electric lift bridge at Royston. Traffic continued to fall, and maintenance costs increased as the effects of subsidence damaged the infrastructure, but the canal remained profitable until 1942. The following year, the Royston bridge was operated 856 times to allow boats to pass. Mottram Wood colliery was flooded on 13 June 1945, when another leak occurred near the aqueduct, and in 1946, of water escaped from the canal on 22 November, flooding a housing estate and the surrounding countryside. The Aire and Calder applied to abandon the canal in May 1947, and although the fledgeling Inland Waterways Association campaigned for its retention, the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive (DIWE) expressed "grave doubts as to whether it would be in the national interest to reinstate the waterway." The DIWE then offered compensation to carriers who were affected by the closure, and the abandonment order was finally granted in 1953. The aqueduct was demolished immediately, as it was deemed to be unsafe. Restoration The line of the canal below Barugh has remained largely intact, and in April 1984, the Barnsley Canal Group was formed, with the aim of campaigning for the restoration of the canal. Their first task was to undertake a detailed survey of the canal, to confirm that restoration was at least realistic. Having become a Limited Company and obtaining charitable status in April 1991, the group reformed as the Barnsley, Dearne and Dove Canal Trust in June 2000. In May 2001, the Barnsley Canal Consortium, consisting of a working group which includes local authorities, the Inland Waterways Association and the Canal Trust, was formed. The Consortium employed professional engineers to carry out a feasibility study on the reopening of both the Barnsley Canal and the Dearne and Dove Canal in August 2004, and the report, which was published in November 2006 confirmed that restoration was possible. The restored canal would follow the original line from the Aire and Calder Navigation to Barnsley, where a new marina would be built near to the location of Barugh locks. Three diversions would be required, one at the foot of the Walton locks, one near Cold Hiendley reservoir, and one where the canal crosses the River Dearne, where the original aqueduct has been demolished. In 2019, a public enquiry about Barnsley Metropolitan District Council's local plan was held, at which the council recommended that a firm line for the restored canal should not