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Beeley Wood weir.

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Seen salmon jumping up the weir at Holme Lane corner - couldn't believe my eyes!

 

Sorry, got to disagree, they wouldn't have been Salmon.

Any Salmon in any of the Sheffield rivers would have been widely reported.

More than likely trout.

 

If I am wrong, then please somebody come back with firm evidence they are trout

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Sorry, got to disagree, they wouldn't have been Salmon.

Any Salmon in any of the Sheffield rivers would have been widely reported.

More than likely trout.

 

If I am wrong, then please somebody come back with firm evidence they are trout

 

I would be surprised if salmon have got that far up yet, but I hope they have. I know they have been spotted at Aldwarke.

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Like Longy67, I also used to play around this weir when I was kid - along with my brother and local mates. We used to go into Beeley wood bottom via the entrance opposite The Middlewood Tavern - and then spend the whole day going up and down the riverside on Beeley Wood bottom, between Middlewood  and Oughtibridge - paddling, swimming and messing about in the river at every available entry point.

 

  This would have been around the mid 60's - but although we had tremendous fun, it was a very unhealthy environment for kids to play in!   The Beeley Wood Forge, the Acheson's Black Lead factory etc, were still operational.  I remember that  the air and the whole atmosphere  always had that industrial, metallic smell.... and the leaves on the trees were often coated in shiny, silvery-black carbon deposits.

 

The river Don was stinky and absolutely filthy!  It was the colour and consistency of a toxic oxtail soup - and the slower moving stretches of the river were always covered in a film of oil and floating piles of dirty, bubbly, soapy scum.  It's an absolute miracle that my childhood playmates and I didn't fall victim to some terrible disease or industrial poisoning,  given the amount of time we spent there when we were little kids.

 

I remember those times fondly,  but deep down,  I'm glad that the river, the whole of Beeley Woods, is much cleaner and pleasanter now. I'm glad that the old artificial weirs are being demolished and that the river is being left to pursue it's own natural course.  Most of all I'm glad that salmon and other fish and wildlife seem to be colonising and  living successfully  in that part of the river again....because despite the fun we had, I don't ever remember seeing any kind of living creature, in that poisoned  stretch of The Don, when I was a kid....so it's nice to see "nature" re-establishing itself. 😁

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19 minutes ago, FIRETHORN1 said:

Like Longy67, I also used to play around this weir when I was kid - along with my brother and local mates. We used to go into Beeley wood bottom via the entrance opposite The Middlewood Tavern - and then spend the whole day going up and down the riverside on Beeley Wood bottom, between Middlewood  and Oughtibridge - paddling, swimming and messing about in the river at every available entry point.

 

  This would have been around the mid 60's - but although we had tremendous fun, it was a very unhealthy environment for kids to play in!   The Beeley Wood Forge, the Acheson's Black Lead factory etc, were still operational.  I remember that  the air and the whole atmosphere  always had that industrial, metallic smell.... and the leaves on the trees were often coated in shiny, silvery-black carbon deposits.

 

The river Don was stinky and absolutely filthy!  It was the colour and consistency of a toxic oxtail soup - and the slower moving stretches of the river were always covered in a film of oil and floating piles of dirty, bubbly, soapy scum.  It's an absolute miracle that my childhood playmates and I didn't fall victim to some terrible disease or industrial poisoning,  given the amount of time we spent there when we were little kids.

 

I remember those times fondly,  but deep down,  I'm glad that the river, the whole of Beeley Woods, is much cleaner and pleasanter now. I'm glad that the old artificial weirs are being demolished and that the river is being left to pursue it's own natural course.  Most of all I'm glad that salmon and other fish and wildlife seem to be colonising and  living successfully  in that part of the river again....because despite the fun we had, I don't ever remember seeing any kind of living creature, in that poisoned  stretch of The Don, when I was a kid....so it's nice to see "nature" re-establishing itself. 😁

 

The paper mill at Oughtibridge (was it Dixon's) put their share of stuff in it also-mid-60's or so.

Edited by St Petre
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25 minutes ago, St Petre said:

The paper mill at Oughtibridge (was it Dixon's) put their share of stuff in it also-mid-60's or so.

Used to work there in the late 60's, I have fond memories of it. Went passed the other day, and it's all gone, just flat concrete left.

 

Angel1.

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8 hours ago, ANGELFIRE1 said:

Used to work there in the late 60's, I have fond memories of it. Went passed the other day, and it's all gone, just flat concrete left.

 

Angel1.

soon to be a housing development 320 homes if I remember right 

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21 hours ago, FIRETHORN1 said:

Like Longy67, I also used to play around this weir when I was kid - along with my brother and local mates. We used to go into Beeley wood bottom via the entrance opposite The Middlewood Tavern - and then spend the whole day going up and down the riverside on Beeley Wood bottom, between Middlewood  and Oughtibridge - paddling, swimming and messing about in the river at every available entry point.

 

  This would have been around the mid 60's - but although we had tremendous fun, it was a very unhealthy environment for kids to play in!   The Beeley Wood Forge, the Acheson's Black Lead factory etc, were still operational.  I remember that  the air and the whole atmosphere  always had that industrial, metallic smell.... and the leaves on the trees were often coated in shiny, silvery-black carbon deposits.

 

The river Don was stinky and absolutely filthy!  It was the colour and consistency of a toxic oxtail soup - and the slower moving stretches of the river were always covered in a film of oil and floating piles of dirty, bubbly, soapy scum.  It's an absolute miracle that my childhood playmates and I didn't fall victim to some terrible disease or industrial poisoning,  given the amount of time we spent there when we were little kids.

 

I remember those times fondly,  but deep down,  I'm glad that the river, the whole of Beeley Woods, is much cleaner and pleasanter now. I'm glad that the old artificial weirs are being demolished and that the river is being left to pursue it's own natural course.  Most of all I'm glad that salmon and other fish and wildlife seem to be colonising and  living successfully  in that part of the river again....because despite the fun we had, I don't ever remember seeing any kind of living creature, in that poisoned  stretch of The Don, when I was a kid....so it's nice to see "nature" re-establishing itself. 😁

Do you remember the don changing colour due to british tissues ? I understand why the weirs have gone but so have some good fishing spots.

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21 hours ago, St Petre said:

The paper mill at Oughtibridge (was it Dixon's) put their share of stuff in it also-mid-60's or so.

The Don downstream used to be a different colour every day . 

12 hours ago, mounts said:

soon to be a housing development 320 homes if I remember right 

The traffic will be a nightmare coming out of there. 

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Totally agree with you St Petre.  The Dixon's Papermill contributed massively to the river pollution 

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Just assumed they were salmon so stand corrected! Will look out for them this year and try and get some photos. There were loads of them and they were big but this was a couple of years ago now. Presume it happens in Spring?

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Correction - google says the migration happens in autumn so just missed it 😢

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