By the time of my photography, South Yorkshire was in the grip of a decline of its traditional mining and heavy industries with dereliction all around. Personally, I found this a shame as the rail movements associated with these industries had either gone or were on their last legs. Collieries were closing all the time. In its heyday, photographers were quite active in the area, but by my time, few people with a camera visited north of Masborough station.
Heading west from Conisbrough, the former Great Central Railway (GCR) line to Sheffield closely follows the canal and river navigation between Doncaster and Sheffield, and this could present opportunities but also restrict lineside access. In the mid-1980s, the Swinton Curve linking the GCR route at Mexborough to the Midland line at Swinton had yet to reopen, and all traffic on the line towards Rotherham used the old route alongside the canal via Thrybergh Junction.
Before Rotherham Central station reopened in 1987, this traffic used the Midland station at Masborough, crossing to and from this route at Aldwarke Junction. Prior
