Sheffield and Tinsley Canal - Does anyone love it?

[Chertsey]

A few weeks ago I walked the towpath from Sheffield Basin to the Tinsley locks and was struck by how abandoned and unloved the canal seemed. On my return I tried to find some organisation dedicated to its wellbeing but there seemed only to be the local IWA. Is that right? No Sheffield and Tinsley Canal Society or similar?

[BenC]

Horrible, fill it in!

Sorry, never been there, I hope that someone starts to care.

Chertsey, you seem to be back posting?! Like an addict just testing the water again!?

[cheshire~rose]

Whilst I am not familiar with that stretch of canal at all I suspect the new interest in The Rother Valley Link may make a big difference in that area.

 

http://www.chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk/index.php/latest-news/general-news/465-rother-valley-link

 

If you follow the link to the presentation on that page it will take you to a video presentation about The Rother Valley Link by Dr Geraint Coles. Most informative and interesting.

[tillergirl]

Is this the canal that ends at Victoria Quays?

[Chertsey]

Is this the canal that ends at Victoria Quays?

 

Yes, that's what they call the basin now.

 

And a rather sad, desolate place it is. Mooring seems to be discouraged by the company that runs it, in favour of space for brokerage boats, and it doesn't help that it's at the wrong end of town. Yet it has clearly had money spent on it in the past and could be lovely.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Chertsey

[Naughty Cal]

Yes it is Tillergirl.

 

The basin is always very well looked after but just a short distance along the canal and the city turns its back on this canal.

 

There are many regeneration projects in the pipeline along the stretch from the basin to Meadowhall that should hopefully open up the areas adjacent to the canal and make it feel more as though it is a part of the city without ruining its industrial heritage.

[Guest]

A few weeks ago I walked the towpath from Sheffield Basin to the Tinsley locks and was struck by how abandoned and unloved the canal seemed. On my return I tried to find some organisation dedicated to its wellbeing but there seemed only to be the local IWA. Is that right? No Sheffield and Tinsley Canal Society or similar?

We have never yet ventured down that far, Mexbrough being about as far as we have gone on the South Yorkshire navigations. The whole vibe changes there where between Spotbrough and Doncaster the navigation takes on an appearence to rival anything we have seen here in France.

 

It.s a shame if the rest is less well cared for, the Tinsley flight is also set to be disected by HS2 at Meadowhall which may not help.

[Athy]

Don't get me started on H-S-bloody-2. It's almost* cured me of being a railway enthusiast. It makes the money which will be wasted on the Foxton Inclined Plane look like small change.

 

* only Almost.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Athy

[Naughty Cal]

We have walked the section from the basin to the bottom of the Tinsley flight and it is surprisingly pretty in places. Along much of the route you wouldnt expect you were threading your way through the city, except for the odd bit of traffic noise or rail noise.

 

It is a shame that planning and development over the years has led to the city turning its back on the canal but future projects could spell exciting times for the navigation with lots of regeneration and redevelopment in the planning process right now. Hopefully these schemes should open up the waterway and make it more accessible to all which should hopefully make the canal fee loved again.

[Neil2]

Rotherham's my home town and I remember very well the excitement at the time over the prospect of major improvements to the canal which began just after I left the area, around 1980 I think.

 

It was genuinely believed that the ability of the "new" canal to take sea going barges would turn Rotherham into a genuine inland port, it never actually worked out quite as intended, for all sorts of reasons, but at the time it was felt the future of this navigation was strictly commercial. The canal from Rotherham to Sheffield wasn't part of the plan and consequently was left in a pretty sorry state, I don't think it was even navigable around that time. In my wayward youth we would use the canal towpath as the quickest way back to Rotherham from the Sheffield night clubs in the early hours. A mate once claimed he walked all the way home on the canal one particularly hard winter... I never saw a single boat of any description anyway.

 

A concerted effort was made in the 1990's to improve the Rotherham-Sheffield section and hopefully encourage more leisure craft, but it has been pretty much in vain - the famous scene in "The Full Monty" where the two guys get stranded on the roof of an abandoned car in the middle of the canal (filmed in Attercliffe, just to the west of Tinsley locks) says it all I'm afraid.

 

I really hope the Rother Link becomes a reality, and I think it might because the Chesterfield Canal is lovely and I can imagine lots of boaters being attracted there if they could avoid the Trent. It makes a lot more sense than, say, the Lancaster Canal Northern Reaches which seems to have gone comatose anyway.

[peterboat]

Hi its not a bad canal as naughty cal says very pretty in places I go up to sheffield a couple of times a year. We go as group so the locks arnt that bad, to be truthfull the basin is crap because it is just a open air boat sale park. Also it is like the town everyone forgot at the basin and I dont think anything but house building and a pub other than the Hilton hotel will cure it. Then all that would happen is that the residents would complain about smoke/boats etc etc So on the plus side you dont have to wait at locks their are keepers to assist you and Johnathon Wilsons boatyard is next to the basin so you can see great boats being built

 

Peter

[Stubaby]

CV Marine manage the basin, and I don't think it's true that they discourage mooring there. I popped in to their office there last week, and the man was very keen on offering me a mooring for £10 a night, £50 a week, or £400 a quarter (for my 45' boat). Seemed fair to me. I think you can stay for a couple of days for free, just out of the end basin.

 

Anyway, does anyone know what the people who do stay there do for diesel? The nearest marina selling diesel is at Thorne (28 locks away!!!). I don't fancy lugging it in jerry cans.

[Odana]

I moored at Sheffield for two winters. Before CV Marine took over it was quite empty -the brokerage boats fill it up and make it much more interesting. It's a strange place- spitting distance from the city centre but visually and mentally cut off by the ring roads.Nice little moorings and community. Hell. of a journey to get out though esp as you have to book passage through the locks. Most of a days journey gets you to Rotherham! But the the Don there is gorgeous.

 

Diesel comes in jerrycans or Thorne has to be the first stop . The trip boat get their red diesel delivered in big drums which could potentially be shared between a group of boats.

[Mick and Maggie]

There is red diesel available on the canalside near Mexborough. I can't remember the name of the company but it has several large cranes parked in the wharf yard. It comes supplied in 25 litre cans which you can keep. There is a phone number on the hoarding which you can ring and someone will come down from the office to the wharf. The water is a bit on the shallow side close up to the wharf, you may need to use your plank. Apparently when the humber princess goes past with a full load of oil she plows the canal mud and pushes it to the edge. Fixed price no declaration required. I seem to remember it was 80 or 85p a litre when we purchased 50 litres last year.

 

There was a huge cloud of smoke over the top end of the Tinsley canal yesterday. This was a recycling plant not far from the Sheffield Canal Basin that went up in flames. People nearby were warned to keep their windows and doors closed. I note that this morning the smoke as reduced but obviously it is a damping down process that is now going on. The local news described it as a major incident, fire appliances from out of our area had to attend in support of the local fire service.

[mayalld]

A few weeks ago I walked the towpath from Sheffield Basin to the Tinsley locks and was struck by how abandoned and unloved the canal seemed. On my return I tried to find some organisation dedicated to its wellbeing but there seemed only to be the local IWA. Is that right? No Sheffield and Tinsley Canal Society or similar?

As I work not too far from the canal (just the other side of the railway arches at Norfolk Bridge) I really should take a lunchtime walk

[Mick and Maggie]

I moored at Sheffield for two winters. Before CV Marine took over it was quite empty -the brokerage boats fill it up and make it much more interesting. It's a strange place- spitting distance from the city centre but visually and mentally cut off by the ring roads.Nice little moorings and community. Hell. of a journey to get out though esp as you have to book passage through the locks. Most of a days journey gets you to Rotherham! But the the Don there is gorgeous. Diesel comes in jerrycans or Thorne has to be the first stop . The trip boat get their red diesel delivered in big drums which could potentially be shared between a group of boats.

 

The Tinsley canal has many good features but it has to be tempered by the loss of manufacturing in the area. Many of the old steel production and fabrication businesses have closed down. The canal basin is being managed by a company that is more interested in boat brokerage than having boats on moorings. The area has been redeveloped and a lot of money has been poured into it. Unfortunately, unless you are familiar with the city centre. Its almost impossible to figure out how to get to the basin by car. It's not easy on foot requiring the use of the raised pedestrian platforms.

 

The canal skirts the edge of a couple of deprived areas that are prime for redevelopment. However, there are signs of improvement taking place. The next significant point is the Sheffield sports arena. Which after spending millions to build a first class sports stadium. The council has since decided to pull it down to save money. In a strange way, the stark appearance of the canal is a very attractive location to film makers. Films such as 'the full monty' were filmed there. Several TV series such as 'I didn't know you cared' used the canal as a backdrop. 'Bleak Water' written by Danuta Reah is a best selling novel that is based upon the Tinsley canal. I understand that this is going to be turned into a film in the next year or so.

 

The marina at the top of the Tinsley flight has a great deal going for it. However, there are a few boaters who are a touch anti-social. CaRT in its wisdom granted the small IWA group the right to manage the fishing in the area. They immediately banned fishing for a small group of disabled anglers. When you consider that anglers are supposed to be joining in to build and develop the new charitable Canal and River Trust. This event has caused some discord amongst other boaters in the marina that wanted the facilities for the disabled to continue.

 

One group of people have tried to take on a role of improving a section of the canal by adoption. However as CaRT seem ambivalent to the whole issue the group has gone elsewhere.

 

When you look around the area the transport connections are terrific. M1 motorway less than a mile. Supertram into the city or into the meadowhall shopping complex every few minutes. Multi cinema complex, Supermarkets, large stores and many other facilities. The Hallam Arena where there are all kinds of entertainment events talking place. The Marina has a large secure carpark with plenty of space for visitors. Each pontoon has power and telephone broadband Plus a water point every few boats.

 

CaRT are not currently advertising the available empty moorings.

 

PS. Red Diesel is available from a service station a short distance from the marina. As is bottled gas at a unit price that is £6 cheaper than the local Calor franchise!

Edited July 16, 2013 by Mick and Maggie

[Stubaby]

PS. Red Diesel is available from a service station a short distance from the marina. As is bottled gas at a unit price that is £6 cheaper than the local Calor franchise!

 

Thanks for the tip ... do you have any directions, or a road name, for the service station?

[Mick and Maggie]

 

Thanks for the tip ... do you have any directions, or a road name, for the service station?

 

The service station is located near the junction of Greenland Road (A6102) and Britannia Road. The pump closest to the road is marked 'gas oil'.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Mick and Maggie

[PeterScott]

...Sheffield sports arena. Which after spending millions to build a first class sports stadium. The council has since decided to pull it down to save money....

 

It's a great pity. There's also a neglected offside herringbone mooring on the canal just by the Arena that has never been used for mooring since they were created for the 1991 World Student Games - just the sort of location that residential boats would bring to life - and improve a rather rundown area.

 

The marina at the top of the Tinsley flight has a great deal going for it. However, there are a few boaters who are a touch anti-social. CaRT in its wisdom granted the small IWA group the right to manage the fishing in the area. They immediately banned fishing for a small group of disabled anglers. When you consider that anglers are supposed to be joining in to build and develop the new charitable Canal and River Trust. This event has caused some discord amongst other boaters in the marina that wanted the facilities for the disabled to continue.

The difficulties at Tinsley have featured on the board before. Just to add, then, that the Inland Waterways Association hasn't any role in the management of fishing rights. We do of course share our TLA with, for example, windsurfers, wrestlers, welsh people, the independent warranty association and The Irish Wheelchair Association - the last of which seem the least likely to be the banners of disabled fishing.

[Mick and Maggie]

 

It's a great pity. There's also a neglected offside herringbone mooring on the canal just by the Arena that has never been used for mooring since they were created for the 1991 World Student Games - just the sort of location that residential boats would bring to life - and improve a rather rundown area.

 

We have from time to time stopped on the finger moorings at the Arena. It would make a good place for small groups of boaters to congregate. But it needs a few moored together for a bit of additional security. It's a pity that there is no water point at this location otherwise I think it would be much more of an attractive place to stay.

[peterboat]

Hi yes we have moored there to listen to a concert and yes we go in a group

 

Peter

[Northernboater]

Hi its not a bad canal as naughty cal says very pretty in places I go up to sheffield a couple of times a year. We go as group so the locks arnt that bad, to be truthfull the basin is crap because it is just a open air boat sale park. Also it is like the town everyone forgot at the basin and I dont think anything but house building and a pub other than the Hilton hotel will cure it. Then all that would happen is that the residents would complain about smoke/boats etc etc So on the plus side you dont have to wait at locks their are keepers to assist you and Johnathon Wilsons boatyard is next to the basin so you can see great boats being built

 

Peter

Where in Rotherham do you moor? as when I visited Sheffield last year I remember Rotherham as being a bit of a dump with no secure moorings and the Marina or moorings I did see at Tulley's was full of rotting boats with their owners sat outside chewing the fat and drinking strong lager with barking dogs all of which seamed to be on the social as they didn't look employable, past there it was drug smoking waster's all the way to the lock at the law courts, at least at Sheffield there were visitor moorings which you felt safe on and it didn't smell of wacky cigarettes and you were close to city centre. When was the last time you were in Sheffield?

[fanshaft]

Rotherham's my home town and I remember very well the excitement at the time over the prospect of major improvements to the canal which began just after I left the area, around 1980 I think.

 

It was genuinely believed that the ability of the "new" canal to take sea going barges would turn Rotherham into a genuine inland port, it never actually worked out quite as intended, for all sorts of reasons, but at the time it was felt the future of this navigation was strictly commercial. The canal from Rotherham to Sheffield wasn't part of the plan and consequently was left in a pretty sorry state, I don't think it was even navigable around that time. In my wayward youth we would use the canal towpath as the quickest way back to Rotherham from the Sheffield night clubs in the early hours. A mate once claimed he walked all the way home on the canal one particularly hard winter... I never saw a single boat of any description anyway.

 

A concerted effort was made in the 1990's to improve the Rotherham-Sheffield section and hopefully encourage more leisure craft, but it has been pretty much in vain - the famous scene in "The Full Monty" where the two guys get stranded on the roof of an abandoned car in the middle of the canal (filmed in Attercliffe, just to the west of Tinsley locks) says it all I'm afraid.

 

I really hope the Rother Link becomes a reality, and I think it might because the Chesterfield Canal is lovely and I can imagine lots of boaters being attracted there if they could avoid the Trent. It makes a lot more sense than, say, the Lancaster Canal Northern Reaches which seems to have gone comatose anyway.

 

Small point - there never was any intention that sea going barges would use the SYN in the literal sense as you couldn't design a barge with sea going ability which would carry enough cargo to make it pay. The plan was to use 140 tonne dumb barges which would be carried across the sea on a ship and then be pushed up (or down) the canal in threes (the 'BACAT' scheme) but this was killed off by the Hull dockers after a short period of operation as they, understandably, feared for their jobs and for a while all British Waterways barges were 'blacked. . In the event containerisation took hold and the dockers had to live with the concept. The SYN is larger than the A&CN and can in fact take barges of up to 700 tonnes capacity - but none have been built as they would be non standard. Bacat barges were used conventionally on the SYN and elsewhere into the late 1980s (i.e. not going on to the mother ship) and a few still exist (some went to the Thames). Regards David L.

[peterboat]

Where in Rotherham do you moor? as when I visited Sheffield last year I remember Rotherham as being a bit of a dump with no secure moorings and the Marina or moorings I did see at Tulley's was full of rotting boats with their owners sat outside chewing the fat and drinking strong lager with barking dogs all of which seamed to be on the social as they didn't look employable, past there it was drug smoking waster's all the way to the lock at the law courts, at least at Sheffield there were visitor moorings which you felt safe on and it didn't smell of wacky cigarettes and you were close to city centre. When was the last time you were in Sheffield?

Yesterday and again on this saturday coming moored at Johnathon Wilsons for a year and looks can be deceiving there was far more trouble and robbing in the city center than their ever is in tuleys. After a quick count there are only 7 boats that are liveaboard and only one of them is not working, did you go past at the weekend? if so plenty of people are around chatting and if its sunny having a drink outside a sight have seen many times on my travels. When I was in Skipton the other week I did not see any secure moorings there either? In fact last year when we travelled to Skipton we went through some rough areas where portacabins were burnt out and we had bricks etc thrown in our direction. All areas have rough places but just because it looks nice doesnt mean it is. And I know for a fact no one around here is on waccy baccy but sheffield by the canal is where you go to buy it

 

Peter

Small point - there never was any intention that sea going barges would use the SYN in the literal sense as you couldn't design a barge with sea going ability which would carry enough cargo to make it pay. The plan was to use 140 tonne dumb barges which would be carried across the sea on a ship and then be pushed up (or down) the canal in threes (the 'BACAT' scheme) but this was killed off by the Hull dockers after a short period of operation as they, understandably, feared for their jobs and for a while all British Waterways barges were 'blacked. . In the event containerisation took hold and the dockers had to live with the concept. The SYN is larger than the A&CN and can in fact take barges of up to 700 tonnes capacity - but none have been built as they would be non standard. Bacat barges were used conventionally on the SYN and elsewhere into the late 1980s (i.e. not going on to the mother ship) and a few still exist (some went to the Thames). Regards David L.

Quite right there was one in Rotherham in fact it could still be there will look tomorrow when I walk Taff. Its a shame it never happened as it would have been a very good way of moving good around but unions killed it dead

 

Peter

[PaddingtonBear]

£10 a night or £50 a week just to moor is good? utter madness, no wonder no one goes there. Sheffield is a fantastic city and deserves much better than those half wits destroying the Quays although having been deeply involved with 'regeneration' down south it almost never delivers. Just a gig for ego tripping architecs. The world's biggest Water Park indeed, 80 storey 'gateway' developments Bah humbug, it is all bollocks.