Elsecar Top Lock - Dearne And Dove Canal - Elsecar, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

"The Dearne and Dove Canal ran for almost ten miles through South Yorkshire, England from Swinton to Barnsley through nineteen locks, rising 127 feet (39 m). 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. The Elsecar branch also has another six locks. The only tunnel was bypassed by a cutting in 1840.

The canal was created mainly to carry cargo from the extensive coal mining industry in the area. Other cargo included pig iron, glass, lime, oil products and general merchandise. A combination of railway competition and subsidence caused by the same mines it served forced the canal into a gradual decline, closing completely in 1961. As the local coal industry also collapsed in the 1980s the canal was thrown a lifeline with the forming of the Barnsley Canal Group who are now attempting to restore the whole canal, an effort further boosted by the abandonment of the railway which replaced it." link

Approximately 1 mile of the canal is is water from the terminus at Elsecar where there is a large heritage centre telling the history of the area.

The Trans Pennine trail a national cycling and walking trail passes through the heritage centre and follows the route of the canal along most of its length.

The Lock
The lock is one of six locks on the Elsecar branch and although probably the best maintained is still very over grown. The Barnsle Canal Group was formed to try and restore the canal, although in many parts new routes will be needed because the canal has been infilled or built over.

This lock was restored in 1990 as the first part of restoration work, but little if any further progress has been made and most of the lock is once again overgrown.

Waterway Name: Elsecar Branch of the Dearne and Dove Canal Connected Points: Elsecar Wharf and the main line of Deane and Dove Canal at Brampton Locks. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1798 Date Closed (if applicable): 12/31/1928 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Being Restored Web Site: [Web Link]

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