Silkstone Waggonway

The Barnsley Canal The Barnsley Canal was built in the 1790s to carry coal from the mines near Barnsley to the Aire and Calder Navigation near Wakefield. In 1808, the canal company's Annual General Meeting approved a plan to build a waggonway, and they applied to Parliament for an Act authorising the construction of a horse-drawn railway from Silkstone Cross to the canal's southern terminus at Barnby Basin. The Act was granted. Construction The canal company purchased the trackbed of the earlier Low Moor Waggonway. == Route ==

The waggonway ran from Silkstone Cross to Barnby Basin. The lower section, between the Basin and Barnby Furnace, followed the route of the Low Moor Wagonway. From there it passed by Norcroft Bridge, at the north end of Silkstone. It was built with stone block sleepers, probably supplied from local quarries owned by Walter Spencer Stanhope. Cast iron, L-shaped rails were laid on the sleepers. Rough stones were packed around the sleepers to hold them in place, with a layer of ash covering them to make a suitable surface for the horses to walk on. Where the waggonway crossed public roads, unusual U-shaped rails were used. ==References==