Dismay after Rotherham towpath popular with walkers is closed

Marilyn Orvis (71, pictured), who has a boat at Tulley Marine Services, said the owner of a property next to Rotherham Canal had blocked an entrance opposite Rotherham Railway Station which led to around half-a-mile of towpath.

She said the towpath had been blocked for several months, which meant no-one could walk alongside the canal from Rotherham to Parkgate.

Marilyn said anyone walking from Parkgate to Rotherham would have to turn back on themselves because there was no way through.

She said the property owner had put up a large gate and signs reading “No trespassers” and “Private Land - No Unauthorised Access”.

The Canal and River Trust confirmed to the Advertiser that it had not consented to the closure of the towpath off Bridge Street, Rotherham, and was looking into it.

Marilyn said: “The towpath opposite the railway station has been there for years and years - long before my lifetime.

“I have been in touch with the CRT because I have a boat further down and I always used to use that towpath.

“Apart from anything else, he [the property owner] has no right to do it.

“The towpath has been a right of way for hundreds of years since the barges used to come up with horses.”

Marilyn said the towpath attracted a lot of walkers who were either having to take a 15-minute diversion or were having to double back on themselves when they reached the gate.

“Hundreds of people, in the summer and winter, use that path to go into Rotherham,” she said.

“People walk on the bankside from Parkgate, they have come past the boatyard, and they have to go into the road to get round the gate. 

“But a lot of people are carrying straight on, thinking the towpath is still open.”

Marilyn said some people used the towpath to walk from Sheffield to Rotherham \_- a route known as the Five Weirs Walk.

She said the building where the towpath was blocked was a former grain store which was later used as a furniture shop.

Reader Nick Baker also contacted the Advertiser about the closure, saying: “This path is a public right of way and as such cannot be closed at the whim of the property owner. 

“I have spoken to the person claiming to be the property owner and he claims that this is his land and he can do what he wants and the footpath does now not exist.”

A CRT spokesman said: “The trust did not consent to the closure of the access alongside the canal and the situation is ongoing.

“We have met with the landowner and are hoping to resolve the situation as quickly as possible with a view to restoring access over the land in question.”

The owners of the property declined to comment.