A further bank some distance to the east of the northern channel ran for 5 miles (8 km) from Thorne to Turnbridge to provide washlands, which would flood when high levels in the Aire prevented the Don discharging into it.

Continued problems with flooding led to the construction of a 5-mile (8 km) channel from Newbridge near Thorne eastwards to Goole, where water levels in the Ouse were between 5 and 10 feet (1.5 and 3.0 m) lower than at Turnbridge.

The tidal scour widened the channel, and barges of up to 30 tonnes could normally reach Fishlake, and often Wilsick House, in Barnby Dun.

[2] Initial attempts to seek powers to make the River Don navigable were hampered by opposition from local landowners and disunity between the authorities in Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster.

The first bill to try to obtain an act of Parliament was presented in 1698 by the MP for Thirsk, Sir Godfrey Copley of Sprotborough, representing the interests of Rotherham.

There was organised resistance to the scheme from local landowners, and it appears that their influence resulted in the proposed bill being defeated in committee, so it could not be presented to Parliament.

Construction was started in 1793 and completed in 1802, with John Thompson, the engineer to the Don Navigation Company, overseeing the work until his death in 1795.

[16] A plan to upgrade the waterways to allow the use of 300 to 500-tonne boats led to the formation of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal Company Limited in November 1888.

[22] During the inter-war years the navigation struggled to hold its own against competition from the railways and later the roads, and was affected by miners' strikes in the coal industry.

Some improvements continued to be made, with two coal wharfs being built at Mexborough in 1954, to serve the new Doncaster power station, and Long Sandall Lock being extended to 215 by 22 feet (65.5 by 6.7 m).

Control of the navigation passed on again in 1963, this time to the British Waterways Board, who submitted a proposal to the government for a £2.5 million upgrade, covering the stretch from Bramwith to Rotherham.

[28] The River Don Navigation ended at Tinsley Wharf, but it forms a convenient place to start a description of the route.

[35] Soon the edge of Doncaster is reached, where amongst the railway marshalling yards, the River Don leaves the navigation for the final time, as does the towpath.

[40] It was constructed by Logan and Hemmingway, who won a contract valued at £41,046 in April 1907, which included six settling tanks, 24 contact beds, and the bridge.

The western bridge carries the continuation of Millmoor Lane and the eastern the ex-MS&L freight-only line between Tinsley and Rotherham Central.

[47] The towpath of the navigation (part of the Trans-Pennine Trail) is carried on a walkway that is cantilevered over the Don from the retaining wall of the factory site to the north.

Prior to the re-routing of the canal in 1864, the Westgate line crossed the Holmes cut a little further to the west by a three-arched bridge, the centre arch of which was 36 feet (11 m) long and was made of iron.

[48] Rotherham Lock footbridge provides pedestrian access to the Court House from Forge Island, which was once the site of an iron works but is now occupied by Tesco's.

Later, it became a private dwelling and finally a tobacconist's shop, before being returned to its original use as a chapel; it was formally reconsecrated in 1924 by the Bishop of Sheffield, and restoration of the interior took place in 1980.

In more recent times, it has been superseded by the A6123 (Aldwarke Lane) road bridge, a concrete flyover spanning both river and navigation.

This section of the Navigation was quite challenging for full-size barges to negotiate since the bridges are immediately adjacent to a right-angle bend in the canal, which was created when the railways to Mexborough were built in the late 1840s.

Mexborough BBCS Flour Mill is an imposing building and associated wharf standing on the north side of the Navigation close to the Church of St John the Baptist.

The bridge now forms part of public access from Conisbrough Station to the main (west-east) section of the Trans Pennine Trail.

Installation of a new deck surface and safety railings were funded by the Railway Heritage Trust in early 2008, and the viaduct re-opened as part of the Sustrans network in April 2008.

Replacing a ferry crossing of the river, the first bridge and associated toll house were built in 1849 for Sir Joseph William Copley of Sprotbrough Hall.

The toll house, consisting of a single storey with a half basement, made of dressed sandstone with an asphalt roof, still survives on the northern bank of the lock cut.

The ladder beam layout, using two main plate girders, cross-girders at 13 feet (4.0 m) centres and precast planks, was chosen both to optimise the deck and to minimise the size and number of the piers.

[38] Kirk Sandall Pipe Bridge is located at a point where the Navigation runs parallel to, and a few metres to the south-east of, the River Don.

A pipe bridge high above both the Navigation and the river once carried waste from the glass works which adjoined the towpath (to the south-east) across to a series of settling ponds (to the north-west).

The replacement work cost £0.5 million and was part of a wider upgrade of the Navigation to conform to the 700-tonne Eurobarge standard (see Later Development section of this article).