The Dearne and Dove Canal ran for almost ten miles through South Yorkshire, England from Swinton to Barnsley through nineteen locks, rising . 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. History Creation and early years The idea of creating a navigable waterway from the River Don to Barnsley along the course of the River Dearne was first proposed in 1773 by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. However the idea was not pursued, until a meeting of the shareholders of the Don Navigation Company in 1792, where a canal from the River Don Navigation into Barnsley was proposed. At the same time the Aire & Calder Navigation company was considering a canal from Wakefield to Barnsley. On 20 October 1792, the rival companies held a famous meeting at the White Bear Inn (now the Royal Hotel) in Barnsley and agreed to join their canals just south of Barnsley and go forward with complementary proposals. These were to become the Dearne and Dove Canal and the Barnsley Canal, both of which sought to provide access to the coalfields of Barnby bridge and Haigh bridge. The canal obtained its Act of Parliament on 3 June 1793, on the same day as the Act which authorised the building of the Barnsley Canal. The Act created the Dearne and Dove Canal Company, consisting of 211 people, and allowed them to raise £60,000 by issuing shares, and a further £30,000 by mortgage if required. Robert Mylne was named as chief engineer on the project, and appears to have made the initial survey and given evidence to parliament in