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Manchester and Salford Junction Canal - Permission Visit April 2012
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Default Manchester and Salford Junction Canal - Permission Visit April 2012 - 14-04-2012, 02:41

The wife has wanted to do a ghost walk for ages and I always wanted to see the Manchester Salford Canal Junction so it was pretty much a perfect compromise.

The walk itself can only be described as Horrible Histories for adults and if you don't have kids chances are you don't have a clue what I mean

The host for the evening was brilliant and even if it was sold as a ghost walk it was all very tongue in cheek and more like a comedy show.

He recognised my name from the ticket (yay I'm famous) and offered that after the show finished I could head down for half an hour to get a few extra pics

it was a brilliant night and if you get the chance I fully recommend it
http://manchesterghostwalk.co.uk/


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The lack of any direct canal link between the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Rochdale Canal meant that goods being transported using both waterways had to be offloaded onto carts and carried across the city, before being loaded back onto boats to continue their journey. This was costly and time-consuming, as well as adding to traffic congestion on the streets of Manchester.
In 1799 the nearby Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal company proposed to connect their canal to the Rochdale canal with an aqueduct across the Mersey and Irwell Navigation. Due mainly to strong objections from the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, who would have suffered a loss of trade, the link was not forthcoming. In 1805, John Nightingale was asked by the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company to estimate the cost of a canal link between Manchester and Salford.
Nothing would happen until 1836, when John Gilbert was appointed as engineer. In 1838, just as the canal was being built, the Bridgewater Canal Company were completing their Hulme Locks branch canal. This provided an alternative route from the Rochdale Canal to the River Irwell, and cargoes from either direction could navigate onto the Irwell without the need to use the new Junction Canal.

During the war, the canal tunnel was brought back to life as a public air raid shelter. It was divided into bays, each separated by two offset parallel brick wall for protection against blast. The eastern end had been obliterated, but the basins adjoining the Rochdale were not filled in until after the war. Today the only easily accessible traces of the expensive and little used junction canal is the exit to the Irwell, the link with the Rochdale above lock 89. However the tunnel also remains intact although hidden from view. It is now divided into two parts, one part lying beneath the Granada TV studios and the other longer section under the former Great Northern Warehouse.












Like an idiot I totally forgot to take a pic of the winch housings that I walked around twice
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Default 12-06-2012, 12:59

Love this place still one of my all time favourite manchester spots.


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Default 12-06-2012, 14:43

I loved that ladder entrance!


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Default 12-06-2012, 15:59

I loved the barking dogs an anti terrorism police waitin up top.


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Default 31-10-2012, 23:32

I went down here last year on one of the guided tours and absolutely loved the place! Big thumbs up to the people who did it properly before the tours were available
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Default 01-11-2012, 01:46

I was part of a tour probably about 20 years ago now, and the only access then was through a manhole in the underground car park opposite the great northern warehouse if i recall correctly, down a long ladder, im assuming thats the ladder that gibbo is talking about.....i also recall that the stairs entrance shown in the pics was filled with rubble, and unpasssable.....IOur guide was one of the structural engineers for the orginal renovation of GMEX....He said that Granada studios intended to turn it into a tourist attraction of some sort........I have always regretted not taking my camera ...........perhaps a return visit on one of these tours is a second chance.....thanks for the info!!!
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Default 01-11-2012, 11:40

Spot on!


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