A Watery Grave?
N 53º 29.262’ W 1º 18.226’
The above co-ordinates are not the position of the final cache, they are for the starting point of the walk. The round trip is approximately 3 km or 2 miles. The walk is pretty flat but there are some sharp changes in height and a set of steps. Also some parts will be very muddy for some time after rainfall and some parts are overgrown, particularly during summer. Therefore it is pretty much impossible for pushchairs, wheelchairs, bikes etc. Be aware that some parts of this walk are next to deep water.
If you require parking this is available free at N 53º 29.295’ W 1º 18.129’
This is a cache walk through history that follows the remains and route of the old Dearne & Dove canal through Swinton. A lot of the canal is now filled in and buried, hence the cache title. You will be pointed to features along the way and also pick up clues that will allow you to work out the co-ordinates for the cache. The cache contains a few old pictures of the canal (please do not remove these from the cache) and you will be prompted to remember views of those scenes as they appear now for comparison. Perhaps a digital camera shot on your way round?
If you are not interested in the historic part of this walk, you could just go straight to all the clue co-ordinates, although that will still involve walking the whole of the route anyway.
Start
At the starting co-ordinates the sculpture pays tribute to Swintons canal boating heritage.
Clue A = 4 + the number of “masts” on the sculpture.
Go to N 53º 29.227’ W 1º 18.258’ and say hello to any ducks. To the south can be seen the boatyard where canal boats are repaired and maintained. Try to remember the look of this area for later. Walk along the canal side roughly northwards.
Clue B = 3 + the number of overhead pipes at N 53º 29.239’ W 1º 18.269’
At N 53º 29.307’ W 1º 18.298’ there used to be a crane which would unload the barges with materials for the glass making factory (Dale Browns) next to the canal. You can still see the remains of the cranes’ foundations in the bushes.
At N 53º 29.381’ W 1º 18.326’ look back towards where the crane used to be. Try to remember this view for later. Go under the north, right hand side, opening of the bridge next to you. The canal used to go under here and out onto the field on the other side. The bank side and towpath are still visible under the bridge. The canal then went in a straight line from the bridge and would have run along the bottom of the gardens of the houses that now occupy the north-western corner of the field.
Clue C = 2 x the number of overhead wires at N 53º 29.417’ W 1º 18.382’
Walk to N 53º 29.452’ W 1º 18.409’ This would have put you in the middle of a set of locks.
Another set of locks were at N 53º 29.506’ W 1º 18.445’
At N 53º 29.601’ W 1º 18.505’ the canal would have entered a 472 yard long tunnel.
Exit the field, by climbing over or through the fence. If you can’t manage this track back and around the trees to N 53º 29.611’ W 1º 18.479’
Clue D and E = the last two digits of the bridge code at N 53º 29.642’ W 1º 18.472’ (ie. TJC3/1?? where ?? are D and E in that order).
From the middle of the bridge look north along the railway and try to remember this view for later.
Re-enter the field at N 53º 29.611’ W 1º 18.479’
At N 53º 29.596’ W 1º 18.448’ look north towards the bridge and try to remember this view for later. The tunnel was bypassed in 1840 and the canal route diverted to run through this cutting created for the newly built railway. The canal and railway would then have passed under a stone built multi-arched bridge which has since been demolished and replaced with the current one just to the south of where the old one was. Follow the path under the bridge and alongside the railway. You can still see the remains of the base of the old bridge on the other side of the railway and the stone wall above that blocks off the route of the old road across it. Continue along the path northwards. The canal would have run alongside you on the left (you are on the towpath) and you can still see bulrushes growing in places along the route of the canal even though it has dried up here.
At N 53º 29.764’ W 1º 18.559’ we pick up the only other remains of the canal in Swinton. This is fast disappearing as it becomes silted up and overgrown. The stone bank side is still visible in places along here.
The area to the north and west of the end of the remains of the canal was occupied by Manvers Colliery but is now a business park and college. The canal used to transport coal from the colliery until the railways were built and eventually became the favoured choice. The canal was finally closed due to lack of use and subsidence (due to the mining below them) which caused leaks that were expensive to repair.
Cross the wooden footbridge at N 53º 29.854’ W 1º 18.686’
Clue F = the total number of steps up after the bridge - 11
Go up these steps and follow the path around.
At approximately N 53º 29.824’ W 1º 18.664’ there would have been the other end of the tunnel. Continue to follow the paths around and roughly south-eastwards. The area to the right, westwards, is known as the Pit Pony field as it was supposed to have been used by the colliery for the ponies that worked down the mines.
You now have all the clues for the cache co-ordinates. However, please do not try to go directly to the cache from here. Instead, follow the paths along the high ground to the gateway at N 53º 29.729’ W 1º 18.596’ Follow the path through the trees and onto the field and then access the cache from there. There should be no need to climb up or down any very steep slopes as the paths can get you close to the cache.
Cache
The cache co-ordinates are worked out by substituting the numbers found and calculated on the walk as follows:
N 53º 29.ABC’ W 1º 18.DEF’
The cache is a camouflaged plastic clip lock box 21x15x10cm. Good luck!
After the cache you can exit to previous familiar ground by heading to the gateway at N 53º 29.623’ W 1º 18.522’ and then backtracking from there.