New Junction Canal
Encyclopedia
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation
Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation
The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation is a system of navigable inland waterways in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England....
(S&SYN), although it was jointly funded by the Aire and Calder Navigation
Aire and Calder Navigation
The Aire and Calder Navigation is a river and canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to...
, and was opened in 1905. It links the River Don Navigation
River Don Navigation
The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield...
and the Stainforth and Keadby Canal
Stainforth and Keadby Canal
The Stainforth and Keadby Canal is a navigable canal in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. It connects the River Don Navigation at Bramwith to the River Trent at Keadby, by way of Stainforth, Thorne and Ealand, near Crowle.-History:...
with the Aire and Calder Navigation (Knottingley Canal). It is completely straight, and was the last canal built in England for commercial purposes.
The canal has one lock, which was sized to allow the compartment boats of the Aire and Calder to use it, but the owning company failed to raise enough money to upgrade the River Don Navigation beyond, and Long Sandall lock prevented working of such boats through to Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
until it was rebuilt in 1959. There is still some commercial traffic on the canal, but most use is now by leisure boaters. One notable feature is the aqueduct over the River Don which is protected by large guillotine gates, which can be lowered when the Don is in spate, to prevent the surrounding countryside from being flooded.
History
The New Junction Canal was conceived at a time when there was dissatisfaction with the state of the waterways in Sheffield and Doncaster, which were then under the ownership of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire RailwayManchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
. Steam powered boats were still prohibited from using the waterways in 1888, even though they had been in use on the neighbouring Aire and Calder Navigation
Aire and Calder Navigation
The Aire and Calder Navigation is a river and canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to...
for over 50 years, and the railway company had set rates for using the canal considerably higher than those for using the railway. The President of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce invited the engineer Charles Hawksley
Charles Hawksley
Charles Hawksley was a British civil engineer. Hawksley was born in Nottingham, England in 1839 and was the son of civil engineer Thomas Hawksley. He studied at University College London and after graduating entered into apprenticeship with his father's firm, which had been established in 1852...
and B. P. Broomhead, an influential Sheffield solicitor, to a meeting of the Chamber on 16 August 1888, at which he outlined the situation. A committee was appointed, which met on 20 August, and decided that a new independent canal was needed to connect Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster to the sea, to maintain the profitability of the local coalfields.
By October, a report had been produced, which suggested that the locks on the canal from Sheffield to Keadby were too small, and that the waterway could be greatly improved by building new locks besides the existing ones, capable of holding boats which could carry 300 or 500 tons. Believing that such locks could be built without disrupting traffic, the estimated costs of the works were £1 million, in addition to which the existing waterways would need to be acquired. The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal Company Ltd was registered on 15 November 1888, with the aim of obtaining an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
to authorise this work. The Act was passed on 26 August 1889, which created the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Co., who had powers to raise £1.5 million, and to buy the four South Yorkshire canals, consisting of the Sheffield Canal
Sheffield Canal
The Sheffield Canal is a canal in the City of Sheffield, England. It runs from Tinsley, where it leaves the River Don, to the Sheffield Canal Basin in the city centre, passing through 11 locks.- Early history :...
, the River Don Navigation
River Don Navigation
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 Stainforth and Keadby Canal
Stainforth and Keadby Canal
The Stainforth and Keadby Canal is a navigable canal in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. It connects the River Don Navigation at Bramwith to the River Trent at Keadby, by way of Stainforth, Thorne and Ealand, near Crowle.-History:...
and the Dearne and Dove Canal
Dearne and Dove Canal
The Dearne and Dove Canal ran for almost ten miles through South Yorkshire, England from Swinton to Barnsley through nineteen locks, rising 127 yards. The canal also had two short branches, the Worsbrough branch and the Elsecar branch, both about two miles long with reservoirs at the head of each....
. They had nine months to negotiate with the railway owners, and could resort to compulsory purchase after that. In order to demonstrate their resolve, £20,000 had to be deposited within six months of the date of the Act.
By this stage, the plan was to enlarge the waterways to enable 300 or 400 ton barges to navigate, but also to make the locks suitable for compartment boat trains
Tom Pudding
Tom Pudding was the name given to the tub boats on the Aire and Calder Navigation, introduced in 1863 and used until 1985, which were a very efficient means of transferring and transporting coal from the open cast collieries of the South Yorkshire Coalfield near Stanley Ferry to the port of Goole,...
, as used on the Aire and Calder. New facilities would be built at Keadby, where the canal joined the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
, so that coal could be trans-shipped to larger vessels. Negotiations with the railway company began, but they refused to co-operate, instead waiting nine months until the compulsory purchase option was possible, and then taking court action against the Canal company once the purchase order was served. The Canal company sought assistance from the Court of the Railway and Canal Commission, who ruled in their favour, and the railway company finally produced the details of their ownership in early 1891.
The concept of using compartment boats led to discussions with the Aire and Calder Navigation Company, as a result of which it was decided to abandon the plan to develop Keadby, and instead use the existing port facilities at Goole. As the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Company had yet to take control of any canals, an agreement was negotiated, which would see the Aire and Calder obtaining an Act of Parliament to authorise construction of a 5.5 miles (8.9 km) straight canal from Bramwith on the River Don to a point some 7 miles (11.3 km) above Goole. The Act was obtained on 28 July 1891, and specified that the S&SYN could become joint owners and subscribers, once they had acquired the four waterways from the railway company. Transfer of the canals was finally agreed on 31 July 1894, at a cost to the canal company of £1.14 million, of which £600,000 was to be paid in cash. The company managed to raise £625,000 through the issue of preference shares, but the rest of the purchase price was held as ordinary shares by the railway company, who were then able to appoint five of the ten directors. As a consequence of continued railway involvement, the Aire and Calder did not invest in the new company, which took control of the four waterways on 1 March 1895. The Aire and Calder, meanwhile, had not started to build the New Junction Canal, but they had extended the time allowed to purchase land for its construction through another Act of Parliament.
The new company struggled to raise the finance for the New Junction construction, and for improvements to the River Don Navigation, to allow larger boats to use it. The canal was completed on 2 January 1905, at a total cost of £300,000, shared between the Sheffield and South Yorkshire and the Aire and Calder companies. It was the last canal to be built in England for commercial purposes.
Operation
The canal helped to increase traffic on the River Don from 835,982 tons to 961,774 tons between1905 and 1913. Income from tolls over the same period rose from £48,981 to £53,586. Although the River Don was straightened at Doncaster in 1905 and at Sprotborough in 1907, traffic on the New Junction canal was hindered by the size of the locks on the river. Doncaster lock was extended in 1909 and 1910, but although trains of 17 compartment boats could then use both Sykehouse and Doncaster locks, they had to be split up at Long Sandall lock, which was between the two, as they could only pass through it three at a time. Traffic to Hatfield Main colliery was improved between 1930 and 1932, when Bramwith lock, the first on the Stainforth and Keady Canal, was lengthened to allow compartment boats from the New Junction to reach it. The work, which included a colliery lay-by, cost £20,000. Doncaster Corporation paid most of the cost of straightening the river there and building a 300 feet (91.4 m) wharf and warehouse, which opened in 1934.
Further improvements had to wait until after the canals were nationalised in 1948. Long Sandall lock was lengthened and widened to 215 by in 1959, enabling compartment boats to work through to Doncaster and Hexthorpe without having to be split for the first time. Although traffic is much reduced, there is still some commercial activity on the canal.
Features
The canal is straight for its entire length, and the surrounding countyside is relatively flat.It has one lock, five swing or lift bridge
Lift bridge
A vertical-lift bridge or lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck....
s and is carried across two aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s. At its northern end it crosses the River Went
River Went
The River Went is a river in Yorkshire, England. It rises close to Featherstone and flows eastward, joining the River Don at Reedholme Common.A possible site of the Battle of Winwaed is believed to be located somewhere along the valley of the Went.-Route:...
, while at its southern end it crosses the River Don. The River Don aqueduct looks precarious, as the canal regularly overflows the eastern side of the structure, and there only appears to be railings preventing the boats from falling down into the river below. Both ends of the aqueduct are protected by large guillotine gates, which are there to prevent the river overflowing the canal when it is in spate, and flooding the surrounding countryside.
For the boater, the most notable feature is the complicated operation of Sykehouse Lock.
The lock is automated but the control system is disabled until the manually operated swing bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
over the top of it has been opened.
The region through which the canal flows is sparsely populated, as there are no major towns, and just two main villages. The civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Sykehouse, which includes a number of outlying settlements, straddles the northern end of the canal, and Kirk Bramwith
Kirk Bramwith
Kirk Bramwith is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 200 in 2001. The village centre is located on a narrow strip of land, sandwiched between the River Don Navigation to the south east and the New Junction Canal to...
is at the southern end. For much of its length, the towpath forms part of the route for the Trans Pennine Trail
Trans Pennine Trail
The Trans Pennine Trail is a long distance path running from coast to coast across northern England entirely on surfaced paths and using only gentle gradients ....
which joins it at Top Lane lift bridge, crosses to the east bank at Sykehouse lock, and leaves at Sykehouse lift bridge.
Points of interest
See also
- Canals of the United KingdomCanals of the United KingdomThe canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
- History of the British canal systemHistory of the British canal systemThe British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...