Flixton

An old village on the Cheshire side of the Manchester Ship Canal, Flixton was developed as a residential suburb of Manchester. Two interesting residents in the local churchyard are John and Hannah Booth. John was the village fiddler, and he and his wife died within hours of one another on the same day in 1778.
An extract from from"Greater Manchester Photographic Memories".

This aerial view of the swing bridges at Barton again shows them swung to let a large cargo ship through. Note that the cargo ship has tugs fore and aft to guide it through this section of the canal. Barton Monastery stands just to the right of the swing bridges; it was formerly All Saints RC Church, Barton. The area at the top of the picture was the wood seasoning area for one of the large timber firms using the canal, and is now a housing estate.
An extract from from"Manchester Photographic Memories".

This view shows the two bridges at Barton upon Irwell both swung to let the paddle steamer ‘Ivanhoe’ pass. When the Ship Canal first opened (our view is only twelve months after that opening on 1 January 1894), many people wanted to travel, and see the wonders of this new waterway. A Ship Canal Pleasure Steamer Company was formed, and weekends and Bank Holidays would see two or three of these paddle steamers taking passengers on sight-seeing trips up and down the canal.
An extract from from"Manchester Photographic Memories".

When the Duke of Bridgewater planned his canal into Manchester in 1760, the original plan was to stay on the Salford side of the Irwell. Because he could not purchase the land he wanted, he was forced to cross the River Irwell and go into Manchester via Stretford. He was given permission to skirt the Trafford Park Estate, but his big problem was crossing the Irwell, which he did with a beautiful stone aqueduct designed by James Brindley. This aqueduct lasted over one hundred and twenty years, until the emerging Ship Canal needed it out of the way for the large vessels to pass. This swing aqueduct that carries the Bridgewater Canal over the Manchester Ship Canal was the answer to their problem.
An extract from from"Manchester Photographic Memories".

When the docks first opened, it took a while for them to reach their potential, but by 1900 they had started to show that they could be successful and profitable. Moves were then made to enlarge the dock, and the land belonging to the Manchester Racecourse Co was purchased ready to build No 9 dock. This dock, the largest of all the docks, was officially opened by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on a royal visit on 13 July 1905.
An extract from from"Manchester Photographic Memories".