Manchester Ship Canal facts for kids

The yacht Norseman headed a convoy of vessels at the canal's opening in January 1894. Seen passing the Barton Swing Aqueduct, it carried the company's directors.

The Manchester Ship Canal is a wide, 36-mile (58 km) long, river navigation in North West England, opened on 21 May 1894. At the time of its completion, it was the largest navigation canal in the world.

The "Big Ditch", as it is sometimes known, consists of the rivers Irwell and Mersey made navigable for seagoing ships from the Mersey Estuary to Salford Docks in Greater Manchester. It transformed Manchester from a landlocked city into a major sea port.

Images for kids

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  A cartoon published in the satirical magazine Punch in 1882, ridiculing the idea that Manchester could become a major seaport

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  Cheque dated 3 August 1887, in the amount of £1,710,000, for the purchase of the Bridgewater Navigation Company. At the time it was the largest cheque ever presented.

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  The Excavation of the Manchester Ship Canal: Eastham Cutting with Mount Manisty in the Distance (1891), by Benjamin Williams Leader, brother of the canal's engineer

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  The Queen at Manchester, Her Majesty, in the Admiralty Yacht Enchantress, opening the Ship Canal, by William Heysham Overend

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  The ship canal alongside the Mersey between Stanlow and Runcorn, looking east

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  The passenger ferry Snowdrop at Irlam Locks

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  An ocean-going liner passing through Latchford Locks near Warrington bound for Eastham

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  A preserved Manchester Ship Canal Railway 0-6-0T locomotive, now on display at The Engine House in Highley

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  The now closed Cadishead Viaduct, built in 1892 to take the Cheshire Lines Committee's existing Glazebrook to Woodley mainline over the MSC at the required 75 feet (23 m) clearance

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  Approaching the Silver Jubilee Bridge in Runcorn

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  Woolston Eyes nature reserve, near Thelwall

See also

In Spanish: Canal marítimo de Mánchester para niños