Infrastructure

This whole area is going to see a lot of change.

In the distance the Barton High level bridge carries the M60 over the ship canal. The AJ Bell Stadium, home to Salford Reds and Sale Sharks, sits forward of it, with the land around it re-shaped so it can take future development.

In the foreground, two concrete structures will play their part in supporting a new rail line that will cross a new road below. The rail line will carry freight trains from the Liverpool - Newton - Manchester line into the new Port Salford, a new port and multi modal freight facility on the Ship Canal.

The road is part of the Western Gateway Infrastructure Scheme - or WGIS - and heads under the Barton High level bridge from the A57. On the Trafford bank near the Trafford Centre a big white crane (out of shot) is helping complete that section of WGIS, and then a new bridge over the ship canal will connect the two sections. When it is all complete the way traffic works around the A57 and junction 11 of the M60 will change, and for the better. Oh and Metrolink might come over the Ship Canal from the Trafford side, although it has to get there first.

All very complicated for a blip !

Lurking in the Salt Eye Brook, in a dip that cannot be seen in this shot - a flock of Teal, our smallest wild duck. Nature somehow hanging on in the midst of all this.