Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal

Issued 4th December, 2023

Campaign to restore the forgotten canal and stop the destruction of Salford's heritage

The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society (MBBCS) is asking residents to back its campaign to restore the canal, halt the demolition of a canal parapet wall on Oldfield Road and to preserve the coping stones which are still in-situ.

A seemingly unremarkable wall on Oldfield Road, built in blue engineering brick in 1894, is at the the centre of a campaign to preserve Salford’s industrial canal heritage and restore the canal to navigation. A development company called H2O Urban has submitted plans to build 205 apartments on a site bounded by Upper Wharf Street and Oldfield Road. H2O Urban is a partnership between the Canal and River Trust (who own the land) and a property development company called bloc. The landscaping plans propose the demolition of the heritage canal parapet wall on Oldfield Road, the moving of canalside coping stones and the insertion of a footpath where the canal should be in water.

Al Franco, a Trustee of the MBBCS, said “The removal of the wall simply makes the apartments more visible from Oldfield Road and is not required for the build itself. However it does significantly hinder the prospects for restoration of the canal at this location as it removes a necessary safety feature which would need reinstating when the canal is put back into water. This location was well known to Engels, LS Lowry and Ewan MacColl (who “dreamed a dream by the old canal”) and the wall is one of the last surviving artifacts, in this location, of Salford’s industrial heritage. I would urge residents to comment on the planning application. Don’t lose this opportunity to speak up for our heritage and so improve the chances of seeing the canal restored and in water. A restored canal would provide a blue/green space for exercise and wellbeing; a flood protection facility; a sustainable travel route and an attractive wildlife friendly landscape”

You can use this link https://tinyurl.com/Upper-Wharf-Street to comment on the planning application or you can email planning.contact@salford.gov.uk quoting reference 23/82372/FUL. Why not let your local councillors and MP know too.

Please click here to see the briefing note produced by the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society.