River Don, England

:This article is about the river in England. For other rivers with the same name, see Don River.

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The River Don is a river in South Yorkshire, England. It rises in the Pennines and flows for 112 km (70 miles) eastwards, through the Don Valley, via Penistone, Sheffield, Rotherham, Mexborough, Conisbrough, Doncaster and Stainforth. It joins the River Ouse at Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Don Valley is the local UK parliamentary constituency.

Related Topics:
River - South Yorkshire - England - Pennines - Penistone - Sheffield - Rotherham - Mexborough - Conisbrough - Doncaster - Stainforth - River Ouse - Goole - East Riding of Yorkshire - Don Valley

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The Don's major tributaries are the Dearne, the Rother, the Sheaf, the Rivelin and the Loxley.

Related Topics:
Dearne - Rother - Sheaf - Rivelin - Loxley

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Along the Sheffield–Rotherham stretch of the river are five weirs that punctuate a local footpath: the Five Weirs Walk.

Related Topics:
Weir - Five Weirs Walk

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Some of the twistier sections of the Don are abridged by a series of canal cuttings that constitute the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.

Related Topics:
Canal - Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation

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The industrial nature of the region has led to a severe pollution problem for the river, although this has abated somewhat over recent years, with salmon reported in the river near Doncaster.

Related Topics:
Pollution - Salmon

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Fig trees grow on a stretch of the river bank in Sheffield; the seeds having germinated successfully thanks to the increased warmth of the water near factory outfalls.

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The Don derives its name from Danu, a Celtic mother goddess.

Related Topics:
Danu - Celtic

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The lower Don originally meandered in a north-easterly direction across the marshland of Hatfield Chase to enter the Ouse and Trent at their junction and it formed the boundary between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In the marshland drainage project of 1627, the civil engineer Cornelius Vermuyden from The Netherlands diverted the Don northwards and then eastwards to enter the Ouse at the site of Goole, 15km upstream of the Trent. The "Dutch River" so formed had the advantage of being navigable by small coal barges which transferred their cargo to sea-going vessels at the Ouse. The construction of the railway from Doncaster to Goole in 1870 greatly reduced this traffic and when the cut-off New Junction Canal from Stainforth to the Aire and Calder Navigation main canal west of Goole was completed in 1897, the Dutch River reverted almost entirely to its original drainage function.

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