After Rotherham, our next stop on the line to Doncaster is Swinton, a small town on the banks of the River Don that was once a centre for pottery manufacture, coal mining, glassmaking and canal barge-building. Like so many of the towns and villages we shall explore from the railways, Swinton is not a renowned tourist destination, although it may have gained greater attention since the launch of the Heritage Lottery-funded Don Valley Way, a twenty-nine mile walk that follows the river from Sheffield to Doncaster. Our walk around Swinton is in fact closely based on a Swinton Heritage Walk published on the Don Valley Way website (https://www.donvalleyway.org.uk/), albeit with a few tweaks.
Swinton has had three railway stations, of which the current one is a relatively modern affair, having opened in 1990 on the site of the town’s first station. Like most modern stations, it is relatively generic, all metal railings and gleaming platform shelters, but perhaps because it also serves as a bus interchange, it has a station building with toilets and waiting area. On leaving the station we turn right along Lime Grove, then left at the end along Station Street. Just after passing the junction with Sidney Street on the left, Swinton Grange can be seen; this was built in 1865 as a private residence and later became the town’s medical centre. Today, it is a care home. Just past this, on the opposite side of the road, is the former Carnegie Library (now converted into flats), which was opened in 1906.
Proceed along Station Street, and after the junction with Eagleton Gardens on the left, look out for Swinton Masonic Hall on the left. Continue past this, passing the junction with Temperance Street on the left, then turn left along a footpath into Horsefair Park; the building on the corner – now Café Sport – is the former Roxy Cinema, just past which is the Robin Hood Inn. Swinton was long known locally for the “Swinton Mile”, a pub crawl featuring fourteen separate public houses; however, we shall pass more than one that have now closed. Turn right and follow the main path through the park, emerging on Milton Street; to the left is one of the aforementioned closed hostelries, the former Traveller’s Rest, which is now private housing. Also on the left, the stone plaque from the now demolished Wesleyan Reform Chapel can be seen on the wall in front the houses that now occupy the site.
Turn right and follow Milton Street to Church Street and look directly across the road to see Swinton Buttercross, the base of which dates from the thirteenth century. Just along the road to your right is St. John’s Methodist Church, which dates from 1880. Turn left and follow Church Street, shortly passing the War Memorial on the right hand side of the road, just past which is the handsome St. Margaret’s Church, consecrated in 1817. It is worth exploring the churchyard, after which continue to follow Church Street, passing the Ring O’Bells public house on the left, just after which Swinton Peace Gardens can be seen on the corner with Rookery Road.
Shortly, pass the Gate Inn on your right, after which the road bends left, passing the Kings Head on the right and becoming Rockingham Road. The Kings Head is one of Swinton’s older inns – the current building dates from 1860, but there has been a pub on the site since 1781. Continue to follow Rockingham Road until it reaches a roundabout, then turn right along Warren Vale Road, passing the Woodman Pub on your right. Look out for a public footpath sign on the left hand side of the road, and turn down this, following it to Pottery Pond. This was originally called Flint Mill Pond and provided water to Flint Mill, part of Rockingham Pottery, which was established on the site in 1745. The pottery was world-famous, but closed in 1842 after producing a 200-piece dessert service for King William IV. If the name Rockingham Pottery sounds familiar, it is because Clifton Park Museum, which we visited on our tour of Rotherham, houses a collection of its pottery.
Waterloo Kiln
Walk round the edge of the pond, then follow a sign to see Waterloo Kiln. Also part of Rockingham Pottery and named after the Battle of Waterloo, this historical and architectural curiosity was built in 1845 and is believed to be the only surviving nineteenth-century pottery kiln in Yorkshire. Since the pottery closed, the Kiln was used between 1900 and the 1930s as a smallpox isolation hospital and a private house. After visiting the Kiln, return to the main path and follow it to Blackamoor Road. Cross over and continue straight ahead along a public footpath through woods to Warren Vale, then cross this and stay straight ahead along the path as it runs through Creighton Wood. Proceed through the wood on the main path, eventually reaching Piccadilly Road, crossing over to continue straight ahead along the public footpath, which ends at Fitzwilliam Street. Cross this and follow Carlisle Street, and after passing under a railway bridge turn left along Sanderson Way. At the end of the road, where it bends right to become Perrot Crescent, bear left and follow a footpath parallel to the railway track, which turns right to end at Broomville Street.
Broomville Street runs alongside the Dearne and Dove Canal, which joins the Kilnhurst Cut of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation to your left. Opened completely in 1804, this ran for ten miles from Barnsley to Swinton and closed in 1961. Now derelict, much of the line is infilled, but the bottom part through Swinton remains more or less intact, including the locks down to the Kilnhurst Cut. The bottom locks are on private land, but are visible from the road. From here, turn right, then turn left and cross a bridge over the canal to Wharf Street. Follow this to Bridge Street, passing the now-closed Bridge Inn on the left, and turn right over the bridge across the canal. Follow the road under the railway bridge, and look out for the station building of the former Swinton Town Railway Station (the town’s second), which opened in 1899 and closed in 1968, on your right. Just past this is the Swinton Workingmen’s Club. Turn left along Lime Grove, passing the Railway Inn (another sadly closed public house) on the corner, to return to Swinton station.
From Swinton, the railway line splits; one branch heads north, towards Wakefield and Leeds, as we shall see later. The other heads east and then north-east to Doncaster and beyond and it is this line that we shall continue to follow for now. The next stop is very close-by, at Swinton’s neighbouring town of Mexborough.
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