Product Description

Nowadays most of us think of the Manchester Ship Canal as that bit of water under the Thelwell Viaduct as we sit in one of England's traffic jam black spots but in the days before the M6, the Manchester Ship Canal was an important route from the docks at Salford and industrial Manchester to the world. From banana boats to cattle carriers, from tramp steamers to pleasure steamers, all sorts of ships used this busy thoroughfare. It wasn't always like this - at one time the docks at Birkenhead and Liverpool received the goods that Manchester needed and everything travelled by railway, canal or road to the North's industrial metropolis. In the 1880s, construction on Britain's largest man-made inland waterway and soon sizable ships sailed to Salford. A stunning engineering project in its own right, the 'Big Ditch' also spawned smaller marvels such as the Barton Aqueduct and it remained busy for almost a century. Now little used, it still remains a marvel of Victorian engineering.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76084 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 159 pages

About the Author
Cyril Wood is an established author, photographer, and lecturer, who has had an active interest in canals and inland waterways since childhood.

Customer Reviews

The Big Ship Sails On The Alley Alley O....
As a kid growing up in the Black Country - where canals were narrow, winding and often slightly sinister - I was fascinated by the MSC. Which makes it all the stranger that I waited more than 40 years to find out more about it.

For a late starter like me, this book is a near perfect introduction - not least because it tells the story of the canal's conception, design and construction in a very engaging way. But the real surprise is the 'Geography of the Canal' section, which a determined body (someone not scared by deep water and fit enough to outrun the security boys) could use as a guide to walk all the way from Eastham Locks to Pomona.

My one regret is that Mr Wood's book doesn't have more detail about the dock complex at the Salford end - but that's a minor quibble. Not least because it gave me an excuse to order Edward Gray's 'Salford Quays'...