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Manchester Ship Canal
Manchester Ship Canal photos
Displaying the first of 3 old photos of Manchester Ship Canal. View all Manchester Ship Canal photos
Manchester Ship Canal maps
Historic maps of Manchester Ship Canal and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Manchester Ship Canal maps
Manchester Ship Canal area books
Displaying 1 of 4 books about Manchester Ship Canal and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Manchester Ship Canal
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Manchester Ship Canal.
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Manchester Ship Canal
I was in REME stationed in Peel Green and on Wednesday afternoons we were taken to see different factories etc, and one Wednesday we toured by boat all around the docks at Manchester and the commentator told us where all the ships had come from and what their cargo was. It was a very memorable day, I had never seen such large ships before. Then when I could take time off I went to Patricroft and waited to see the bridge open up for the ships to pass.
Now we live in Canada on the beautifull St Lawrence River and we go down to the river each morning for exercise and to watch all the ships pass by.
Trevor Williams
Daniel Adamson
I recall, as a young police constable, going for a trip on the MSC barge 'The Daniel Adamson'. This was from no 8 dock at Manchester, just by the Trafford swing bridge. The trip went though Mode Wheel locks, Latchford locks at Warrington and on up through Runcorn to Ellesmere Port. I also recall being sworn in at Ship Canal House in King Street off Deansgate Manchester. All that most of us could recall of that occasion was the huge oval table in the boardroom and wondering how they ever got it in the building and up the stairs!!
Lancashire memories
Childhood Memories
I spent many happy days fishing in the park lake, permit purchased from the town hall for 6 pence per year, old money, then the council in their wisdom decided to fill the pond in with all the dustbin refuse, and it never had the same appeal afterwards. The photo shows what was always called the flower park, it had a bandstand and was always well cared for. The park on the other side of Wigan Road was also called the Jubilee Park and even though both parks had lakes in them this was the only one I remember, as the other one was filled in before my time.
Good Yimes
Lived on Windsor Rd... Ashton Heath... 68 to 81 when I first got married. Good times in the Eagle and Child .. Hingemakers .. Commercial .. pubs etc. Are they still there?
Bill Harrison, Canada.
Thomas Cromptons
I worked in the office at Thos Crompton, as a wages clerk. I remember having to go into the sawmill to collect the time sheets. It scared me stiff seeing the saws whizzing round and the whining noise they made. My overactive imagination gave me a fear of saws which still stays with me. On quiet days I manned the switchboard. There were wires all over the place. I shudder to think how many calls I disconnected in those early days. One of my duties in the reception was to enter sick note details in a ledger. Even in those days doctors' writing was unbelievable ( I think some of my entries must have given the bosses a few grins) I loved it there, and eventually learned so much. A friend I made when working there remains my friend to this day, even though I have lived in the Scottish Highlands for 30 something years.
The Plantations
Well not just for the 1930's but for twenty years after as well. Memories come flooding back - not just for this picture but for Wigan itself. I was born there in 1931 - in my grandparents home 38, Dicconson Street - a section no longer in existence although others that belonged to my gt Uncles do remain intact but in a sorry state compared to the days that I recall. What I don't remember however is being removed from my pram - outside either Woolworths or Marks & Spencers (can't identify which from any of the photo's I've seen) when I was a few months old, by one of the Mill girls returning home from the Mill. Apparently after many hours searching by the local Police one of the other Mill girls said her friend had taken me home to show me to her mother - apparently her mother knew my grandfather's family and so there was no malice aforethought in the daughter's action!! Just a great deal of... Read more
Re Comment by John Howard Norfolk on Wigan Clogs
Wigan-made clogs always did have a reputation even way back when - so it's nice to have this confirmation of their quality holding up even to today. I've even discovered that one of my ancestors made his living as a Boot and Clog Repairer having been Apprenticed to a Clogger at a very young age by to-days standards. I unfortunately never did get to own a pair - but oh! how I envied my school friends who did wear them, and could make sparks as they walked along the pavement!!
I do remember however getting a few demerit marks for my House at school in Essex because of clogs - thanks to a few extra notes I added to those I had to write up following a Geography lesson on the cotton industry in Lancashire. Somewhere along the line when visiting one of the more up-to-date mills in Wigan with a teacher from St Michaels (when we were buying muslin to make the angels costumes for a Christmas... Read more
