Geography of Sheffield county, from bituminous (ideal for domestic heating) to "Thick Coal", of a semi-anthracitic quality, appropriate for use in iron-smelting and in engine furnaces. Associated with the Upper Coal Measures were valuable iron ore deposits, occurring in the form of nodules. Large quantities of locally occurring fireclay were also exploited, as well as ganister (a clay used to make refractory furnace linings). The city of Sheffield derives its name from the River Sheaf which Until the 17th century was written as "Scheth" or "Sheath". Sidney Oldall Addy equates the origins of this word with the Old English "shed" (as in "water-shed")
Sheffield and M20, call at Sheffield en route to London from Newcastle upon Tyne and Inverness respectively. The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways (canals and canalised rivers) in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of and has 29 locks. It connects Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster with the River Trent at Keadby and (via the New Junction Canal) the Aire and Calder Navigation. Following the closure of Sheffield City Airport in 2008, the closest international airport to Sheffield is Doncaster Sheffield Airport which is located from