Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals
The Barnsley Canal and the Dearne & Dove Canal between them formed a through route from the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation near Swinton via Barnsley to the Wakefield Branch of the Aire & Calder Navigation just below Wakefield.
Both canals passed through a major coalfield, which provided them with most of their traffic but also caused the major subsidence problems which led to their demise in the 1950s and 1960s. Since then demolition, infilling and building work have resulted in further damage to the canals, to the point where reopening will be very costly – a report suggests as much as £250m – and will involve major diversions from the old route.
Despite this, the Barnsley Dearne & Dove Canals Trust continues to push for full reopening, and has carried out restoration work on the Barnsley Canal Main Line and the Elsecar Branch of the Dearne & Dove.
www.bddct.org.uk
