Dove River, LOW VALLEY Darfield nr BARNSLEY

The River Dove starts at the outfall of Worsbrough Reservoir, which was built for the opening of the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1804 It supplied the Worsbrough Arm of the canal as well as the river. It is fed by a number of streams, the main ones being the Brough Green Brook and the Rockley Dike. Almost immediately, it is crossed by the A61 road at Worsbrough Bridge. The Black Dike joins from the south, and then Station Road crosses on a bridge. The station which gave the road its name was Wombwell Central railway station, which was on the South Yorkshire Railway line between Barnsley and Mexborough. It closed in 1959. There are then a series of railway bridges. Swaithe Bridge is the first and still carries the Barnsley to Rotherham Railway, while the next three were part of a complex railway junction, but all the tracks have been removed.
The A633 Barnsley Road crosses at Aldham Bridge, which is followed by another unused railway bridge. Next Stonyford Bridge carries the B6096 road over the river, and Wombwell Ings, an area of low-lying ground and lakes, is located to the south. Wombwell Ings is used as a washland, which is flooded in a controlled way when the river is unable to discharge into the Dearne because of high water levels, which are themselves often the result of high levels in the River Don. They were engineered to act as washlands in 1973, as part of the River Dearne Improvement Scheme. A little further on, the river joins the River Dearne.