Site Records

SiteName: Manchester and Salford Junction Canal

Between Great Bridgewater Street and Water Street
Manchester
OS Grid Ref (Great Northern Warehouse) SJ835978

Sub Brit site visit November 1994

The section of tunnel under the Great Northern Warehouse was visited by members of Subterranea Britannica during the 1994 Manchester Study Weekend.

The tunnel mouth has been partly bricked across with steps down to the canal bed and a raised tow path along the north side. There is a small brick building built in the canal bed just inside the tunnel mouth, perhaps a WW2 shelter wardens post. There are three accessible bays, numbered from east to west Bay 1, Bay 2 & Bay 3. The bay numbers with an arrow is still clearly painted on the dividing blast walls.

Bay 2 is the underground transhipment dock, here the tunnel opens out into a huge vaulted chamber with the tow path running around three sides, there is even a mooring bollard alongside the dock. There is an arched doorway to stairs up to the warehouse but these are blocked after a few feet. In Bay 3 the canal bed contains several feet of water but it is still possible to walk along the tow path as far as the next blast wall where there is an arrow pointing to Bay 4. The depth of water made further exploration impossible so it is unclear whether Bay 4 is accessible from here or if it's in the section of the canal accessible from the basement of the Granada TV studios.

The western end of the canal, including the lock into the River Irwell has now been restored to provide a water feature alongside the new Bridgewater Hall where it terminates in a basin. The Great Northern Warehouse finally closed in 1963 and remained empty until 1998 when work began to transform it into a leisure and shopping complex. The 10-acre site known as 'The Great Northern' is now open for business with bars, cafes, restaurant, shops, a 16-screen AMC megaplex cinema and Virgin Active gym. As part of the ongoing development the owners are planning to restore the tunnel beneath and open it to the public.

For further details of the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal restoration campaign write to PO Box 47, Manchester, M9 4RB or telephone 0161 203 5009

• Canals to Manchester by David Owen ISBN 0 7190 0686 4
• Lost Canals and Waterways of Britain by Ronald Russell ISBN 0 7153 8072 9
• Bartholomew's Pocket Atlas and Guide to Manchester 1937
• Pennine Waterways web site

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