[1] It connects Sheffield, Rotherham, and Doncaster with the River Trent at Keadby and (via the New Junction Canal) the Aire and Calder Navigation.

[7] By the 1840s, there were a number of proposals to build railways in the region, and the River Don Navigation Company acted to ensure they would remain in business.

[10] By the 1880s, there was dissatisfaction among the users that the rates for traffic were higher than on the railways, and the canals were failing to modernise, as steam boats were banned, despite them having been in use for 50 years on the neighbouring Aire and Calder Navigation.

T & C Hawksley, assisted by James Abernethy, were asked to report on whether a canal from Sheffield suitable for medium-sized coasters could be built, to the Ouse, the Trent or the Humber.

The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal Company Limited was formed in November 1888, with a capital of £30,000, to promote this new venture and obtain the necessary act of Parliament.

In addition, the Dearne and Dove Canal would be dredged, so that compartment boats, like those on the Aire and Calder, could be used for the transport of coal.

When a notice was served under the terms of the Act, which required them to sell the canals, they attempted to obstruct the new company by taking legal action against them.

Meanwhile, negotiations had also taken place with the Aire and Calder, and an agreement had been reached to connect the two systems together by a 5.5-mile (9 km) canal, so that the improved Don could use Goole for the export of coal, rather than having to develop Keadby.

obtained on 31 July 1893,[dubious – discuss] but the clause about railway representation meant that the Aire and Calder declined to purchase any shares, and the company struggled to raise the capital.

The railway company therefore nominated half of the ten directors, and there was no capital to fund the ambitious plans for the modernisation of the system, although some further developments took place.

In 1906, the Worsbrough branch ceased to be navigable, and became just a water feeder, and in 1909, the company effectively conceded defeat, by allowing coal to be mined under the canal.

They were also faced with the prospect of funding their half of the New Junction Canal, to provide the connection with the Aire and Calder Navigation.

West Riding County Council, who reported on its state in 1907 as part of the Royal Commission on Canals, blamed the inadequacies on the fact that the navigation was virtually controlled by the Great Central Railway.

They commissioned Sir John Wolfe-Barry, Lyster and Partners to produce a report in 1919, and from the options suggested, chose to promote one of them.

The effort made in the 1980s to attract traffic to the waterway below Rotherham did not extend to the stretch above the town: the locks remained suitable only for much smaller barges.

Today the system is open to navigation throughout the main line, the Stainforth and Keadby and New Junction canals, and is mostly used for leisure boating.