Mexborough and Swinton Times January 20, 1939

Floods in South Yorkshire
Might Have Been Worse
Agricultural Land Mainly Affected
Don Bursts Its Banks

Melting snow in the higher reaches of the Don and Dearne has caused extensive flooding of land in the Mexborough district Property has escaped, but two roads were affected and one was made impasse able to traffic during the week-end.

New Course.

On Sunday the Don burst its banks at Kilnhurst Wash, and the overflow cut out a new course, over farming land, to tumble into the Don once more behind the Mexborough L.N.E.R. Station. Between the two points the flood stretched for a mile.

Through Mexborough itself the Don, was well behaved, but at the Toll Bar it again swamped a considerable area of land near the Denaby and Cadeby Collieries. At some points the Don floods were estimated to have a depth of six feet , and near Swinton Sewerage Works, where the river rose fifteen feet above normal level, watch was maintained during the critical periods.

The efficiency of the flood-prevention work was severely, tested at Wath, and though the Dearne carried an abnormal volume of water it was kept to the river bed in the neighbourhood of property. Residents, of Midland Terrace, Wath, who have suffered seriously from flooding in the past, watched the rising river anxiously, and were much relieved when the customary threat did not materialise.

In this district, on the Wath side, the only suggestion of flooding was that the tracks in a Wath Main siding were covered. On the whole, however, the Colliery went scot-free.

On the Bolton side, the Dearne, as usual, covered several fields, and its course could be distinguished only by the bridges. The bridge on the Bolton Mexborough road was incapable of coping with the terrific volume of water released from, the hills, and the flood swept over the road. Road traffic could pass, but extra care had to be taken. Many allotments at Bolton Common were hidden, and farther down the valley water stood on the Adwick cricket ground.

There was a serious overflow at Denaby Halt, and at this point the road was impassable. A large area of land was inundated, and it was estimated that the road itself was covered at the maximum to a depth of more than four feet.

Looking acrossThe flooded Don Valley from Kilnhurst towards Mexborough