The
Unofficial WebsiteThe Dearne & Dove Canal
The Dearne and Dove Canal went from Swinton up to Barnsley with two branches, one to Elsecar and one to Worsbrough. Reservoirs were built at the heads of navigation in Elsecar and Worsbrough. The canal was opened in part in 1799 and was in full use by 1804. Despite the reservoirs the Dearne and Dove Canal suffered from water shortages. Water was pumped to the Barnsley Canal in 1804 and the Dearne and Dove was closed itself in the summers of 1805 and 1806 due to drought.
The bulk of trade on the canal was coal and to ensure that the barges travelled via the Don and not northwards on the Barnsley Canal, the Dearne and Dove was leased by the Don Navigation. It became part of the South Yorkshire Railway and River Dun (they couldn't spell Don in those days) Company in 1850 and was purchased by it in 1857.
From 1895 it became part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation. However the canal suffered heavily from mining subsidence. The Worsbrough section was closed to traffic in 1906, the reservoir and stream being retained as a feeder.
Far from checking and righting the subsidence the new company sold and leased the coal under the canal. In 1928 the Elsecar branch was closed. In 1934 the last boat went through to Barnsley, but coal was transported from Manvers Main until 1952. In 1961 when the British Transport Commission Abandonment Act was passed the only part of the Dearne and Dove Canal then remaining open was a half-mile stretch to the glassworks and Waddington's boatyard.
I have studied assiduously a variety of maps and they all assure me that much of this canal has now disappeared. A small section remains at Swinton Bridge, the cut to Elsecar still exists but as far as I know is unused, there is a kilometre or so by Wombwell and a couple of other little tads. Not much left!
The Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust
"The Barnsley Dearne and Dove Canals Trust has been campaigning for a number of years for reinstatement of the Yorkshire link Waterway. We fully support the Barnsley Canal Consortium partnership in looking at a proposed feasibility study. Over recent months the profile of the canals has been raised and this has been reflected in our increasing membership, with new members joining each week."
The Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust's website can be visited at www.bddct.org.uk.