Manchester Ship Canal - a history and plans for new wharves

[@lisaperrin3298]

I was born and lived in Stretford until I moved out of the area in 79. I used to play near the Bridge water canal as it wasn't far from my home on Kendal Road. One of my Grandparents was employed at Metropolitan Vickers until he retired around 78/79. Many times as a child I would travel over Trafford swing Bridge and also the Warburton toll bridge and also Barton Bridge. Watching this video was really an interesting bit of history and brought back childhood memories of living in the Manchester area. Thank you 😊

[@allanplant8756]

This video was quite emotional to me. I also come from Stretford (since condemned to Australia), but my memories of the Bridgewater canal and 'Metro-Vic's' , as well as the swing bridge into Salford, would d be about 15 years older than yours. But it's nice to read your words. Thanks Lisa.

[@knocksmartin5111]

as a partington resident living just 200 yards from the canal truly fascunating. daniel adamson road just a few yards from me it is truly amazing.Thank you for this very infirmative video.

[@davidhoult4653]

Great commentary by Richard Thomas. All my family invoked or worked at Salford docks. Plus at school opposite the docks on the 50/60s. A first class piece of descriptive information. Loved it all. Yet again Thank you. 👏🤝

[@shaneobrien2257]

What a fantastic video!! 👏👏👏 So much research went into this!! Brilliant!! 😀👍

[@davidhoult4653]

A fantastic. Doc and photos. Thank you. Top viewing and History. 👍👏🤝

[@PaulMann8666]

Thank you very much for this excellent video. I spent the first few months of my life at my grandmother's, and at that time late grandfather's, (the old "Foreman Stevedore" on No 9 dock) house on Broadway, near the old dock entrance. In 2007, we went on the Mersey Ferry tour from the mooring at The Lowry in Salford to Liverpool with my mother, just 3 months before her death. It was a beautiful day (not a drop of rain!) and the crew were very informative , (including about bankside bird life seen on the way), witty, kind and helpful. It is a treasured memory of a last grand day out.

[@robertschmitz8036]

I never fail to be amazed at the construction of this engineering marvel. And while the men financing and planning it are undoubtedly crucial,it is the navies whom I think of knowing how hard their lives were. It is to the credit of MSC that early workers were given jobs if injured assuming this was possible. Thank you Richard Thomas and IWA Chiltern Branch.

[@TheDaf95xf]

Hi 👋🏻 I was born in Urmston in 1957. The Manchester Ship Canal was my play ground 🤣 My late farther worked at Massey Ferguson tractors in the world parts warehouse Trafford park (Asda is there now) and he new all the ships arriving and departing 😀 I also remember the Manchester liners ship hitting the Irlam locks making the canal unusable 😢 I hear they’re looking at reopening part of the canal and a new rail terminal being built near Makro 🤔 My daughter lives on Trafford rd and I park my lorry in DAF in Trafford Pk. We’ve done the boat trip and it’s awesome 🤩 Great video cheers Stevie 👍🏻

[@craigadam]

I was born in Daveyhulme in Booth drive in 1971. My farther worked at MF as well during the 70s&80s. I fondly remember playing on the tram lines with my brother while my Mum waited for my dad to come out of work. The smell of Kellogg’s factory all part of the memory.

[@DanielArnolf]

Thank you so much for such a professional, well paced as well as entertaining presentation.

[@baywanderer4199]

Great video. My great grandfather moved from Norfolk to work on the canal as a plate labour. MY grandfather was born in 2 New Huts, Whitby, Ellesmere Port in 1892.

[@Robdutton91]

Excellent video

[@allanplant8756]

I hate nostalgia, it makes me cry! Great video, thanks from Australia.

[@michaelguerin56]

Thank you. Excellent webinar. Thoroughly professional and entertaining.

[@gedtaylor4773]

very enjoyable video very well presented

[@mauricecullen9944]

Hi. I live in Irlam and take photos of ships on the M.S.C. when possible. I also worked for Colgate Palmolive now named The Soapworks from 1990 to 2008. This year I took a tram from Eccles to Salford Quays. I walked over the bridge to the Trafford side and down to Trafford Road. I lived in Stretford until 1995 and mostly cycled to work at Colgate passing the Skyhook and this year I took a look at it again. I walked around the building next to the Skyhook and was quite surprised to see a second Skyhook on this side which I had not seen before and don't know how long it had been there. I don't think it was there in the 1990s when I cycled to work. It is practically the same as the other Skyhook.

[@samanthaneighbour1228]

Great documentary ❤❤❤

[@SolarRailway]

Excellent webinar

[@matthewgartell6380]

What an excellent upload.

[@callum7797able]

An amazing history of The Big Ditch which passes a short distance from where I've lived for 50 years. May I make an observation on something that you said in your talk when you showed us the photograph of Warburton Bridge? You said that there is a toll to cross this bridge. This is not the bridge that the toll is for as all crossings of the Manchester Ship Canal are free. The toll is actually for the nearby bridge over the now dried-up section of the River Mersey which was severed when the Manchester Ship Canal was constructed. Most people, when paying the toll, don't actually notice the remains of this once fine bridge.

[@leslierhodes5467]

I have been watching an awful lot of canal Restoration I find it very interesting include in the Manchester ship canal

[@duxberry1958]

what about the Sankey / St Helens canal...i walked along the Sankey canal from Sankey Bridges to Widnes Dock the other day

[@no15minutecities]

Is it possible the railway tracks are still on the bed of the canal?

[@duxberry1958]

Runcorn / Latchford ...Old Quay ... Blackbear Canal

[@ianbamford9343]

Ian Bamford, Their was a Ferry at Boat lane in Irlam, is it still in use.

[@johnburns4017]

The success for Liverpool Docks was getting ships to turn around quickly. Its efficiency. They did this by not having cargoes hanging around, uncollected, in transit sheds and the likes. Liverpool was festooned with rail lines to get the goods in and and out quickly. The cargo was cleared immediately for the next ship. To discourage sloppy transport agents, they upped storage fees of the cargo was not collected on time. If you got your goods in and out quick, Liverpool's port was not expensive. The massive Liverpool Docks always had spare capacity which was also negotiable. Rail companies, not a part of Liverpool Docks charged too much taking freight to Manchester. Digging a 36 mile long canal to take sea going vessels to an inland city was a rather asinine act when in the 1890s railways were well established with powerful locos. The city of Manchester could have built a few largish docks at Eastham, then run a rail line to a number of goods terminals round Manchester, if they wanted to bypass Liverpool. Much cheaper and far more flexible. Time is valuable in shipping. Taking a day to get to a port and then back is wasted time. A problem with one of the locks meant a large number of expensive ships are held up 40 miles from the sea not earning money - which did happen scaring away shipping lines. The port closed. The canal lasted around 80 years being a white elephant. Not a very good idea to begin with. Most of the length of the canal is little used, being near redundant. The section from Eastham to Runcorn is well used, being a linear dock. The section from Runcorn to Manchester can be partially filled in, leaving a narrowboat canal, to accommodate a Northern Powerhouse Rail line, making use of this long unused ditch running right into Manchester. Then not having to compulsory purchase homes and farms.

[@nigeldavis802]

Penny Ferry is still operational

[@BarryFurey-ez3kc]

The canal must be deeper than 20 odd ft surely

[@duxberry1958]

the ferry runs as far as Latchford due to silting up

[@steveandthedogs]

Christ Church is not the only one on an uninhabited island, there are two on Anglesey which are still in use. Good webinar though!

[@duxberry1958]

the Mersey still gets to Walton lock

[@billbond91]

An interesting presentation which suffered slightly from the speaker's lack of local Manchester knowledge.

[@jamesthompson6673]

Stop eating when you’re talking