1789 The original plan for the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal was to create a link on which goods from both Bolton and Bury could be carried to the growing city of Manchester. It was planned to be a narrow canal which would run from the centre of Manchester to a point between both Bolton and Bury. It would then split into two arms which would run separately into each of the towns. To reach central Manchester the route needed to meet the Mersey & Irwell Navigation but all canal companies which had come anywhere near this waterway in the past had done their best to avoid it. The river navigation charged extortionist tolls as it saw canals as a major threat to its future existence. Because of this the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal decided to do as the Bridgewater Canal had done nearly 30 years earlier and build an aqueduct across the River Irwell, thus avoiding it all together.

1790 To the north west of Bolton work had re-started on the flagging Leeds & Liverpool Canal which, if completed, would be the first route to cross the Pennines. The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal projectors realised their proposed canal was ideally placed to create a lucrative link between Manchester and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Thus they changed their plans and decided to build the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal broad and extend it past Bolton to meet the Leeds & Liverpool Canal near Wigan. It is probably because of the extra cost involved in creating a longer route and making it broad that plans to build an aqueduct over the Mersey & Irwell Navigation were dropped. Instead the company decided to suffer the river navigation's high tolls and build a junction onto the River Irwell in central Manchester.

1791 The canal's Act of Parliament was passed and work began but the history books concentrate less on the building of the canal and a lot more on the politics surrounding it and its neighbouring canals...

1792 A separate canal was being planned which would provide a new trans-Pennine route and which would run directly into Manchester via Rochdale. This meant the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal would not gain from building a link to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal so the decision to cancel the line from Bolton to Wigan was made, the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal would now end in Bolton. This prompted the promoters of the Lancaster Canal to seriously think about linking their canal (which was also just getting under way) to Bolton, giving them a direct link to Manchester. Their alternative was to build a line from Wigan to Liverpool but in the end no decision was made and no link was made to Bolton.

1803 The Leeds & Liverpool Canal proposed a line from Wigan to Leigh where they would join the Bridgewater Canal and connect Liverpool to Manchester. The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal fought this proposal hard, if a connection was to be made they wanted it to go via their canal (which was still under construction). The Bridgewater Canal was equally keen to stop the link being made as it already had its own route to Liverpool on the south side of the Mersey. The Bridgewater Canal won the day and no link was created - much to the relief of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury company.

1808 The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal opened throughout, from the centre of Manchester to the centres of both Bolton and Bury. It was 16 miles long with 3 aqueducts, 17 broad locks and was fed by a reservoir near Bury. Just south of Clifton Aqueduct (where the canal crossed the unnavigable River Irwell near Clifton village) a private canal joined the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal. This was named Fletcher's Canal after Matthew Fletcher who was a local colliery owner. The route of this new canal was not a totally new one however as it had been developed by James Brindley even before the days of the Bridgewater Canal. Brindley had designed it as a water drainage channel for the suitably named Wet Earth Colliery.

1812 After 4 years of use the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Company were able to pay out its first modest dividends. The main cargoes being carried included coal, stone and groceries, there were also passenger services from Bolton and Bury to Manchester with a return fare costing 2s 6d. Passengers would change boats at Prestolee to avoid delays at the lock flight there. Another passenger service ran along the two arms from Bolton to Bury and over 60,000 passengers per year travelled on the canal. The service was quite luxurious compared to some packet boat services, central heating was provided in winter and drinks were served on board. However, this caused a tragedy in 1818 when a party of drunken passengers managed to capsize the boat. A number of passengers, including two children, were drowned.

1831 The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal company were quick to see the potential of railways as Manchester had already become the first place in the world to run a railway passenger service. The canal company successfully obtained the right to build a railway of its own between Manchester and Bolton and the company changed its name to became the "Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company"! Soon after this a new committee was formed of which the majority of men had railway interests, at first they planned to close the canal and build tracks on its bed but for some (unreported) reason they eventually built the railway alongside the waterway and actually improved the canal while the railway was being built.

1839 The Manchester & Salford Junction Canal opened in the centre of Manchester. It was just one mile long and was built primarily to allow Rochdale Canal traffic to reach the River Irwell (and then the Mersey) without having to travel on the Bridgewater Canal. Its junction on the River Irwell was also very close to the entrance of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal which meant its traffic could now reach the centre of Manchester without having to use the Mersey & Irwell Navigation.

1842 Much to the dismay of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, the Manchester & Salford Junction Canal was bought out by the Mersey & Irwell Navigation company. This meant that, once again, boats travelling into central Manchester had to pay the extortionist tolls charged by the river navigation. However, just 3 years later, in an era of take-overs and amalgamations, the neighbouring Bridgewater Canal Company bought the Mersey & Irwell Navigation and problems were eased somewhat.

1846 The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal & Railway Company itself amalgamated with the Manchester & Leeds Railway Company which within a year became the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company. Unlike a lot of other waterways, the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal was not closed down by the railway or left to run into disuse. On the contrary, it was well maintained and continued to be well used even though the railway line was running successfully alongside it.

1880 Damage caused by subsidence led the canal's owners to rebuild sections of the route. In the long run this proved to be a big bonus because the subsidence problems had cost the company a lot of money over the years. Following the repairs maintenance costs on the trouble sections were greatly reduced. Revenue was also gained at this time by selling water to local businesses which otherwise ran straight into the River Irwell.

1920's After almost 120 years of success the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal finally began to hit hard times. New damage from mining subsidence and the closure of a number of local pits resulted in loss of trade and a big drop in revenue for the waterway. The pit closures also hit Fletcher's Canal when the colliery that it served closed in 1928. Pilkington Tile Company, which was situated on the branch's southern bank, took control and used it for a number of years.

1935 The Pilkington Tile Company gave up using Fletcher's Canal and the short waterway was closed.

1936 A breach occurred just ½ a mile into the Bury Arm. The damage was never repaired and Bury was cut off from the rest of the route although the arm itself was still used as a self contained canal.

1941 London Midland & Scottish Railways (who now owned the canal) abandoned 7 miles of the waterway including the whole of the arm to Bolton. The closures left the canal in 2 separate parts, neither of which were connected to any other waterway.

1961 The remaining sections of the canal (which were now owned by the government) were also abandoned. On many canals up and down the country, abandonment came after decades without seeing a boat but the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal actually continued to carry a small amount of traffic even after the official abandonment.

1968 Finally, the last boat to use the canal was moored for the last time. It had been carrying coal on a 100 yard stretch of the waterway from a dump to a works in Bury.

1994 In a magazine article in December it was reported that the locks on the Prestolee flight near Nob End Junction had been cleared of trees and weeds. (However, when I saw the locks in 1997 they were completely overgrown with bushes that looked a lot more than just 2 years old)! The article also reported that the canal's restoration society had leased the old canal side buildings at Nob End from B.W. at a nominal rent. These were to be restored and used as the society's HQ. On the Bury Arm an area to the east of the breach of 1936 was cleared, dredged and fully restored as a linear park.

1995 It was reported that the society had lodged a £3.5 million application for restoration of the Bolton and Bury arms, the Prestolee Locks and the canal side buildings at Nob End Junction. To succeed, the application needed a matching sum of money from local authorities and B.W. No further reports were made on the outcome of the application. The restoration society hoped to fully restore the Bolton and Bury arms by the year 2000.

1997 Between the locks at Prestolee and the newly restored sections of the Bury Arm, at the site of the 1936 breach, the line of the canal was now owned by Danisco Paper company. A factory building stands right across the canal bed and will provided a major obstacle to restoration. However, Danisco Paper have offered to sell their section of the canal to the restoration society. No big fund raising campaign was needed to make this purchase - the price was just £1. (Pictured Below) The Paper Mill has since closed down it's business.

In December the Waterway Recovery Group arrived at Prestolee Locks and this time they really did clear the chambers and surrounding area of shrubs and other overgrown plant life. For the first time in many years the 3-way junction could be clearly seen. However, restoration of this section to a navigable state is still some way off, and the opening of the whole route will take many more years.

THE ROUTE

Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal.

The canal leaves the River Irwell in the centre of Manchester just north of Princes Bridge near the head of the former Mersey & Irwell Navigation. Almost opposite, on the east bank of the river, is the entrance to the former Manchester & Salford Junction Canal. My reference book ("Lost Canals of England & Wales" written by Ronald Russell in 1971) said parts of the canal could still be found in Salford lurking behind walls at the ends of streets. Whether this is still true is very doubtful though the 1992 Manchester A-Z street map shows long stretches of the route as it heads north west through Salford. After passing under East Orsall Lane and Oldfield Road the 1978 A-Z marked a "Basin Wharf", this is not marked on the 1992 A-Z though the canal is shown in water as it passes by Upper Wharf Street. Just to the west Crescent Wharf was marked in 1978 but not in 1992 and on the south side of the canal rows of railway sidings have also gone since 1978. Continuing north west, with a railway very close to it, the canal passed under Windsor Crescent and Frederick Road but the stretch between these two has disappeared under new streets since the 1978 A-Z was published. It reappears on the north west side of Frederick Street bridge. Just past Broughton Road the route passes between mills which are on either side of the waterway. Then, after passing the back of Orchard Trading Estate, the landscape opens up much more. Read more>>

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