May 2025 was hot. Ridiculously so. Following April’s unseasonal heat, the burning sun clung on tenaciously until the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

Our doubty volunteers had been on site for a variety of activities during the week leading into May, as well as at our regular Saturday weekend working days.

On 3rd May regular volunteers Janet and Jeff, were joined by Chris, Andy and a return visit from young David for some swift site inspection, gardening and planning for the Heritage Open Days in September.

How does our garden grow?

Scarily quickly it must be said, but we left it a little wild for pollinators too.

However, it wouldn’t be long until a quick trim was required, so the following week regular volunteer Paul and Site Director Glen got stuck in and filled a hyper allergenic sackful of freshly-snipped grass by the end of the day.

As well as tackling the rough patch outside the side entrance to Pump House Cottage.

Measuring up

Our regular shaft depth measurements down to the water line continue.

This provides us with a useful dataset and time sequence, monitoring the seasonal variations. We are quite interested to see how low it will go during what have been very dry conditions up at the surface, even if the gentle dripping of shaft water continues.

Season greeting – Sprungmer?

Out on Wath Road the green explosion of dense tree foliage and shrubs was evident, together with the snowy fluff of Pussy Willow, or goat willow (salix caprea) covering the ground.

The flurry of white flowers emerged with the super-sunny days, attracting pollinators as well as providing a beautiful contrast to the bright greens and blues of the tree canopy and sky above, walking along Wath Road. The fallen flowers look like furry caterpillars taking over the village.

Getting that sinking feeling

Escaping the current heat, let’s head on out to the cool waters of the canal…

115 years ago, in May 1910, the Elsecar Branch of the Dearne and Dove Canal had a small but steady monthly traffic for coal from a number of collieries, namely:

– Cortonwood – 462 tons

– Elsecar – 629 tons

– Lidgett – 190 tons

– Hoyland Silkstone – 1334 tons

Five years later, in 1915, with a world at war, and the Lidgett Colliery having closed by 1912, the numbers for May 1915 were:

– Cortonwood – 1717 tons

– Elsecar – 446 tons

– Hoyland Silkstone – 970 tons

Traffic would all but cease from the Elsecar basin end of the branch by April 1920, with the closure of Hemingfield Colliery with its large dedicated canal basin to fill the Humber keels and sloops with around 70 tons a load.

Ironically the fuel which had first stimulated the opening of the Elsecar branch in 1798 would eventually hasten its closure some 122 years later.

A little after 3.30pm on Thursday 5th October 1916, at the the Great Central Railway Company’s Offices, at Marylebone in  London, the Board of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company met and received the report of the General Manager, Mr George Welch, based in Sheffield.

Welch’s report, dated 28th September 1916 highlighted problems with the Elsecar branch, and pointed to the wider tensions between colliery companies and the canal trade struggling with diminishing traffic in the railway age. Writing about the Cortonwood Colliery Company, Welch reported:

ELSECAR BRANCH CANAL.

In October, 1914, this colliery gave notice that they were going to get to Coal under the Elsecar Branch, between Knoll Beck Lane and Smithy Bridge. The Colliery Company have commenced getting this Coal, and the Canal Banks are going down very rapidly indeed; and we have great difficulty in keeping the water in the Canal.

           In November, 1913, the Wombwell Main Colliery Company, gave notice of their intention to work the Coal under the Canal between Tingle Bridge and Smithy Bridge Elsecar Branch. As a result of these workings, the Locks known as Smithy Bridge Lock and Storey Lock have subsided, and the Lock walls of the former have closed in about two inches, making it very difficult for boats to pass up and down.

I have considered with Mr. John Denton the question of the desirability of closing the Elsecat Branch Canal until such time as the subsidence, due to the working of the Wombwell Main Colliery Company and the Cortonwood Colliery Company, have ceased, and I shall be glad to receive the direction of the Board with regard to the matter.

        Three Collieries only use the Elsecar Branch, namely, the Cortonwood, the Elsecar and the Hoyland Silkstone.

       I have got out the amount of Coal loaded from these Collieries for six months during the years 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915 and 1916, and find that the traffic has decreased from 32,877 tons in 1911 to 10,766 tons in 1916. The Toll on this weight would amount to about £250.

Quoted from West Yorkshire Archives, Wakefield C299/30/2/1 Agendas, minutes, and business reports of the SSYN, pp.359-360

Cortonwood Colliery, located at the bottom of the Elsecar branch, near Wombwell Junction continued to use the canal up until 1927.