About the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal
The Sheffield and Tinsley Canal is a broad canal running from the River Don Navigation at Tinsley, for 3.9 miles (6.3 km), to Sheffield Basin. Previously, there were originally 12 locks in the Tinsley flight but locks 7 and 8 are now combined into a new single lock to make room for a new railway bridge in 1959. The Canal opened in 1819 and was a commercial success. Flyboat services connected with steamers from Hull to London in 1840. There is no reservoir to feed the basin; water is pumped from the River Don instead, originally by a steam engine but now by electric pumps.
In the late 19th century, users of the local waterways, dissatisfied with high tolls and poor maintenance, formed the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company. This amalgamated the Stainforth & Keadby, the New Junction Canal (which links to the Aire & Calder Navigation), the Dearne and Dove Canal, the River Don Navigation and the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal; taking them out of railway company ownership. Sheffield basin, also known as Victoria Quays, is the terminus of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal and was modernised in 1896 with a new warehouse straddling the basin.
[The photo shows Sheffield Basin – by John Lower]
