Blackburn Meadows
The oldest map of the area shows Blackburn Meadows as a patchwork of small fields. These were on the flood plain of the River Don and were consequently often waterlogged. Later on Holmes Farm was built on the site. Due to a long ago kink in the parish boundaries which were based on the course of the River Don most of this area is actually in Sheffield.
The meadows then became part of Tinsley Sewage Farm. Birds presumably suffer from anosmia as the sewage lagoons became a refuge for migrating birds. Yes and other wildlife too - all brave souls, but then I understand sewage lagoons are warm, very warm so I can begin to feel the attraction. When the management of the lagoons changed they began to dry up. Local birdwatchers stepped in to save this important habitat. I don't think that the lagoons contain sewage any more - at least I hope they don't, but the area is full of twitchers, oh and school children.
There are two fresh water lakes, Ferham Lake and Holmes Farm Flash (this looks as if it is now called Yorkshire Water). These attract a wide variety of resident birds, including native swans, moorhens and coots. Also migrants like widgeon, teal and willow warbler. Herons and kingfishers also visit from time to time. In the summer the area teems with insect life.
The old parish boundary, now the borough boundary, runs along the River Don behind Magna (formerly Templeborough Steel Works) and north up Deadman's Hole Lane to the canal. Blackburn Meadows is therefore mostly in the Borough of Sheffield but a bit slips into Rotherham. The old Roman fort used to be near this site and there was burial ground hereabouts. According to my late mother, a Tinsley lass, skeltons used to float up from the old Roman cemetery when the Don was in spate, hence the name Deadman's Hole Lane. There actually used to be a hole which was a shaft that gave access to the burials.
In June 2010 your intrepid webmaster took a trip to Blackburn Meadows, seven years after the previous one. I did a bit more exploring this time. There is a short walk around the lakes along Canal Walk and back on Deadman's Hole Lane, or vice versa. It took me about 25 minutes. There are two hides both of which were in dreadful state of dereliction last time I went: they have been restored but the one I ventured into had very little seating and what there was of it, very uncomfortable, so you wouldn't want to stop for long.
The wind-pump is used to draw water from the New Cut of the South Yorkshire Navigation to keep up the water levels in wetland nature reserve. It is also used to pump excess methane from the bottom of the adjacent pond.
Most of the site is out of bounds to humans, some of it wisely so, as there are areas of deep sludge. There is another area to explore between the ponds and the river and in early summer this contained an astonishing array of wildflowers and plants.
The site is fenced and although there are many ways and gates in and out of it, most of them are inaccessible. You can access the site either via Masbrough, down Steel Street and over the canal to a small parking area, or via Sheffield Road, down Bessemer Way (I think) past the Magna Car Park, over the river and park up on the left hand side a bit further down. There is a footpath that leads to the Heron Gate and you can gain access through a people hole in the gate.
