Jump to content

Similar Lock Arrangement Like This?


mark99

Featured Posts

I've rotated and scaled Pluto's map, discarded the non navigation bits and tinted it orange. This is overlaid on the modern OS map. I'm getting a good match up, but it is possible there are errors. Huge differences to todays navigation.

Heading away from Sheffield, the navigation leaves the Don between the modern Sheffield and Tinsley Canal River Lock and the modern Jordan Lock, for a cut that bypasses a meander of the river, where Jordan Lock and a weir are now.

It rejoins the river about half way between modern Jordan and Iccles locks for a short distance, before leaving again, passing over the top of the where the modern Iccles Lock was built to rejoin the river around the site of the Rotherham United Stadium.

It then leaves the river at Rotherham Town Lock at the current site.

There was at least one interim cut between Rotherham Lock and Iccles that was lost when a railway was built over them, see my post linked to above.

 

pluto-1819.jpg.72fc54e3a992319dad78983faa5b530f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, buccaneer66 said:

Jen

 

From the NLS maps site.

 

image.png.a450914b5da1bd3de2b4b2d45890102d.png

 

image.png.54f57de2a14b02310ad409bcb433effa.png

Which map series is that in the NLS collection? The bottom picture shows the Rotherham Lock and the cut from Iccles that was abandoned and covered over when the railway to the current Rotherham station was built on top. The top one shows some sort of cut going from above Jordan weir, but this may be a water supply to a mill wheel. There still exists a water filled cut alongside the present run of the canal here, which may be this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Pluto said:

The section below Tinsley in 1819.

1819 BW14:21 Tinsley-Rotherham, Sprotbrough.jpg

 

4 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Many thanks. I'd no idea it was like that back then. Hugely different from the current alignment.

 
 Not really any massive changes, the course of the river and canal still run the roughly the same course, looking at that map. There was a large BW Wharf roughly near No9 & No10 on the river front, which loaded/unloaded Waddingtons boats, fully equipped with overhead cranes. There were plans for the Rotherham lock to be converted to a full size elect Commercial lock like all others, but this never happened as BW closed the Wharf and moved it near Eastwood, it is now AMA Steel. This decision was never understood by the commercial boat operators as they had spend £1000’s developing the Wharf only to close it down. There was also a big Wharf on the river, past the entrance of Eastwood lock. This was known as the “KP Wharf” as it brought in barrels and sack of nuts for the KP factory.  Unfortunately only have book photos to show how busy Rotherham used to be with canal trade.

 

7A4506EC-82E8-4478-ADC6-6EF867A38A2B.jpeg.1c1129e574569a90915da12c422adb21.jpeg

 

FC699D6C-D8CC-45E5-812F-ECC511F4EF92.jpeg.f3976ee08ac2ddf8b775fa0930f5dc1b.jpeg

Edited by PD1964
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, buccaneer66 said:

it's a 6 inch, oldest one if you use the map finder rather than georefrenced.

Thanks! That will be https://maps.nls.uk/view/102345199 then. Surveyed 1850 to 1851. It is showing two different navigable routes between River Lock at Tinsley and Where Rotherham railway station now is. The present day navigable route is a mixture of the two, where they nearly meet at Iccles.

  • One route leaves the River Don shortly after River Lock, heading off to the right, as shown in @Pluto's drawing. It uses the Don for a short section, then another cut that rejoins the river where Iccles lock now is. This is further up stream than the 1819 drawing, where it joins the river near the Stadium. The navigation then leaves the river and goes through the present day flood lock to join the cut to Eastwood.
  • The other route at that time leaves the Don at Jordon Lock, as it does now and passes through Holme Locke. However, at Iccles, it is close to the other route, but does not join, curving left to join the cut to Eastwood via another lock, just beyond the surviving lock to the river. You can still see the remains of this abandoned lock.

When the new railway was constructed on the route of the cut between Iccles and where the current Rotherham station is, the route from Jordon Lock diverted in to the Iccles lock, down in to the Don. This allowed the new railway to pass under the original Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, which had built a bridge over the canal, which the new railways company wanted to use. Fortuneously, they owned the canal by that time, so could do as they liked with it!

At some point, the cut from Iccles Lock, west to the Don and the other cut to bypass the loop of river past Jordon weir must have been abandoned. Given how much industrial use there has been over the roughly century and a half around there, including the Magna site, it would be interesting to see if any clues remain in situ.

Jen

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

Isn’t Jordan’s lock listed or something? As I thought it’s one of the original Oak bottomed type???

It is listed. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1132714?section=official-list-entry

It says,

Quote

SK49SW ROTHERHAM JORDAN SK40379215 5/52 Jordan Lock - II Lock. c1835, altered. For the Don Navigation Company. Dressed gritstone blocks, wooden gates. Single lock with recesses for renewed gates. One exit wall, rebuilt in brick. Least altered of several surviving locks on a new cut built north of the River Don to improve the link with Tinsley. Charles Hadfield, The Canals of Yorkshire and North-East England, 1973. vol 1, p219.

1835 would be mid way between the 1819 of the plan @Pluto posted and the 1850/51 of the NLS map @buccaneer66 posted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

At some point, the cut from Iccles Lock, west to the Don and the other cut to bypass the loop of river past Jordon weir must have been abandoned.

Looking at the map again, it seems that much of these two cuts are now underneath the railway line between Tinsley and Rotherham station that the Tram Trains use. My guess is that the railway company that owned the canal made use of these routes for this line too, leaving just one boat navigable route, the current one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

There’s the Stroudwater navigation too

 I know that now has the Frome as part of its route at Whitminster, and a Brook has been diverted into it between Brewery Bridge and Ebley Mill, but does it have (or did it have) a crossing somewhere? Perhaps Whitminster in its original form? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 18/09/2022 at 08:29, Derek R. said:

I cannot help but wonder why the OP has asked the question. Curiosity? Or some other reason?

Someone told me they thought it was a unique arrangement. I said it's not but struggled to come with an example!  :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, mark99 said:

Someone told me they thought it was a unique arrangement. I said it's not but struggled to come with an example!  :)

Functionally, a cut, a lock, then a short river section with a weir below to maintain the level and perhaps a bridge for the tow horse, then another lock and another cut is very common. Most navigable waterways that include river stretches will have them. What is rare, I suspect, is where the navigation is crossing essentially the width of the river, like the Uttoxeter canal crossing and not going up/downstream any appreciable distance. Hence, some posters think they are really common and others think they are extremely rare. Depends on how you define that old Uttoxeter canal feature.

Apologies for my diverting things with talking about the history of the navigation between Sheffield and Rotherham. Back on topic!

Jen

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm assuming many are aware of the Grand Junction taking a brief dip in the Ouse around Wolverton?

 

Was once once a flight of (six) locks to the Ouse and seven up the other side - only one remains, Cosgrove Lock although there is evidence of the old flight on both sides.

 

Possibly unique in that the Aqueduct was opened, the old locks abandoned; then not long after the new bridge collapsed and the old locks were back in use!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

What is rare, I suspect, is where the navigation is crossing essentially the width of the river, like the Uttoxeter canal crossing and not going up/downstream any appreciable distance. Hence, some posters think they are really common and others think they are extremely rare. Depends on how you define that old Uttoxeter canal feature.

 

 I think this is the point that was being discussed, one could losely define it as the journey involves a greater distance crossing the river than along the river - and that it is a crossing, that is the canal joins on one bank and leaves on the other.  

This unusual but not unkown, and wwhen you add the lock on both sides of the river it must be even more unusual

 

1 hour ago, 1st ade said:

I'm assuming many are aware of the Grand Junction taking a brief dip in the Ouse around Wolverton?

 

Was once once a flight of (six) locks to the Ouse and seven up the other side - only one remains, Cosgrove Lock although there is evidence of the old flight on both sides.

 

Possibly unique in that the Aqueduct was opened, the old locks abandoned; then not long after the new bridge collapsed and the old locks were back in use!

 

The level crossing at Wolverton was an arrangement proposed in many places but rarely carried out - descending to the river, crossing it and climbing again. The only other place in the British Isles I can think of is Monsterevin on the Grand Canal, Barrow Line in Ireland which was also replaced by an aqueduct. 

 

The crossing in Derby was unusual (I always hesitate to say unique) in that it was virtually at the summit level of the canal! I think it was a small drop to the river from the northern (Sandiacre) side  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The original Droitwich Barge Canal - Droitwich Junction Canal route used a short length of the River Salwarpe, but as both canals connected on the same side of the river, this doesn't really count as a crossing.

The original route of the Junction Canal having been lost to the M5 and other development, the restored route now uses a rather longer length of the Salwarpe and Savick Brook.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.