Water supply issues meant that the Aire and Calder proposed pumping all of the water for the canal from the River Calder, using steam pumps, but a reservoir was built at Cold Hiendley instead, increasing the construction costs, but reducing the running costs.

The Aire and Calder applied to abandon the canal in 1947, and despite protestations from the fledgling Inland Waterways Association, the right to do so was granted in 1953.

A 2.5-mile (4.0 km) branch from Barugh to Haigh Bridge, including an extra seven locks, was added to the scheme.

[5] Construction work started on 27 September 1793, at Heath Common, near the junction with the Aire and Calder Canal.

Construction was difficult, with Pinkerton unexpectedly encountering rock in the cutting at Cold Hiendley, and inflation pushed up the costs.

There were disputes between Hartley and Pinkerton, which lasted until long after the canal was opened, and were finally settled in 1812, after a lawsuit.

Major engineering features included a five-arched aqueduct where the canal crossed the River Dearne, a long cutting at Cold Hiendley, five locks at Barugh, another twelve at Walton, two at Agbrigg and the final one near Heath.

Coal from the Silkstone collieries was sporadic, as the tramway which had been authorised by the act of Parliament was not built due to financial constraints.

In order to keep the boats moving, the Barnsley Canal Company attempted to take water from the River Dearne on several occasions, and were ordered to remove the works which diverted the water by the River Don Navigation Company, who had sponsored the Dearne and Dove Canal.

It was not until 1854 that the company finally agreed to a lease from the Aire and Calder, by which time traffic was falling rapidly.

The canal structures were increasingly affected by subsidence from the mining, and an inspection of the aqueduct in 1866 revealed "fissures in the rock and cracks in the arches".

In 1870, Barnsley Corporation ordered the canal company to stop extracting water from the River Dearne, as they needed the supply.

c. cxcv), which authorised the takeover of the canal by the Aire and Calder, the replacing of ten of the twelve Walton locks by an inclined plane, and protection of the water supply at Barugh.

[15] The final 1.3-mile (2.1 km) section to Barnby, including the five locks at Barugh were abandoned under the terms of the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict.

[17] A major breach of the canal occurred on 20 November 1911, when subsidence caused part of the aqueduct and the adjacent embankment to fail.

Traffic continued to fall, and maintenance costs increased as the effects of subsidence damaged the infrastructure, but the canal remained profitable until 1942.

The DIWE then offered compensation to carriers who were affected by the closure,[18] and the abandonment order was finally granted in 1953.

[21] 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.

[23] 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.

Before long, people started to think about restoration, and the group have decided that their first objective should be improvements to the towpath between Barugh Green and Smithies.