Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation
The Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation was the last British waterway to be upgraded for freight traffic, with an ambitious series of improvements in the 1970s and early 1980s.
It is capable of handling huge vessels, including European barges carrying up to 700 tons into this industrial heartland. But despite this, the waterway remains under-used by freight traffic while local motorways remain congested. Recent improvements have concentrated on attracting specific cargoes - for example, a new wharf for steel traffic at Thrybergh.
Pleasure boats are still in the majority, and the navigation is popular with walkers and cyclists. It achieved worldwide fame in the 1990s when the opening scene of The Full Monty was filmed on the canal in Sheffield. The city's own canal basin has recently been revived, while the rural reaches are rich in wildlife sites.
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