I think you'll find "The concrete channel mentioned in the first verse of the song is actually the one at Pond Hill, Sheffield.
Located 'Just behind the station, before you reach the traffic island' " is the confluence of Porter Brook and the River Sheaf.

Here is an extract from "The Dams in Porter Valley" by Terence Wilson:

"Finally there is a dam in Ponds Lane before Porter Brook runs into Pond Hill where the Porter joins the River Sheaf.
Variously called the Sheate, Shear, Sheave, Sheathe, Sheath, or Shere, this is the river after which the name of Sheffield is derived. By the end of the millennium, the entire course of the River Porter from Pear Street to its confluence with the River Sheaf was covered over and diverted underground.

Descending over 300 metres (1,000 feet) from its source on Burbage Moor, Porter Brook is joined by minor tributaries en-route in its 6½ mile journey downstream its confluence with the River Sheaf in Pond Hill...

...Porter Brook derives its name from its brownish colour, similar to the colour of porter beer, a discolouration obtained as it passes over iron-ore deposits on its course from the source. The stream’s source is among the sedge grasses on Burbage moor behind a small farm on Hangram Lane near Ringinglow."
Terence Wilson
(Moved from the Sandbox page)