The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation

 The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation stretches for 40 miles between Sheffield and the river Trent and encompasses: Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, Don Navigation and Stainforth and Keadby Canal, along with the New Junction Canal.  Connecting the River Aire with the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal and Sheffield with the Trent

The chief usage is now by leisure craft though a small amount of commercial traffic still exists largely between Rotherham and New Junction, which were enlarged as late as 1980 to encourage use by larger vessels up to the 700 ton European barges. 

The Sheffieldand South Yorkshire Navigation is an amalgamation of different canals the original company being founded in 1888 with Charles Barthlolomew as the first director.

 Preceding this the River Don Navigation Company had bought out the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1846, the Sheffield Canal in 1848, and leased the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1849. They then amalgamated with the South Yorkshire, Doncaster and Goole Railway in 1850, to become the South Yorkshire Railway and River Dun Company. This was leased to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1864. By the 1880’s the competition between Rail and canal was such that canal Tolls were now higher than Railway charges and the railways were providing a faster and generally more efficient service, partly because the canals were not being modernised, being seen as a poor investment in comparison to the Railways, at least for most areas and services.

Where innovations such as the use of steam boats had been implemented maintenance costs, in terms of damage to canal banks from wakes of faster boats has increased quite dramatically.

 The formation on the new company in 1888 brought with it an ambitious plan to upgrade the waterways to carry 300 to 500 ton vessels, thereby attracting economies of scale that would once more make the waterways an economic prospect. The projected costs of this in 1888 were £1,000,000 plus the costs of buying the canals from the railway companies… a huge investment for the day. The company was created by an Act of Parliament on 26 August 1889 which authorised the raising of £1.5 million pounds and purchase of the four canals by compulsory purchase if negotiation failed ( the Railway companies possibly being reluctant to go along with the scheme ).

Predictably the Railway company did raise objection, but after finally released the canals in 1895 after negotiations and legal battles had finally ceased. However by then the Canal company had only raised £625,000, which was less than half the purchase price of the canals and so the railway company were still able to nominate half of the 10 directors, the Railway influence and lack of funding now becoming a restriction to progress, though not a total barrier.

1896 saw construction of a new canal between the Trent and Sheffield enlarging existing waterway locks and other facilities , the Sheffield and South Yorkshire New Junction being opened in 1905, designed to carry “Tom Puddings” which were square compartment boats carrying about 40 tons. These would be moved by tugs in long trains allowing 4 men to transport 800 tons of coal, where many more would be needed before. 

The system was a success and by 1913 there were over 1000 such boats serving the local collieries and transporting 1.5 million tons a year. When Kelligley colliery opened boats carrying 150tons were developed. To transport coal to the Ferrybridge Power Station.