The Ochre Dyke is a small stream in the south eastern part of the City of Sheffield in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It rises some 100m to the east/south east of the ruined barn known as Eckington Lees. This is at the extreme western end of Birley Wood Golf Course. Ochre Dyke flows east/south east along the southern border of the golf course and passes through Birley Wood; up to this point it is the county boundary between South Yorkshire and

North East Derbyshire North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire. The population ...

. During summer months the brook frequently dries up to this point. The Ochre dyke gets its name from the pollution of the water by yellow ochre (Iron Oxide) as a result of coal mining activity in the upper reaches of the valley. The area in and around Birley wood was extensively mined for coal and black-band iron ore from at least the medieval period up to the mid 20th century when Dent Main Colliery closed. Other mines along the course of the stream were Moorhole Colliery East, Moorhole Colliery North and Moorhole Colliery South. After passing Birley Moor Road, the brook flows through Owlthorpe, past the Crystal Peaks shopping centre, before heading into Beighton and passing beneath Sothall Green at its junction with the main road. The stream eventually flows into the River Rother. The Ochre Dyke has never been used for powering

Sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...

grinding wheels Grinding wheels contains abrasive compounds for grinding and abrasive machining operations. Such wheels are also used in grinding machines. The wheels are generally made with composite material . This consists of coarse-particle aggregate press ...

, unlike the nearby

Shire Brook Shire Brook is a small stream in the south eastern part of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It rises in the suburb of Gleadless Townend and flows in a general easterly direction for to its confluence with the River Rother bet ...

which has hosted several wheels including the Nether Wheel, Carr Forge, Rainbow Forge and Cliff Wheel. The Cliff Wheel was located along the stream and was used for grinding.A history of Beighton - T.L Platts (1985)

References

Rivers of Sheffield {{SouthYorkshire-geo-stub