The Barnsley Canal.

Barnsley Canal

The Barnsley Canal is a canal that ran between Barnby Basin and the Aire and Calder Navigation through Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. It ran 14.5 miles (23 km) through 15 locks. It is currently disused but there are proposals from the Barnsley Canal Consortium to restore and reopen it.

Construction work started in 1793, and finished in 1804. It cost £95,000. Originally the canal was principally designed to carry coal from Barnby colliery and the failure of the mine resulted in poorer than expected trade. In 1809 the collieries at Silkstone were connected to the canal by tramway and other local mines soon followed suit. As a result trade on the canal prospered. Competition from the railways resulted in the canal being taken over by the Aire and Calder Navigation while this did improve things the canal was unable to compete and the stretch between Barugh locks and Barnby was abandoned in 1893.

Being situated in such a busy mining area, problems with subsidence were inevitable and frequent, and the canal was closed from 1911 to 1912 for repairs. Bursts leading to major floods occurred in 1945 and 1946, and the canal was wound down gradually. It officially closed in 1954.

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