Barnsley Canal

Barnsley Canal
The canal in Haw Park Woods near Wakefield
Specifications
Length	14.5 miles (23.3 km)
Maximum boat length	84 ft 0 in (25.60 m) (originally 66 ft 0 in or 20.12 m)
Maximum boat beam	14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
Locks	17
Status	Restoration proposed
History
Original owner	Barnsley Canal Company
Principal engineer	Samual Hartley
Date of act	1793
Date of first use	1799
Date completed	1802
Date closed	1893, 1946
Geography
Start point	Barnsley
End point	Heath Common
Branch of	Aire and Calder Navigation
Connects to	Dearne and Dove Canal

The Barnsley Canal is a canal that ran from Barnby Basin, through Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England to a junction with the Aire and Calder Navigation near Wakefield. It was built in the 1790s, to provide a tranport link from coal reserves at Barnsley to a wider market. Both the Aire and Calder Navigation and the River Don Navigation took a keen interest in the project, the former buying many of the initial shares, and the latter constructing the Dearne and Dove Canal to link the canal to their waterway. Water supply issues meant that the AIre and Calder proposed pumping all of the water for the canal from the River Calder, using steam pumps, but a reservoir was built at Cold Hiendley instead, increasing the construction costs, but reducing the running costs. The canal as built was 14.5 miles (23.3 km) long and included 15 locks.

Traffic came initially from the colliery at Barnby Furnace, but this failed in 1806, and the company found itself with no money and little traffic. Gradually, tramways to other mines were built, and traffic increased, enough to pay dividends to the shareholders from 1810 onwards. Many bridges were raised between 1828 and 1830, to accommodate larger barges. Railways arrived in the area in the 1840s, and traffic volumes decreased rapidly, but the canal was taken over by the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1856, and despite competition from the railways, and structural damage from subsidence, remained profitable until 1942. The locks below Cold Hiendley were lengthened between 1879 and 1881, and the final section including the five Barugh locks was closed in 1893.

A major breach occurred in 1911, resulting in the canal being closed for nearly a year, and further breaches occurred in 1945 and 1946. The Aire and Calder applied to abandon the canal in 1947, and despite protestations from the fledgling Inland Waterways Association, the right to do so was granted in 1953. The aqueduct over the River Dearne was demolished immediately. The Barnsley Canal Group was formed in 1984, to campaign for restoration, eventually becoming the Barnsley, Dearne and Dove Canal Trust in June 2000. They are now part of the Barnsley Canal Consortium, which has commissioned a study which showed that restoration is feasible. A restored route would involve three diversions from the historic route, at Walton locks, near Cold Hiendley reservoir, and where the canal crosses the River Dearne.