S is for

Ship Canal.

Yes I know that I bang on and on about Manchester stuff but the Ship Canal is a miracle of engineering. Construction began in 1887; it took six years to build and cost about £15 million. When the ship canal opened in January 1894 it was the largest river navigation canal in the world, bringing ocean going vessels inland to the heart of Manchester.

For part of its route it follows the course of the River Irwell which seperates Salford from Manchester.
My Jeff lives on the Salford side and I live in Manchester.
The ship canal seperates us.

The "Irlam ferry" was a couple of hundred yards above Irlam locks. It replaced an existing ferry crossing over the river Irwell.
The ferry used to cross the canal between Flixton and Irlam and was originally operated by a cable hauled ferry boat capable of carrying animals and vehicles, but later a single rowing boat was used to carry passengers and bicycles only, the ferryman standing in the stern and propelling the boat across with a single oar. In later years the rowing boat was replaced with a motorised ferry.

The ferry was eventually withdrawn in the 1970's as it was becoming increasingly uneconomic to maintain, but as the existing right of way had to be maintained it was decided to allow pedestrians and cyclists to walk across the nearby locks. A pedestrian swing bridge has been built over the locks to allow safe passage over the canal, but whenever a ship is in either lock it is neccessary to walk over the narrow lock gates in order to cross.

This is a photo of the site of the old Irlam Ferry.

It is a good job there is a way over the locks or Jeff and I could be in heap big trouble ;-)