15540-522: 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 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
15680-507: 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 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
15820-515: 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
15960-407: 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
16100-465: 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
16240-439: 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
16380-471: 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
16520-690: 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
16660-404: 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
16800-414: 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
16940-460: 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
17080-507: 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
17220-482: 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
17360-456: 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 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
17500-428: 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
17640-528: 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
17780-472: 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 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
17920-470: 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
18060-423: 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
18200-484: 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
18340-719: 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
18480-459: 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
18620-404: 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
18760-529: 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 the shallows at Stainforth and Bramwith. Work on this northern section started almost immediately. The southern section to Tinsley
18900-409: 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
19040-462: 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
19180-416: 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
19320-416: 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
19460-572: 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
19600-399: 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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