The railway line, now closed, forms the western boundary of Walton Colliery Country Park, formerly Sharlton West Coal Mine. The coal mine closed in 1979 and the country park established in the 1980s by Wakefield Council.
North Midland Railway
"The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham (Masbrough) and Leeds in 1840...
...Swinton–Normanton
Stopping passenger trains between Sheffield and Leeds via Cudworth were withdrawn in January 1968, with all of the remaining stations between Rotherham Masborough and Normanton closing at that time. The section between Swinton (Wath Road Junction) and Cudworth had been plagued by mining subsidence for years, and so in October 1968 the decision was taken for safety reasons to divert all remaining passenger traffic onto the Swinton and Knottingley Railway via Moorthorpe, and thence Wakefield Westgate. This entailed the closure to passengers of the complete section from Swinton (Wath Road Junction) to Normanton (Goose Hill Junction), although it was still heavily used by freight. By May 1972 however the Swinton and Knottingley line was experiencing subsidence of its own, resulting in the reopening of the North Midland section to passengers. The early 1980s saw the Swinton and Knottingley line back in favour, and finally in 1988 this section of the North Midland section was closed to all through traffic, including freight.
Today the section from Swinton (Wath Road Junction) to Cudworth North Junction has been lifted; the entire length of well over a mile between Wath Road Junction and the site of Wath North station itself has been eradicated by a large new area of light industry and commerce called Brookfield Park, one of the largest developments of its kind in the country and part of the Dearne Valley Enterprise Zone (much of this area being the former site of Manvers Main Colliery and several others), while about three quarters of a mile of the route north of Darfield is now a road (the A6195). Cudworth North Junction to Oakenshaw survives, mostly as a single line, to serve the Ardagh Glass works on the Monk Bretton spur, but Oakenshaw to Normanton (Goose Hill Junction) is all gone."
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This viaduct was originally built as a triple arch viaduct over the Barnsley Canal and takes its name from the nearby Oakenshaw Lane. At a subsequent date a metal girder bridge with brick supports under neath the original viaduct was built alongside to provide extra capacity.
The Barnsley 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, West Yorkshire. It was built in the 1790s, to provide a transport link from coal reserves at Barnsley to a wider market."
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An aqueduct that carried the canal over the River Dearne had leaks 3 times including a major leak in 1946. The canal was eventually closed in 1953. Some sections of the canal have been built over and although other parts are in water the volume of water is much reduced as it is here.
So here the coal mine, the canal, and the railway line have all closed and now form part of the popular country park.